Farming is hard and new technology can help. Meanwhile,global food needs are increasing dramatically.
Fierce Electronics asked John Deere’s Joe Hergenreter for insights on how new tech will make a difference. Hergenreter comes from a family farm and is manager of tech stack system test and validation for John Deere’s Intelligent Solutions Group where he specializes in agile digital product delivery, customer product solution validation and software development. In 1998, he joined John Deere as an intern. He holds a bachelor’s in bio-resource engineering, power machinery and precision farming from Colorado State. He answered these questions by email.
FE: You’re speaking at Sensors Converge, can you give us a sneak peek into your presentation?
JH: I’m excited to be giving a virtual keynote at this year’s Sensors Converge about the history and development of advanced tech on the farm. Specifically, I’ll be exploring how technology for the farm has evolved, from sensors to GPS to automation, the IoT, AI and autonomy. Agriculture is a unique industry in which advanced tech isn’t just a theory but actually works in fields around the world right now, so it’s an exciting use case to explore.
FE: We have such a growing demand for global food production with increasing population and declining farmland: how will advanced technology, such as autonomous tractors, in farming help meet this rising demand?
JH: Farmers have to manage large fields and each individual plant with great care and precision to minimize inputs and maximize outputs. Not only are farmers challenged to do this sustainably, but they’re also now facing a deficit of available labor for the work their operation requires. Facing very narrow windows to get the job done, technology is the magic trick to meeting the rising global food demand with the limited resources available to farmers today.
Highly autonomous technology in agriculture equipment has come a long way in the last 20 years since John Deere started investing in it – and it continues to create new paths to help get the job done on the farm in a more efficient way. Farming isn’t about just getting from point A to point B. It’s about getting from point A to point B while managing millions of microenvironments, providing only what’s needed, when it’s needed.
To do this well, precision agriculture technology leverages GPS, IoT, AI, sensors, robotics and more to automate the multitude of tasks taking place on the farm every second. Instead of relying on human senses, farmers can leverage these “factories on wheels” to make data-backed decisions on autonomous machines to ensure farmers can continue to feed and clothe our growing population.
FE: What is Deere doing to help farmers be more productive and efficient on the farm? How can the agriculture industry collaborate to continue pushing the needle forward?
JH: Time is rarely on the farmer’s side, so productivity and efficiency are always top of mind on the farm. For example, a farmer may have a matter of days to get seeds into thousands of acres between the ground thawing and rain hitting. To plant every seed in the exact spot at the proper depth, farmers leverage planters equipped with sensors to constantly read a number of factors like seeding rate, seed spacing and consistency; electrified, connected robots to precisely plant while making millisecond adjustments for machine speed, terrain and turns; and connectivity to enable communication from machine to machine. Everything on the farm must work in unison and automation on Deere’s equipment through these advanced technologies makes productive and efficient farming a reality.
To continue improving productivity and efficiency on the farm, we must prioritize innovation. One way we do that is through our Startup Collaborator program, which provides flexibility for Deere and startup companies to test innovative technologies with our vast dealer and customer network. We’ve supported many great startups through this program, including recently acquired Bear Flag Robotics, and are constantly amazed at the ways the agriculture industry as a whole is leading the charge in technological advancement.
FE: Deere recently acquired Bear Flag Robotics to move towards a more autonomous and automated farm. What advantages does the purchase of Bear Flag Robotics offer Deere? For example, Deere has had See and Spray technology for a while, but what type of technology is Bear Flag Robotics bringing to the farm and how will it integrate with Deere’s technology? When will such capabilities be commercially available?
JH: Bear Flag Robotics’ technology, in a market with a limited number of customers, leverages LIDAR, radar and camera sensors along with the necessary compute resources to enable a tractor to work in the field autonomously… meaning there is no driver in the cab of the machine! This level of autonomy helps farmers focus on their high value tasks while connected, smart machines perform the job to their expectations over an extended period of time.
Bear Flag’s technology compliments Deere’s technology when it comes to addressing individual needs on the farm. Through this acquisition, farmers will be able to take advantage of autonomy compatible with existing machines, which removes one of the barriers to technology adoption. Additionally, John Deere and Bear Flag both embrace innovation as a core value. By combining Deere and Bear Flag’s expertise in autonomy and proven abilities to bring advanced technology to market, together we will accelerate autonomous farming solutions and transform how farmers face, and overcome, their biggest challenges to feeding our world.
Bear Flag’s technology is currently being leveraged for tillage, but in the future, we are confident that autonomy has the potential to be integrated across all production steps in agriculture on a global basis.
FE: What can other industries learn from the continued innovation with advanced technology like sensors, automation and autonomy on the farm?
JH: The most important thing is always to keep the customer top-of-mind. That means knowing the specific challenges a farmer faces each day – like unpredictable climate shifts, limited resources and a shrinking labor pool – and innovating new ways to help them meet their goals productively, efficiently and sustainably. At the end of the day, our vision is to help our customers be the world’s most profitable and sustainable farmers. We want technology to achieve a payback for them so that it makes sense to deploy that technology on their field.
FE: What advanced technology or new innovations for the farm are you most excited about?
JH: I’m most excited to see how tech will bring future value to our customers:
Farming isn’t an easy business, and as self-employed businessmen and women, farmers put in long hours and make stressful decisions every day. I see this each year with my family, where a single decision such as, “Do I spray the crop for this pest or not?” will turn a profitable year into a loss year. All farmers make those kinds of decisions every day. The next generation sees that stress, and it deters them from returning to the farm. If Deere’s technology can help inform farmers with just 10% of those decisions, we will make a difference in their lives.
Technology in the right space with the right customer understanding and focus can inform and automate many of these decisions. When we deliver this, we will see two primary outcomes. First, we will make the agriculture industry and the world more sustainable while delivering food to the growing population. This is powerful and what excites and motivates me every day! Second, more of the next generation of farmers will stay on the farm and continue the long legacy their families have created.
Joel Hergenreter’s presentation, “Sensors: The Seeds Growing the Farm of the Future,” will be available live as part of the virtual Sensors Converge on Tuesday, Sept. 21 at 11 a.m. PDT. Register online for free.