FVTC Agriculture students recently got a firsthand look at the future of farming –right in their own (campus) backyard.
During a recent class, FVTC industry partner Riesterer & Schnell brought its autonomous tractor and tillage tool to campus for a live field demonstration. The John Deere prototype 8R 410 uses AI, GPS and cameras to navigate farm fields without a driver in the seat. All settings are input into a system before the driver exits the cab. The tractor then performs its job within the set boundaries.
“If the tractor sees something it is going to stop,” says Trevor Balthazor, digital specialist at Riesterer & Schnell. “You can control it using a mobile app on your phone so the farmer has the ability to see everything that is going on, right from his phone.”
With all of these futuristic features, you might be surprised by the most commonly asked question about this new tractor: why would anyone want to give up driving tractor?
“We get that question often,” says Beau Dvorachek, strategic solutions manager at Riesterer & Schnell. “Why take away one of the most enjoyable parts of farming? But in many places, a labor shortage plays a role in this technology moving forward.” With the ability to cover 40 to 45 acres per hour, the autonomous tractor not only boosts efficiency but frees up farmers to focus on other critical tasks around the farm.
Justin Wege, department chair for Ag Power and Precision Agriculture, worked with the locally owned John Deere dealership to bring the demonstration to students in both Agriculture and Outdoor Power programs.
“We give our students the best opportunity we can give them,” Justin says. “I think this is a great, great experience for our Precision Ag program students, to see the latest and greatest technology that’s out there.”
Student Micheal Sahotsky agrees. The first-year student couldn’t help but think about what his family would say about seeing the field demo.
“Like my grandpa, he would have never imagined a tractor driving itself, doing tillage by itself. It’s just a crazy idea that no one is going to be off that tractor and you can just control it off your phone.
Riesterer & Schnell is involved in testing the technology and some farms in Wisconsin are already participating in field testing.
