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John Deere Goes All-In on Automation in Agriculture at CES 2024

Farm equipment manufacturer demonstrates how autonomous systems are reshaping labor efficiency across cotton harvesting and road construction

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By Grant Harrell · Aaron WetzelAutomation in AgricultureCes 2024Consumer Technology Association
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Key takeaways

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Farm equipment manufacturer demonstrates how autonomous systems are reshaping labor efficiency across cotton harvesting and road construction

There was reason for excitement in the area of automation in agriculture, as John Deere proved at the Consumer Technology Association's largest tech event, spotlighting innovation.

At CES 2024, John Deere showcased its innovative technology in agriculture, featuring an automated cotton-picking system and the Dozer 360 for road grading, designed to enhance efficiency and support human labor in sophisticated agricultural and construction tasks. These advancements, including a high-speed cotton-picking mechanism and drone-assisted road grading, highlight John Deere's commitment to integrating cutting-edge technology in traditional industries.

How is John Deere utilizing technology to seamlessly integrate automation in agriculture and construction and revolutionize these industries to address labor challenges and enhance productivity?

Aaron Wetzel, the Vice President of Production and Precision AG Production Systems at John Deere, speaking from CES 2024, unveiled how Deer's cutting-edge technologies, like autonomous tractors and AI-driven equipment, are transforming the landscape of traditional fields.

"Our solutions are able to find weeds versus the plants and only spraying the weeds, providing customers with up to seventy percent savings in chemicals," Wetzel said.

Our solutions are able to find weeds versus the plants and only spraying the weeds, providing customers with up to seventy percent savings in chemicals.
— Aaron Wetzel, Vice President of Production and Precision AG Production Systems at John Deere

Video TranscriptExpand ↓

Integrating technologies into our machine where it makes it much simpler for customers to actually achieve the appropriate grade on a construction site. Our solutions are able to find weeds versus the plants and only spraying the weeds. This is providing customers with up to seventy percent savings in chemicals Hello. My name is Aaron Wedzel, vice president of production systems for our production and precision ag business at John Deere, and welcome to CES twenty twenty four. We're here at the John Dier booth. We're talking about real purpose, real tech, and real solutions for our customers. Here in the booth, we've got a great and exciting play of the latest technologies where deere is bringing technology with equipment to help solve problems for our customers around the world. Couple of examples of that would be at the very entrance of our booth is a fully autonomous tractor that we're live streaming in from Austin, Texas. So thirteen hundred miles away, we're able to control the tractor autonomously through the use an iPhone. So behind me here is a video display of a live stream feed of a autonomous tractor operating thirteen hundred miles away from here in I guess, located in Austin, Texas. This screen shows the actual cab with, the operation happening without anyone in the in the driver's seat. This autonomous capabilities, we're making a real impact for our customers because it helps them address growing labor challenges. It gives them new levels of productivity, and it helps their overall quality of life. Here behind me is an example of that tractor that is operating in Austin, Texas, and attached to that tractor is one of our latest innovations in our planting for customers as they prepare the, soil and place the seeds for the coming season of growing cotton, which is a focus for our market here. This, planter has got furl vision capabilities where we have a camera, tied to artificial intelligence that's helping customers give them real time view of the trench that the planner is creating. Giving them assessments on the quality of that trench, helping them make adjustments as they go through the field at ten miles an hour. Superproductive machine, but utilizing technology to make that job even easier for customers. So again, another example of real technologies making real impact for our customers is here in our construction business segment of our booth, where we're showcasing smart grade on one of our dozers. Smart grade is, again, is integrating technologies into our machine where it makes it much simpler for customers to actually achieve the appropriate rate on a construction site. So it's addressing again labor challenges that our construction customers face by having less sophisticated operators in the tab and you do the job once. So the technology takes over, and it makes it very easy for them to get to the level of grade they're looking for. Again, real technologies, real impacts for our customers creating value for them across all aspects of our business capturing the data to help our customers make better decisions, both for their efficiency in their operations, but also data to help overall sustainability in the environment. So these are real examples of technologies we have available in the market today that customers can take advantage of to help improve their overall operations and provide an impact to their businesses in terms of increased productivity, more sustainable solution both for them, but also for our environment. We also are showing today our sea and spray technology, which uses AI technology combined with vision cameras that going through the field at nearly fifteen miles an hour, our solutions are able to define weeds versus the plane and only spraying the weeds. This is providing customers with up to seventy percent savings and chemicals. Great for their bottom line and impact for their in terms of lowering their overall costs, but a massive impact for our environment because we're applying less chemicals. Again, real technologies and real impact for our customers, all showcased here at our CES booth in the base.

About the author

GH
Grant HarrellHead of Transportation/Mobility & Host of "Are We There Yet?" video podcast series

Asking the most exciting, innovative, cutting-edge companies in transportation/mobility the “Are We There Yet?” question is a lot of fun, and the focus of Grant Harrell's top video podcast series! And, it’s not a bad question as so much is truly happening in this space today. What used to be trains, planes, and automobiles is now robots, drones, and spaceships, and Grant is curious about how soon we are all going to see these technologies in action, at scale. Very few of us enjoy a car that drives itself, have dinner delivered via drone, or have taken a vacation to space, but these amazing technologies and applications, as Grant discovers within his "Are We There Yet?" podcast series, are here, or as he likes to say, "we're there"! Grant also serves as the Head of Transportation/Mobility for MarketScale, one of the fastest-growing, most-successful, fun b2b media companies in the industry! MarketScale works behind the scenes for many of the top brands today, building their brand, engaging their communities, and telling their incredible stories! Within Grant's leadership of MarketScale's Transportation/Mobility division, he enjoys working with top companies within automotive to aviation, micro-mobility to marine, drones to space exploration, and everyone in between. And, Grant encourages you to reach out to him directly and set up a meeting, because as he says, "whats the point of all of this transportation/mobility technology development if we aren't headed somewhere fun to meet someone interesting"!

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About the Expert

GH
Grant Harrell

Head of Transportation/Mobility & Host of "Are We There Yet?" video podcast series

Asking the most exciting, innovative, cutting-edge companies in transportation/mobility the “Are We There Yet?” question is a lot of fun, and the focus of Grant Harrell's top video podcast series! And, it’s not a bad question as so much is truly happening in this space today. What used to be trains, planes, and automobiles is now robots, drones, and spaceships, and Grant is curious about how soon we are all going to see these technologies in action, at scale. Very few of us enjoy a car that drives itself, have dinner delivered via drone, or have taken a vacation to space, but these amazing technologies and applications, as Grant discovers within his "Are We There Yet?" podcast series, are here, or as he likes to say, "we're there"! Grant also serves as the Head of Transportation/Mobility for MarketScale, one of the fastest-growing, most-successful, fun b2b media companies in the industry! MarketScale works behind the scenes for many of the top brands today, building their brand, engaging their communities, and telling their incredible stories! Within Grant's leadership of MarketScale's Transportation/Mobility division, he enjoys working with top companies within automotive to aviation, micro-mobility to marine, drones to space exploration, and everyone in between. And, Grant encourages you to reach out to him directly and set up a meeting, because as he says, "whats the point of all of this transportation/mobility technology development if we aren't headed somewhere fun to meet someone interesting"!

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