Interesting!!!! They have YouTube videos linked in here. We all knew this was coming. Just saw this one. With drones spraying & spreading seed… 10 years from now - things done very differently????
We are going to market soon with this baby! 
Farm boy
Active Member
I know this stuff is coming.
So my dad when a teenager he plowed with horses,
He saw quite a change in tractors for lets say next 40 years.
I can only image if he was still here today what he might say.
At my age 64 I don't ever see my self adapting to this change, but once again I could b on my porch watching it go across the field
So my dad when a teenager he plowed with horses,
He saw quite a change in tractors for lets say next 40 years.
I can only image if he was still here today what he might say.
At my age 64 I don't ever see my self adapting to this change, but once again I could b on my porch watching it go across the field
Was having this conversation with buddies a couple weeks ago.... its coming a and likly pretty fast in the grand scheme of things.
This is how I envision an ideal operation. Way smaller units and alot of them. Like bees. They return to a seed "hive" and reload. Solar powered with enough juice to plant around the clock. Real time monitoring on an app on planting progress. Near zero soil compaction, 99.99% seeding accuracy. Zero overlap.
Same or similar units weed the field. AI weed recognition. Greatly reduces use of herbicide, eventually maybe eliminating completely. I don't think farming looks anything like it does today in my lifetime.
This is how I envision an ideal operation. Way smaller units and alot of them. Like bees. They return to a seed "hive" and reload. Solar powered with enough juice to plant around the clock. Real time monitoring on an app on planting progress. Near zero soil compaction, 99.99% seeding accuracy. Zero overlap.
Same or similar units weed the field. AI weed recognition. Greatly reduces use of herbicide, eventually maybe eliminating completely. I don't think farming looks anything like it does today in my lifetime.
Nrharris
PMA Member
Just about pulled the trigger on an ag spray drone this winter, but held off. Only thing that stopped us was fear that in a couple years they would make big advancements and ours would be obsolete. Pretty easy to justify the expense of a drone when comparing the cost to custom helicopter application of fungicide across 1000 acres of corn each year. Would also use it instead of applying fungicide on beans with a hagie to keep from running over crop. 5 years ago the idea of owning a spray drone seemed a long long ways off.
Technology is great when it works. I have an autonomous robot to paint Athletic fields at the sports complex I manage. It’s great when it works and when it doesn’t I want to beat it into a $50,000 pile of rubble
The farmers north of my complex were spraying with drones last year. They had several generators charging batteries to keep them running. Yesterday the helicopter was spraying for them.
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The farmers north of my complex were spraying with drones last year. They had several generators charging batteries to keep them running. Yesterday the helicopter was spraying for them.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Windlooker
Well-Known Member
I get it if you’re a big operation, multiple units out at the same time very little manpower. You know there’s something about riding the tractor and taking some effort and ownership of it. How lazy can we be? Automated crap takes individual purpose away. Need purpose to stay alive. What’s next, a tree mounted bow with cam, controlled from the living room with a remote? Lol. Idk. There’s lines. I’ll be dead before it’s in complete couch potato mode. Thank God
It would drive commodity prices up, but I would like to see manmade herbicides go away, and people being employed to weed.
Crime decreases when employment increases. So does screen time, etc.
Planting and harvesting could be done by hand too.
I don't know if I'd go full blown Amish, but I do admire them and their work ethic.
Crime decreases when employment increases. So does screen time, etc.
Planting and harvesting could be done by hand too.
I don't know if I'd go full blown Amish, but I do admire them and their work ethic.
Nrharris
PMA Member
There is no way human labor would replace machines for planting and harvesting at the scale needed today. There are like 170 some odd million acres of just corn and soybean production in the United States alone. That doesn't even count wheat or any other specialty crops. Start dividing that acreage by the amount of people in the country and you see it is not feasible. As far as the man made herbicides going away, it will have to be technological advances that make that happen, not just human labor. I have a neighbor that has about 180 acres of organic and he has a mess every year. He also has terrible erosion on his farm. No silver bullets or easy solutions to these problems.
Many, many smaller, more manageable farms.
