09 “Sabanto’s autonomous technology is making me rethink how I farm. I want to spend my capital on land, not equipment,” Yirsa stated in a testimonial. Overcoming Technical and Trust Challenges Developing GPS-based navigation and obstacle detection systems was no easy feat. “GPS navigation in wide-open farm fields sounds simple until you’re actually out there, dealing with signal dropouts, tree canopy cover, and terrain variability,” Rupp explained. Obstacle detection required integrating perception specifically for agriculture and building fail-safes to earn farmers’ trust. “Farmers don’t want a science project in their field. They want something that works every day in the real world,” Rupp emphasized. Sabanto’s 24/7 Mission Control software is the backbone of its autonomous system. Farmers can plan entire field operations remotely, monitor real-time tractor activity, and respond to unexpected obstacles. “Our users can access images from the cameras and even stream video,” Rupp noted. “And that’s a big deal, especially when you’re managing multiple autonomous machines across large acreages.” Another success story is Daren Richards, a contract hay producer in Utah. Richards, who recently graduated with an agriculture degree, uses Sabanto’s autonomy to run lower-cost equipment for longer hours. “Quite often, you’ll find him autonomously windrowing and manually baling in the same field,” Rupp shared. Looking ahead, Rupp said he sees a fundamental transformation in agriculture driven by autonomy. “I see a shift toward leveraging smarter, more costeffective technology that maximizes output with less horsepower,” he predicted, adding that Sabanto aims to expand geographically and innovate continuously but always remain rooted in solving real-world problems for farmers. Of course, labor shortages remain a critical issue in agriculture, but Sabanto’s autonomous technology helps farmers get more done with less labor and overhead. While the recent influx of tariffs certainly poses challenges, Rupp sees them as opportunities to drive innovation and build resilient domestic supply chains. Farmers appreciate the ease of use and reliability of Sabanto’s systems. “We hear the same thing over and over again: ‘I thought this would be a lot more complicated.’ That’s exactly what we’re going for,” Rupp said, adding that once onboarded, farmers quickly trust the system and often declare that they will never go back. The company is already operating in 25 US states and Canada, with plans to expand further. Rupp said he envisions a fully connected farm with fleets of small, autonomous machines operating in sync. “We’re staying rooted in the farmer’s experience. We don’t release features because they’re cool,” he summed up. “We release them because they solve realworld problems for farmers.” | pag “WE HEAR THE SAME THING OVER AND OVER AGAIN: ‘I THOUGHT THIS WOULD BE A LOT MORE COMPLICATED.’ THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT WE’RE GOING FOR.”
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