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From greater productivity to fewer labor challenges, the industry’s first autonomous spreader signals major changes to the future of farming.

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Submitted by Case IH

What might the “autonomous farm” look like? Will it be an operation void of farmer input, with operators and consultants giving way to self-driving tractors and A.I.-generated algorithms? For innovators in the agriculture industry, the answer is a resounding “no.”

The autonomous farm won’t be a human-free operation — rather, it will be human-led.  

Instead of removing farmers from the equation, the goal of autonomous farm equipment is to empower growers to do more by freeing up time spent on otherwise rote tasks. This allows flexibility for them to tend to other jobs and even remotely manage other operations from the cab.

That’s exactly what developers at Case IH and Raven Industries had in mind when creating the industry’s first autonomous spreader, the Case IH Trident 5550 applicator with Raven Autonomy. A long-awaited solution, this new driverless applicator helps farmers tackle labor challenges while simultaneously increasing productivity.

The farmer-led push for autonomy

For years, farmers had been asking for more from their agricultural equipment — through customer conversations, through social media, through farm testing and now through research. After publishing results from a survey of 515 respondents, researchers found that growers highly valued increased productivity and labor re-utilization benefits autonomous farm equipment provided.

At the top of that list of values was the desire for an autonomous spreader.1 To meet growing farmer demand, engineers from Case IH and Raven Industries collaborated to create a spreader capable of completing an entire operation through a mobile device, from anywhere in the field.

The new autonomous applicator uses supervised autonomy to help operators perform tasks — once started, the machine can run on its own. Using AI and an advanced camera and radar system, the applicator can perform critical tasks while detecting and interpreting obstacles along the way. To flexibly tackle other tasks, an operator can also retake control and perform precision work. 

“It’s nice to be able to drive to the field, do some of the tougher parts, the boundaries, and then get out of the cab and let it go on its way,” said Neal Hiemstra, agronomy logistics manager at Agtegra Cooperative.

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Linking two brands for better agronomic solutions

With the acquisition of Raven by CNH Industrial in November 2021, autonomous solutions — such as the Trident 5550 applicator with Raven Autonomy — will only become more common. This acquisition creates a faster pipeline to co-create autonomous solutions, and farmers can look forward to a streamlined service model that gives them the power to do more with less. 

What’s more, the autonomous spreader comes just eight months after the brands have merged, signaling a desire by both companies to quickly meld reliable equipment with smart-tech in order to meet the needs of growers everywhere. 

Progressing the path toward autonomy

While the new autonomous applicator is a major advancement in the field of autonomous agricultural innovations, it may simply be the first step in a series of solutions that could revolutionize the future of farming itself.

Going forward, that might look like an entire field of operations run by autonomous equipment, with inputs pre-determined by growers days, if not weeks, in advance. Driverless equipment might help farmers do more with the acres they have while enabling them to farm tens of thousands more. This could up profit potential and help overhead costs stay lower, while always keeping growers in control of their operation.

To learn more about the Trident 5550 applicator with Raven Autonomy, visit https://info.caseih.com/CIHAutonomy.html.  

 

1 Forward Group for CNH Industrial. “Autonomy in Agriculture.” Published May 2022.

 

©2022 CNH Industrial America LLC. All rights reserved.

Case IH is a trademark registered in the United States and many other countries, owned by or licensed to

CNH Industrial N.V., its subsidiaries or affiliates. www.caseih.com

 

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