Autonomous tech helps with cover crops, precision jobs

Being autonomous on the farm seems to have different meanings based on who is discussing the topic.

Autonomy on the farm has often been associated with automated adjustments while working in the field or decision-making aided by technology based on nearly instantaneous information gathering. Other people may talk about taking farmers’ hands off the wheel entirely.

“Some companies, like John Deere, AGCO and others, are targeting or foresee the future of automation where the farmer doesn’t need to be in the tractor,” said Naveen Uppalapati, research scientist at the University of Illinois I-FARM’s Farm of the Future.

While certain advances, such as the combination of GPS and autosteer, have made some aspects of driving easier, the growth of autonomous technology doesn’t necessarily mean farmers will be able to sip coffee in their living rooms as the combines roll in the field. Uppalapati said putting the operation totally in the hands of machines is a very far-away view of how autonomy and robotics will impact agriculture.