View From The Cab

By David Tollefson, Columnist

As a farmer, I’ve always been interested in new inventions and gadgets, both for personal use and in the agriculture realm.

Since John Deere invented the plow (born in Rutland, Vt., and moved to Illinois) in 1837, his name is associated with the largest manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment in the world.

I guess I’d never paid much attention to the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) before 2023 came along. Being I own two different John Deere tractors, one a 1959 model 630 and the other a 2012 model 6430, I’m a big fan of the popular yellow and green machinery.

At the 2022 CES show in Las Vegas, Nev., a year ago in early January 2022, the John Deere company got some recognition for “Best of Innovation in Robotics,” as well as “Honoree for Vehicle Tech and Advanced Mobility,” in the form of John Deere’s fully autonomous tractor, a technologically advanced robot for the agriculture industry that leverages GPS guidance, stereo cameras, sensors and AI technology to “perform essential tasks on the farm without an operator in the cab.”

Equipped for tillage (the process of preparing the soil before planting seeds) the autonomous tractor helps address the growing labor shortage, allowing farmers to focus on pressing tasks while managing the robot from their smartphone. Farming is a 24/7 job, and the autonomous tractor is helping them do more with less, to feed the world.

2023 is similar, in that John Deere announced its new electric excavator and ExactShot, a robotics-based fertilizer system. The two releases saw John Deere win CES 2023’s award for best of innovation in robotics and a nod as honoree for vehicle tech and advanced mobility.

“Why should you care about farmers when they represent less than two percent of the U.S. population?” John May, CEO of John Deere said at a keynote of the CES. “You will not find two industries that have a larger impact on our world and all of us than agriculture and construction.”

ExactShot uses sensors and robotics to place fertilizer precisely where the seeds need them, instead of dropping a continuous flow of fertilizer all over the row of seeds. John Deere says it will reduce the amount of starter fertilizer needed by more than 60 percent – that’s over 93 million gallons of starter fertilizer annually.

“ExactShot uses a sensor to register when each individual seed is in the process of going into the soil,” the company wrote in a press release. “As this occurs, a robot will spray only the amount of fertilizer needed, about 0.2 milliliters, directly onto the seed at the exact moment as it goes into the ground.”

Another innovation from the tractor company is its see and spray technology, which uses 36 cameras on a massive 120-foot-wide sprayer to pinpoint the difference between weeds and plants – and kill the former without hurting the latter. That reduces the amount of herbicide farmers need by up to 66 percent, and it looks very cool.

There’s also the electric excavator, which has zero emissions – along with reduced noise pollution and lower costs – without sacrificing power. It’s powered by Kreisel Electric, which Deere acquired a majority stake in last February. Kreisel’s charging technology puts less pressure on the electrical grid.

“Everything we do at John Deere is focuses on real purpose and real impact,” Jahmy Hindman, CTO at John Deere, said in a press release. “This means we’re developing technology that enables our customer to provide the food, fuel, fiber and infrastructure that our growing lobal population needs.”

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While the above story mentions the electric excavator, I recently purchased a tiny 21-inch electric-battery powered snow blower.

Since the ‘70s I have had tractor-powered snow blowers to keep the farmyard and driveway open for the dairy business until the turn of the century; I still have a large 8-foot wide blower to keep my driveway and three others open through the winter.

But a large blower or scoop does not get right up to the doors of buildings and onto my deck. This little blower can fit in the back of my Equinox for transport, and can be pulled up the 6 steps onto my deck where I used to have to shove the snow under the railing to drop it onto the ground below. And it’s powered by two husky rechargeable batteries.

From what I’ve heard from talking to people with small or medium gasoline-powered, self-propelled snow blowers, they can be tricky to start, and if not stored properly between seasons, can be troublesome.

Now, of course, I’m looking forward to some snow to really play with my new little toy. But I’ve had no measurable snow since Jan. 3-4 at my place.

It’s not a matter of if, but when the next snow will come. It’s a long time until the last snow of spring. I remember one time years ago walking into graduation at Starbuck High School in late May, to snow flurries!

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Please contact David Tollefson with thoughts or comments on this or future columns at: adtollef@hcinet.net