Genesis 3:17
The way it is now, not many of us are toiling to produce food from the earth.
Bassattackr
Well-Known Member
Likely why Bayer is trying to dump their herbicide division. They know the end is coming..
Nrharris
PMA Member
How are the larger farms getting divided up. Who is going to pay for them? My dad owns 1200 acres and my father in law owns 400. Someday it will be mine and it will be a cold day in hell before I sell a single acre of it. I believe that is the attitude of most multi-generational farms.
You don't see a lot of obese Amish either. So healthcare costs will fall if you get people out moving more
I'd also like to see greater restrictions placed on wellfare programs. That would flood the job market with laborers. At least with those who valued eating.
I realize I have a few pipe dreams...
Nrharris
PMA Member
I
Question I have is how much savings is there really on the see n spray? For us when we spray, most of the expensive chemicals are pre-emerge type chemicals or residual type. The see n spray can't see what is just below the surface that is ready to emerge that the residual type chemicals would kill. I would think any herbicide savings would be nullified by taking more trips in the sprayer leading to lots of seat time and higher hours on an expensive machine. I more go with the philosophy that the easiest weeds to kill are the ones that never see daylight.
Few quick rambles…
Pre-emergents are at least as important as post. So - agree with above.
My stepdad has made automated farm machinery for 45 years now. He’s crazy smart. More on blueberries. Was telling me today about his machines that test firmness with lazer. He makes things that harvest & pack them.
His knowledge in H2A visa program is wild on how farmers ship in cheap labor. Whatever that program is. Was telling me what local farmers pay for these folks …. Mainly from Central America. Wild how no one wants to work.
My job from 14-16 was weeding flower fields by hand. Pry 40% English speaking & 60% Spanish. I hated it. Bent over 8 hours a day in 90 degree heat with a “metal clobber”. Not very efficient. Sucked. So glad my parents made me have that crap job!!!! $4.25/hour. Not the way to go.
My wife’s grandpa does organic. Agree on above…. Amount of tillage & erosion is insane…. His erosion is far less cause of how he designed Terraces. Others… soil damage, killing every living animal out there, erosion, manure run off into creeks, etc…. Don’t get me wrong - organic has some great health benefits but when u see it done- it sure is vastly far from a perfect model!!! Almost Equivalent of folks feeling great with electric cars that are powered by coal plants & massive battery pollution …. Everything has its issues.
Watched the videos on laser weeders…. Step dad seen em run. In specialty crops. Said they glow at night. I think it’s like 500k or $1.5m (I forget) for one he saw. Pretty wild.
Drones, automated tractors…. Gonna be way more. I want a drone to drop me in my tree stand!!
Pre-emergents are at least as important as post. So - agree with above.
My stepdad has made automated farm machinery for 45 years now. He’s crazy smart. More on blueberries. Was telling me today about his machines that test firmness with lazer. He makes things that harvest & pack them.
His knowledge in H2A visa program is wild on how farmers ship in cheap labor. Whatever that program is. Was telling me what local farmers pay for these folks …. Mainly from Central America. Wild how no one wants to work.
My job from 14-16 was weeding flower fields by hand. Pry 40% English speaking & 60% Spanish. I hated it. Bent over 8 hours a day in 90 degree heat with a “metal clobber”. Not very efficient. Sucked. So glad my parents made me have that crap job!!!! $4.25/hour. Not the way to go.
My wife’s grandpa does organic. Agree on above…. Amount of tillage & erosion is insane…. His erosion is far less cause of how he designed Terraces. Others… soil damage, killing every living animal out there, erosion, manure run off into creeks, etc…. Don’t get me wrong - organic has some great health benefits but when u see it done- it sure is vastly far from a perfect model!!! Almost Equivalent of folks feeling great with electric cars that are powered by coal plants & massive battery pollution …. Everything has its issues.
Watched the videos on laser weeders…. Step dad seen em run. In specialty crops. Said they glow at night. I think it’s like 500k or $1.5m (I forget) for one he saw. Pretty wild.
Drones, automated tractors…. Gonna be way more. I want a drone to drop me in my tree stand!!