What You Need to Know About Autonomous Machinery

What once felt like a futuristic science fiction novel is here: Fully autonomous functions are coming to the farm.

Skilled labor to operate heavy machinery can be hard to come by, and weather events are creating tighter windows for planting and harvest. Autonomy may be a solution to alleviate these pain points, with the possibility of running machinery 24 hours a day until work is complete. 

Fuel savings are another possible outcome from autonomy. During AGCO’s autonomous tillage testing, the company found upwards of 7% to 8% in fuel efficiency savings by taking engine load from 100% to around 85%. 

While the completely driverless tractor will be new, each manufacturer developing this technology has introduced smaller-scale autonomous functions for many years. Common precision ag features already familiar and comfortable to farmers — such as guidance lines and turn automation — are the building blocks of full autonomy.

During research stages of autonomous technology’s development, AGCO has met with and observed farmers throughout the entire crop cycle, documenting every task performed. For example, the tractor would need to perform 26 automated processes to achieve full autonomy for tillage functions, says Kevin Jones, AGCO senior manager of product management for autonomous operations.

“From an agronomic standpoint, [autonomy] is about getting all of your fields prepared with tillage, so we aren’t slowing down the planter,” Jones says. “The key is to get that seed in the ground, and in the optimal window to optimize yield.”

John Deere is working to bring a fully autonomous agriculture production system — from planting to harvest — to the market by 2030, says Michael Porter, go-to-market manager for large tractors and tillage at the company.

Jonathan Kinzenbaw farms around 2,000 acres near Des Moines, Iowa. He was apprehensive about precision ag technology — he says his father took great pride in the skill behind planting straight rows, and he felt the same. When he got his first tractor with autosteer, he realized the efficiency benefits that technology could bring. 

“I’m not totally ready as a farmer to just give up my space in the cab to a computer,” Kinzenbaw says. “But I think there are enhancements we can make along the way that take the tension out, to help a person like me, who does more than run the combine — it’s my job to be the accountant, to sweep the shop, to help my guys work on the machinery. When you’re sitting in that machine, you’re thinking about a whole lot of things that are stressful. Anything you can do to lower that stress is beneficial.” 

Kinzenbaw says it will “always come back to the pocketbook,” and autonomous technology needs to justify the cost for him to implement it. He says it’s not difficult to find people to work on his farm, but training them to skillfully run large machinery is time- and labor-intensive, and that’s unlikely to change anytime soon. 

“The world I’m living in is: How can we simplify what we’re doing so that I don’t have to have an operator who has a doctorate in tractor driving just to run the machine?” Kinzenbaw says. 

The ability to regularly survey his fields for damage or changes is where autonomy still presents an issue for him. It’s information a LiDAR sensor wouldn’t pick up. 

“How can I still stay abreast of what’s going on in my fields, on my land?” Kinzenbaw asks. “I care very much about preserving what I have for the next generation, so someday, if my son wants to farm, I can hand over a well-preserved farm where I know what’s going on.”

What’s Available? 

PTx Trimble and AGCO are launching the OutRun platform in 2025, a single-product solution for all of the companies’ future autonomy development. 

Starting with grain cart automation, OutRun is designed to enable combine operators to call the autonomous tractor and grain cart to the field being harvested. When the combine is ready to unload, the operator can call the tractor to drive up alongside the combine, taking a carefully calculated route to avoid soil compaction and crop destruction. When the tractor’s grain cart is full, it can be sent to the truck to unload and repeat the process. This is controlled through a tablet in the combine’s cab. 

This function is slated to first launch for one tractor pulling a grain cart, but AGCO is working to make this compatible for a multi-cart system, to accommodate larger farms. Automated tillage functions are also in development.

John Deere is developing its autonomous functions for tractors and implements. The company has offered automation bundles for a few years with G4 and G5 displays — the farmer just needs to add Deere’s StarFire receiver to the tractor. This bundle includes features such as AutoTrac Turn Automation, and Active Implement Guidance. 

