Farming is facing major challenges. The growing population on Earth is hungry for more and more food. On the other hand, climate change and growing environmental awareness call for efficient, energy-saving and eco-friendly production ­methods. Moreover, many countries are increasingly confronted with the problem of labor shortage.

Incumbent agricultural machinery manufacturers and startups are developing various approaches to tackling these challenges. In the agricultural machinery sector the development is split: On the one hand, large machines such as those used for grain harvesting are becoming more economical and increasingly efficient due to modern technology and on the other, small multifunctional, autonomous machines that can operate in a swarm for seed-sowing, fertilizing or plowing are intended to replace conventional farm tractors, so saving energy and labor. Increasing digitalization dubbed “Farming 4.0” is common to both of these segments. By means of cloud-based, app-controlled networks agricultural machines are monitored in real time while their utilization is continuously optimized. Their routes in the fields, for instance, are planned for particularly soil-conserving and energy-saving operation so that the machines are always running within their optimal performance range. Precision farming is another key element. Here the utilization of drones that continuously monitor the condition of plants plays an important role. As early as in 2018, nearly one in ten farmers in Germany used drones – there’s no other sector with a comparably intensive utilization of these unmanned aerial vehicles.

The record mower

Model
New Holland CR10.90

Category
Combine harvester

Field of application
Suitable for different types of grains, ­regarded as the world’s fastest combine harvester with an entry in the Guinness World Records (797.656 metric tons / 879.265 short tons of wheat in eight hours).

Technology
16-liter common-rail diesel engine delivering a maximum of 700 hp that, thanks to AdBlue injection, meets Euro V introduced in 2020, one of the world’s strictest emission standards for mobile machinery; proactive automatic systems selecting the best possible setting from 280 million options in mowing operations; controlled traffic farming (CTF) enables carefully planned lane guidance and minimizes soil damage; grain tank with 14,500-liter (3,830 gal) volume.

Charged up

Model
SLC Tom and Dick

Category
Weedkiller

Field of application
Approach to combating consistently growing weed problems, eco-friendly and automated destruction of undesirable plants ­without using controversial herbicides.

Technology
Robots autonomously acting in tandem. Tom (small and orange), thanks to AI and high-resolution video technology, identifies weed infestation with centimeter-level accuracy. Data are transmitted to Dick that systematically kills weeds with an 8,000-volt ­electric shock (small picture). All this happens fully automatically and 24/7 if necessary.

© SLC

Giant with centimeter-accuracy

Model
Case ICH Quadtrac 620

Category
Tractor

Field of application
A powerful and – in spite of a length of 7.6 meters (25 ft) but thanks to a small turning circle – nimble tractor for heavy-duty field work; gentle on the soil due to minimized ground pressure and slip of the four track units; GPS-controlled steering system eases the burden on the driver.

Technology
12.9-liter six-cylinder turbo diesel engine with 692 hp; Quadtrac units with articulated steering for small turning circle; digital operation management with telemetry enables real-time access; controlled traffic farming defines permanent lanes, dedicated network guarantees reliable repeatability year by year, plus lane-to-lane accuracy of up to 2.5 cm (1 inch).

Good vibrations

Model
Sicma F3 140

Category
Vibration harvester

Field of application
Time-consuming and labor-intensive harvesting of tree fruit is done automatically without damaging the plants. Harvesting fruit from a tree only takes a few minutes, up to 99 percent of the fruit is collected and can be processed immediately.

Technology
Tree trunks are caused to vibrate by means of a two-stage joystick-controlled gripper, fruit is caught in a folding umbrella with load-bearing capacity of up to 400 kilograms (880 lbs).

Powerhouse

Model
Krone BiG X 1180

Category
Forage harvester

Field of application
The currently most powerful farming machine delivering 1,156 hp is used in grass and corn harvesting. With a fresh weight throughput of 400 metric tons/hour (440 short tons), the ­Krone is extremely powerful and, thanks to its PowerSplit function, features adjustable engine characteristics so that the 24-liter engine always runs in the optimal rpm range and therefore more efficiently.

Technology
Numerous assistance systems ensure optimal harvesting: a steering system for automatic lane keeping, photo optical cells for capturing the ripeness level of the plants and automatic adjustment of the chopping length, depending on the type and amount of harvested mass to be collected. Fully automatic speed adjustment to reduce diesel fuel consumption and easing the burden on the driver; automatic online calibration of yield data acquisition is a first in terms of eliminating the need for vehicle scales.

© John Deere

On a long leash

In contrast to the passenger car market, electrification is still playing a minor role in the farming machine sector. The main reason is that the high level of ­capacity utilization there entails the need for a large onboard energy storage requirement that current battery systems cannot cover. John Deere has presented an approach to solving this problem in a project called GridCon, in which autonomous tractors are supplied with electric power by a cable with a length of up to three kilometers (1.9 miles) attached to them. This, by the way, is an idea that was used in the USSR (see below) as early as in the 1950s but did not catch on.

Aerial perspective

Model
DJI P4 Multispectral

Category
Monitoring drone

Field of application
The health condition of plants is monitored in detail from a bird’s eye view. Thanks to precision farming problems such as pest infestation or lack of nutrients and water can be treated in the ­affected areas as needed, so saving fertilizers and water. In addition, drones can localize animals before mowing work starts.

Technology
An RGB camera attached to a 3-axis ­gimbal and five spectral cameras, battery-operated with 27 minutes of flying time, real-time data transmission over a distance of up to 7 ­kilometers (4.3 miles) thanks to image transmission ­technology; app-controllable.

Swarm intelligence

Model
Fendt Xaver

Category
Seed-sowing robots

Field of application
Can be used for seed-sowing 24/7. A swarm of six of the robots, each the size of a riding lawn mower, manages 3 hectares (7.4 acres) per hour and consumes around 70 percent less energy than a tractor doing the same work – silently and with zero emissions. The robots perform the work of heavy-duty machinery that might cause damage especially on soft or wetter soil and thus reduce yield.

Technology
Automatically cloud-controlled based on input parameters, lane guidance system ensures most efficient route with centimeter-level accuracy, lithium-ion battery with 2.6 kWh capacity, robot self-charges, seed tank with 20-liter volume is sufficient for 0.5 ha (1.2 acres) at 90,000 kernels/ha (36,500 kernels/acre).