Field Partnership Drive Adoption of Autonomy and Machine Learning Technology

Since about the 1840s, the percentage the world’s population planting crops has declined as other industries grew. Now, as the world’s population expands to about 8 billion, the small percentage of those involved in agriculture continues to feed the world. So how has this small section of the population been able to grow food for more and more people? Technology and collaboration.  

“The reality is that you can’t think about agriculture and technology as separate entities anymore,” John Deere’s Chief Technology Officer Jahmy Hindman said during a keynote presentation with Midwestern farmers and ag technology leaders. “Technology has allowed farmers to reduce their labor load so they can pay attention to other jobs that they’ve always wanted to do but didn’t have the time.”  

More than 10 years ago, we couldn’t imagine how advancements in processing power, pixels and sensors would create new solutions for growing food. John Deere, equipment experts and farmers' ability to work together has driven innovation.  

“Time is our most valuable asset on the farm — especially during the spring and fall,” said Riley Braaten, co-owner of Braaten Farms in Kindred, North Dakota. “And it’s not always the easiest to find help during these times, so if we can have the autonomous tractor working all night to free up a few hours where I can fill up planters, pick up seed or repair equipment, then that’s a real improvement to our operation.”  

Braaten has worked with RDO and John Deere for nearly two years to implement an autonomous tillage solution. Braaten and other early adopters who shared their experiences at a Future of Farming discussion with John Deere agreed that these technology solutions will only improve as time goes on, saving farmers more time and labor.  

Braaten partnered with RDO to autonomously till his fields for the last two years.

Farmers have relied on the service and support of equipment partners like RDO to be autonomy-ready. Recent increases in satellite connectivity, affordable high-resolution cameras, and user-friendly Farm Management Software (FMS), like John Deere Operations Center™, create a pathway to autonomous machines.  

“Apart from the cameras and autonomy technology, the tractor is just like any others on the farm,” Braaten said. “Last spring, RDO and John Deere team members came out to our farm to go over the basics to set up high-quality field boundaries, AutoTrac™ Turn Automation (ATTA) and Autopath™, so we can use the autonomy mode for tillage this year.”

John Deere’s machine control technology — AutoPath™ and ATTA — guides tractors by syncing with a specific path planning software application in the Operations Center. AutoPath™ uses row data to create a guidance line for passes to reduce crop damage and increase efficiency. ATTA automates steering to increase consistency during turns at the end of every pass.  

Braaten and his brother, who run Braaten Farms together, worked with John Deere team members and RDO’s Tillage Technology Product Manager Tyler Zima to ensure they understood how the autonomous mode can be turned on and off and the safety protocols associated with autonomous operation.  

“The autonomy mode worked well on our larger fields,” Braaten said. “When I had to adjust something like an interior boundary to tell the machine to navigate around trees, the interface was user-friendly.  

Braaten and his brother said that every farmer they know works long hours during the spring and fall, so any machine control technology and software applications that help them increase their productivity without investing more time and effort greatly improve their operation.  

“Now with the ability to have a tractor autonomously tilling, we can focus on other growing phases and get to jobs that we haven’t always been able to get around to,” Braaten said.  

Wondering if your farming operation could be autonomy-ready? Listen to this episode from RDO’s Agriculture Technology Podcast. 

More Pixels and Processing Power for Precise Application  

Braaten and other early adopters working with RDO and John Deere say that retrofitting their existing tractors, like the 8RX or 9RX, with machine control or machine learning cameras and sensors offers a way to increase efficiency without significant financial investment.  

Hindman explained that advancements in the quality of mobile device cameras have been mirrored in the ag technology space, resulting in higher-resolution cameras on tractors. These cameras can capture more pixels without requiring more processing power and improve spraying implements' ability to identify weeds or pests among healthy crops. ATTA, AutoPath machine technology, and John Deere’s See & Spray™ allow farmers to precisely target weeds accurately within a quarter-inch without reducing the tractor’s speed during a spraying application pass.  

John Deere’s See & Spray™ uses advanced computer visioning and machine learning to identify and target weeds in crops like corn, soybeans, and cotton.  

“We partnered with farmers to install a See & Spray™ Premium Upgrade Kit which includes a 120-foot boom to keep its 36-cameras level and six sensors which tell the sprayers to turn on and off,” said Jacob Halverson, RDO’s Product Specialist based in North Dakota. “This helps farmers to precisely target weeds, reduce any potential crop damage and overall application costs.”  

These field experiences mark the latest chapter in a partnership between growers, equipment providers and manufacturers to shape the future of agriculture. It’s a partnership RDO Equipment Co. is proud to support through equipment and technology training, service and expertise designed to set growers up for success and provide them with a steadfast partnership every step along the way.  

Interested in working with RDO product managers and expert technicians? Then contact your local RDO store or fill out this form.