“It’s a step function — taking customers and getting them familiar with our automation and now moving into autonomy,” Deere’s Porter says. “With the tractors now, the next step is coming out of the factory autonomy-ready.”

Deere’s new TruSet Active tillage technology is designed to improve accuracy by adjusting for depth, down-pressure, gang angle, and basket down-pressure, as well as fore/aft and side-to-side across varying field conditions, without any operator input. 

TruSet will work with Deere’s fully autonomous tractor system, on its way to farms soon, with orders opening in the near future. 

CNH Industrial and Raven Industries’ Cart Automation system requires an operator in the tractor cab but is designed to streamline the process for easier functionality. In early testing, Raven found some farmers cut their training time for new operators in half and could put more inexperienced operators in the cab. Raven has also seen increases in field efficiency, maintaining harvest speed by reducing slow-down events while unloading. 

While using automation, when the combine’s grain tank becomes full, the combine operator can push a button and summon the tractor and grain cart. That grain cart operator drives to within approximately 200 feet of the combine, presses a “sync” button, and aligns the tractor to the combine. At that point, the combine can begin unloading. 

The combine operator can “nudge” the cart, moving it forward and backward at mere inch intervals, to fill the cart evenly. After filling, the tractor operator simply steers away to disengage the sync. 

This function uses local radio communication for more reliable synchronization. Farmers using this system could sync with as many as six grain carts and combine systems in one operation. 

CNH also is developing fully autonomous grain cart and tillage functions, testing the system on farms across North America.

Operator Confidence and Safety

Some initial apprehension is expected when bringing expensive, heavy machinery to a field and letting it operate completely on its own. Companies are taking precautions to ensure that autonomous tractors run safely and efficiently.

John Deere acquired SparkAI in 2023 and uses that company’s technology to support autonomous machinery. While a tractor performs autonomously, its cameras constantly monitor for any obstacles. If the tractor comes across one, such as garbage debris, and artificial intelligence can’t determine how to proceed, the tractor sends visuals to the SparkAI team. From there, a team member can determine whether the farmer needs to address the obstacle or if the tractor can proceed. 

“Safety first; we can’t take any risks there,” John Deere’s Porter says. 

“Right now, the plan is to have a large team prepared to help keep these machines running in the field without an operator having to continuously look at their phone. We want to err on the side of caution and safety.”

Porter says farmers can further streamline the process by cleaning up field boundaries and any debris prior to autonomous operation.

Compatibility

Seth Crawford, senior vice president and general manager for PTx Trimble, says the company has taken a brand-agnostic, retrofit-first approach to autonomy so as to reach the largest number of farmers. He recognizes that manufacturers beyond AGCO’s own Fendt and Massey Ferguson possess a significant market share, so PTx needs to develop a product that applies to them. 

“You have to develop products for [other OEMs], or you can’t meet the farmer’s needs,” Crawford says. “We innovate for the farmer’s existing fleet. We’re going to retrofit products, bringing technology to their existing fleet to enhance the performance to a position that wasn’t available to that farmer out of the factory.… [PTx Trimble is] buying all the latest equipment and looking at where it can be taken to a whole new level.”

PTx Trimble is developing the first version of the OutRun autonomous system for select compatible Fendt tractors, as well as John Deere’s 2014 or newer 8R tractors. The system will be compatible with a wide variety of major farm management software systems and requires no constant data connection. Once the setup data is downloaded to the autonomous-kit-equipped tractor, that machine can run completely offline. More tractor options across manufacturers will become available as AGCO continues development. 

John Deere’s autonomous technology will be compatible with its 2020 and later tractors. Many tractors released more recently are already equipped with the harnessing and wiring to be completely autonomy-ready when the function is available. 

CNH’s Raven Cart Automation is compatible with most Case IH AFS Connect and New Holland PLMi tractors with CVT/PST transmission, which are typically model year 2020 or newer. For harvesters, this system is compatible with all Case IH Axial Flow 240 and 250 model combines, and 2015 and newer New Holland CR6.80, CR6.90, CR7.80, CR7.90, CR8.90, CR9.90, and CR10.90 combines with a common cab.