Most Disruptive Technologies in Agriculture

This is Tim Hammerich of the Ag Information Network with your Farm of the Future Report.

What is the most disruptive technology emerging in agriculture today? One could make the argument for gene editing, autonomous vehicles, or even biologicals. Michele Lombardi of CNH Ventures believes one group of technologies that belongs on that list are the see-and-act capabilities to make precision agriculture even more precise.

Lombardi… “ One of the biggest disruptor in this new generation of technology that will hit the agricultural space is what we all call see-and-act. So the combination of various technologies, because then you're putting together various technologies where the machine is capable of analyzing its environment and taking thousands of decisions in a few seconds to adapt. And that may be as simple as a combine, accelerating or slowing down a little bit, or see and spray technology, or whichever. All these, which are still proving very difficult, the opportunity of truly disrupting the industry as it would allow for that transition from human-controlled to fully autonomous. It's not a matter of driving in a straight line. All our equipment already drives in a straight line. There's no value in an equipment that drives in a straight line, but the farmer still has to be on board with the tractor of the combine to manage everything else. You need a solution that is capable of handling all the different requirements as it dries in a straight line.”

Lombardi says this highlights the ability through artificial intelligence and robotics to perform complex tasks so farmers can focus less on controls and more on outcomes.