New Harvest Automation Ultimate Tech Package Boosts Productivity, Efficiency, and Grain Quality
John Deere has announced a major step forward in harvest automation with new technology updates for 2025 and 2026 combines.
The Harvest Automation Ultimate Tech Package highlights two main features: Predictive Ground Speed Automation and Harvest Settings Automation.
Predictive Ground Speed Automation is designed to optimize combine performance by using predictive inputs to manage ground speed in different areas of the field.
Unlike past solutions, this system looks ahead of the combine to anticipate field conditions.
Tim Ford, product specialist with John Deere, told Farms.com that the system relies on two main inputs.
First, forward stereo cameras, which scan about 28 feet in front of the cutter bar, assess crop height and detect lodged or downed crops, allowing the machine to automatically adjust speed.
Second, satellite views captured during the growing season provide vegetation data, giving predictive yield information.
These two inputs work together to ensure the combine maintains optimal speed and efficiency, even in challenging conditions like dust.
The second feature, Harvest Settings Automation, helps farmers maintain grain quality and reduce losses while increasing productivity.
Operators can set limits for grain loss, foreign material, or broken kernels, and the system automatically adjusts machine settings to stay within those targets.
This approach matches a farmer’s mental model, focusing on the outcomes while the system fine-tunes the inputs.
Together, these tools deliver strong results. Predictive Ground Speed Automation can increase productivity by up to 20% and improve fluid efficiency by around 10%.
At the same time, farmers benefit from reduced grain loss and better grain quality, meeting their desired harvest outcomes.
Farmers looking to take advantage of these updates can reach out to local John Deere dealers or visit Deere.com to learn more.