New precision agriculture technology from John Deere has enabled fully autonomous operation of tractors in North Dakota, where Gooseneck Implement employees have been testing the system on 9RX models in Morton County. The upgrade is not yet commercially available but allows tractors to perform tillage tasks without a driver, relying on 16 cameras and an advanced safety system to monitor surroundings and prevent accidents.
Users can control the tractor remotely via an app, and the system can respond to objects in its path by stopping, rerouting, or requiring manual intervention depending on the severity of the obstacle.
The autonomous system is designed to ease labor shortages and help farms run more efficiently, though developers acknowledge that some producers may be hesitant to adopt it right away. Connectivity through Starlink ensures continuous communication and monitoring, and while the system occasionally makes decisions farmers wouldn’t, it still accomplishes the task.
Photo Credit: Legal Reader, John Deere
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