Precision agriculture, just like farming as a whole, has come a long way in recent years and will continue to develop quickly. And as the average U.S. citizen becomes further removed from the farm, modern farm technology might be surprising to a lot of people. Matt Olson, Precision Ag Manager for John Deere, said off-farm folks might not know how much automation there is on American farms today.
“A lot of people that are on a farm don’t realize how much automation is taking place on the farm,” Olson said. “When we look at the past ten years, we’ve accelerated the amount of automation of these machines. So, as the automotive industry talks about how they have self-driving cars, we’ve had self-driving tractors since 2002. The farmer had to be in the cab, but that tractor or combine or sprayer drove itself to the field to maintain that production that the farmer was looking at.”
Fortunately, it’s easier than ever for busy farmers to stay up on the latest in precision agriculture.
“The farmer has got a lot on their plate, right, and they’ve already made a lot of investment in precision ag,” Olson said. “They’re using auto track, they’re using section control, so they have the foundational technology that they need. I want them to think about how they can get new value from what they already have without even needing to buy a whole lot of new things. A lot of the updates, a lot of enhancements are software-oriented, so they’re easy for a farmer to get their hands on, try it, experience the value, and make the decision whether or not that’s something that they want to invest in.”
Olson added that there’s a lot of opportunity ahead in the field of precision ag.
“Our John Deere dealers have a significant investment in people who are experts in technology working with farmers day in and day out,” Olson said. “There’s a great opportunity for folks that are interested in agriculture and technology to be able to say I can stay where I’m at and have a wonderful career. And then there are opportunities to do within companies like John Deere, whether it’s building software, my role’s in marketing and communications, and there are so many different opportunities.”
For more information, visit deere.com.
