Old tractors go high-tech as equipment manufacturers compete

Feb 29, 2024

Illinois farmer Leon Adams’ corn planter sits at the center of a strategy by AGCO Corp. to expand in the world of agricultural machinery dominated by Deere & Co.

The Deere 1770NT model was built in 2010 and painted in the company’s iconic green and yellow, but the high-tech attachments that actually insert seeds into the ground, 24 rows at a time, are built by AGCO’s Precision Planting brand.

AGCO is focusing on retrofitting used tractors made by it, Deere or other manufacturers. It’s offering souped-up gear to make tractors smarter, betting farmers are eager to upgrade to the latest technology while also saving on costs.

“What we’re targeting is essentially the 93% of the customers that don’t buy new every year,” AGCO Chief Executive Officer Eric Hansotia said in an interview with Bloomberg last month at the Precision Planting headquarters in Tremont, Illinois.

Retrofitting existing tractors “allows a much lower price point for them to get that new-feature capability without having to change over the entire machine,” Hansotia said.

Deere recently partnered with Elon Musk’s SpaceX for that purpose. More advanced growers are retrofitting with components such as Deere’s artificial-

intelligence powered sprayer that can tell the difference between a crop and a weed.

Click here to see more...

Video: A Farm Song (Busy) | Parody of A Bar Song (Tipsy) by Shaboozey

Lyrics:

My days begin with workin’, Alarm’s at 5 o’clock,
I Fill 5 gallon buckets, The feeders and the troughs,
This five to nine ain’t workin’, why the heck do I work so hard?,
I can’t worry ‘bout health problems, I can sleep in when I’m gone,

One, here comes the two to the three to the four,
Tell em’ ‘buy another cow, we need plenty more’,
Blue jeans are gettin’ dirty, what else could I ask for,
Oh my, more chores

Someone pour me up another shot of sweet tea,
They know me and working hard’s got a history,
There’s another flock of sheep that still needs feed,
Everybody on the farm gettin’ busy,

Everybody on the farm gettin’ busy,
Everybody on the farm gettin’ busy,

I’ve been working pretty stressed but,
I ain’t changing for some cash,
Lord knows that I’m very blessed (More chores),
But I gotta say it’s hard,
Workin’ outside gettin’ charred,
Living out here on the farm, (more chores)

One, here comes the two to the three to the four,
Tell em’ ‘buy another cow, we need plenty more’,
Blue jeans are gettin’ dirty, what else could I ask for,
Oh my, more chores

Someone pour me up another shot of sweet tea,
They know me and working hard’s got a history
There’s another 20 chickens that still need feed,
Everybody on the farm gettin’ busy,

Everybody on the farm getting’ busy,
Everybody on the farm gettin’ busy,

Fun, here on ranch that’s what you can’t ignore,
Might be pretty hard but I love it to its core,
Flannel’s gettin’ dirty, what else could I ask for,
Oh my, more chores (Tell ‘em sing with me)

Someone pour me up another shot of sweet tea,
They know me and working hard’s got a history,
There’s another flock of sheep that still needs feed,
Everybody on the farm gettin’ busy,
Someone pour me up another shot of sweet tea,
They know me and working hard’s got a history,
Watching cattle in the dark, don’t miss me,
Everybody on the farm gettin’ busy,
(Yeeeeeehaw)
Everybody on the farm gettin’ busy,
Everybody on the farm gettin’ busy,
It’s the best bro, go get yourself a farm