Driverless Tractor System Among First On Market

An Iowa-based company is marketing one of agriculture’s first driverless systems for tractors. The ag technology firm has successfully tested the system that allows existing farm equipment to become autonomous. The company will sell a limited number of the systems in 2018.

The technology was demonstrated at a field day on a farm in northeast Iowa. The farmer who hosted the demonstration used the technology during harvest. As the farmer navigated his combine through cornfields, he pushed a button to summons a tractor pulling a grain cart. The driverless tractor rumbled across the field and pulled alongside the combine to catch the grain from the auger. With another push of a button, the also driverless grain cart traveled back across the field to unload.

A 2017 tech industry report predicts unmanned autonomous tractors will become an industry norm. The report estimates 300,000 tractors fitted with autosteer tractor guidance tech were sold in 2016, with that number expected to reach 660,000 by 2027.

Source: Delta Farm Press