Old Macdonald Had a Drone: Inside Farming's Tech Boom

The tractors wars continue! An interesting documentary about the battle for tractor supremecy in the early 20th century between Henry Ford (Fordson), International Harvestor and John Deere. At one point one camp did corn and the other did wheat so they left each other alone.

Tractor Wars - Iowa PBS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgtHQUi8AvQ

How long till farm machinery starts to refuse to work with farm machinery of a different brand?

Ie. the harvester refuses to harvest a crop because it detects the crop wasn't planted by a planter of the same brand?

And equipment becomes not sold, but licensed on the basis of how many square acres it will plant/spray/harvest before the license needs renewing.

There are loads of 'obvious' next steps for farm equipment.

For example, current equipment is driver optional... But future equipment won't even have a drivers seat or cab. That frees up the design a lot.

Current equipment is small numbers of large machines to optimize a the use of a drivers time. But with no driver, it becomes a simple matter of acres per day per dollar. Suddenly swarms of tiny machines start to make sense if those machines can be made in a factory like starbucks cups.

Current machines use very expensive electronics. But nothing the machine does needs expensive electronics. It's the algorithms/IP that are the true value, and the electronics could be $50 of rasbperry pi.

Even consumer drones have a use.

The branch of the family that still farms has a neighbour that has their son use his drone to zip out over the fields and check on their irrigation system.