John Deere has been a household name for almost two centuries, as iconic in the farming sector as Santa Claus is globally. Even urban dwellers, who have only ever glimpsed tractors on their TV screens, are familiar with the brand. The popularity extends to Hollywood stars like Ashton Kutcher and George Clooney, who have been spotted wearing John Deere branded hats.
However, what many people may not realize is that John Deere is transitioning from primarily manufacturing farming vehicles to becoming a cutting-edge agricultural technology firm. Based on the progress made by 2022, it's projected that the company will evolve into a fully-fledged artificial intelligence entity within the next decade and a half.
The company's interest in robotics and autonomous technologies isn't new. As far back as the late 1990s, John Deere acquired NavCon, a GPS startup, with the aim of developing satellite-controlled guidance systems for their tractors. In just a few years, they managed to build a GPS system with accuracy within a few centimeters, far surpassing older models with a margin of error of several meters.
A significant milestone in the company's journey was the partnership with NASA to create the world's first internet-based GPS tracking system. Essentially, John Deere tractors, in collaboration with NASA, paved the way for contemporary autonomous vehicles many decades ago.
John Deere has embraced automation on a large scale. It boasts a range of tractors, vehicles, and other smart equipment that provide an array of features, from driver assistance to autonomous weed identification and eradication. This focus on autonomy has positioned the company to play a crucial role in the AI technology sector.
Jorge Heraud, John Deere's Vice President of Autonomy and Automation, offered insight into what to expect from the leading brand in self-driving tractors going forward. According to Heraud, John Deere is approaching AI technology from two perspectives: automation, to enhance machine performance beyond human capabilities, and autonomy, to make vehicles driverless.
Deere's automation technologies, those superhuman machines Heraud referred to, have long been trusted tools for farmers. As an instance of such technology, Heraud cited AI-powered systems capable of identifying and eliminating weeds in real-time.
This might seem a straightforward issue, but nobody wants to indiscriminately douse an entire field with pesticide. At the same time, manually weeding vast expanses of land is both expensive and labor-intensive.
However, if your agricultural machinery can simultaneously conduct real-time weeding and other tasks autonomously, like ploughing, farmers not only save time and labor but also enhance the yield for present and future crops.
On the other hand, there's the fascinating realm of autonomy, with John Deere's intriguing driverless tractors.
Heraud explains that this is unlike any other AI-powered tractor the company has developed:
This is incredibly exciting. It’s more than just driver assistance... the farmer can engage in other activities. They can exit the cab and control everything through an app.
Earlier AI-assist systems were designed to manage turns and keep straight lines, but a farmer was still required in the cab to deal with obstacles, muddy conditions, and other unexpected issues.
Now, the 8R model can navigate its way to a field and operate completely independently, with no human presence required. If it encounters a problem it can't solve, it alerts a human operator who can then guide it to circumvent the object or come to resolve the issue personally if necessary.
At present, the fully-autonomous 8R is equipped for ploughing, a labor-intensive aspect of farming that is vital for a successful harvest.
Heraud revealed to me that, particularly for corn and soy crops, farmers throughout the US often find it difficult to secure labor during peak harvesting seasons.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated travel restrictions, the availability of seasonal and migratory workers has diminished, putting farmers under strain to maintain their fields.
Heraud highlights the issue as critical, suggesting that the 8R could be a game-changer during the harvest season, especially when it comes to preparing fields for the subsequent planting cycle.
However, John Deere's aspirations go beyond just that. The company envisions the "future of farming" to be a robotic revolution.
Deere is currently planning to automate almost every motorized component on a farm—if the company sells it, there's a high likelihood they're working on making it an autonomous robot.
When I inquired if the "fully-automated farm of the future" was a vision expected to be realized within the next ten to twenty years, Heraud responded:
"It'll be here before the end of the decade."
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