2023 Spring Farm Outlook

Page 29 2023 Logan County Spring Farm Outlook LINCOLN DAILY NEWS March 2023 and lets the tractor do its work. The machine can then be monitored remotely from a phone or tablet. How it works Inside the tractor, John Deere’s site says, six pairs of advanced cameras “provide 360-degree vision to see objects in the field and triangulate distance.” While “images stream from the cameras, a high-speed processor evaluates every pixel of every image.” In around 100 milliseconds, “artificial intelligence sorts the images and determines if the area is safe to drive over or not.” A programmed set of instructions, map of the field, GPS and sensors assist with navigating the tractor remotely. All these features can increase productivity. As New Holland AHW Regional Sales & Store Manager Stan Anderson said, “The farmer now has the potential of performing two tasks at the same time such as operating his combine and having tillage performed at the same time.” Having a way to perform two tasks at once can be a big help when you are short on laborers, have a tight time window and face variable weather conditions. In a March 2022 USA Today article on driverless tractors, Scott McFetridge said, “If new technology can help farmers complete a job when soil and air temperatures are just right ahead of approaching wet weather, for example, it can mean more plentiful crops months later.” Since the driverless tractors help farmers complete tasks, it may seem that an autonomous tractor could be a labor saving device, but Anderson said, “it’s not really a measure of saved labor.” Instead, the autonomous tractor is “viewed as possibly filling a need for the lack of skilled labors.” If conditions warrant, Anderson said “these units have the capability of running 24 hours a day 7 days a week.” However, “the unit will still require down time for fuel and fluid intervals.” The field will also need to be set up before the autonomous tractor is utilized. Anderson said, “First off, a GEO Fence must be created Continued --