Automation and efficiency: the way of the future for farming equipment

Automation is the way of the future for farming equipment. As technology continues to improve, the benefits find their way down to the agriculture industry. Farm equipment distributors have noticed a general trend of moving toward improved efficiency and enhancements that make operating equipment easier and more user-friendly.

Pat McCrabb, the general manager for five J.J. Nichting Company stores across southeast Iowa, noted that automation has 'rapidly ramped up” in the last 10 years. For McCrabb, whose stores are CASE IH dealerships geared toward selling to farmers who run large agricultural operations, the CASE IH 2019 50 series combine has been one of his more popular pieces of new equipment on the market.

'This year they came out with an automation mode, which automatically makes adjustments as it goes through the field,” McCrabb explained. Adjustments include ground speed, cleaning fan speed and angles the combine is operating at, all features that previously had to be changed manually by farmers. McCrabb added that other benefits from better technology include 'more efficient harvest form and better grain quality,” and 'less stress on the operator.”

'We have half a dozen out on this first year. Farmers have fantastic luck with it and really seemed to enjoy it. In the ag industry, tech is where all the growth is based around,” McCrabb commented.

The general manager also notes that automation not only makes farming easier, but ensures that resources don't get wasted. Another machine that has done well with local farmers include the CASE IH 2000 series planter, which was introduced last spring. McCrabb's stores sold ten in the last year.

'They changed up the meters. The technology changes how farmers control the planting process. The new vSet meter is a meter that actually measures out the seed,” McCrabb explained. The most recent version of the planter that has been released was redesigned for an even more precise and accurate planting of seed going into the ground.

'Seed is expensive. Farmers cannot waste it, they need it to grow, and they need to put it in at the right place,” McCrabb remarked, explaining the planter's usefulness to farmers.

As for the direction McCrabb anticipates the ag equipment industry growing, he again reiterated technology and automation, especially in data collection, which will help farmers understand how to be even more efficient and produce a better product.

Tom Hassenfritz, who owns Tom Hassenfritz Equipment (T.H.E.) Company in Mt. Pleasant, said he also noticed a shift to better efficiency, including a 'transition from incandescent to LED lights” in equipment across the board.

'It's been kind of a nice transition. I think it's become a win-win for everybody. The price has become very competitive … you've got a lot more lumens and you don't draw that much amperage to power the LED,” the company owner noted.

Hassenfritz's store is targeted toward smaller farms who may not be mass producing crop. In terms of popular items, he explained that things that sell are also linked to environmental issues that may be occurring.

'With the emerald ash borer, we've gotten into stump grinders … All the ash trees are dying … we've got a lot of ash trees that need to be cut. There are very few people treating them,” Hassenfritz said of a popular tractor mounted stump grinder produced by Woodland Mills.

Even in his market geared toward smaller ag, the equipment supplier has also noticed changes in technology that make user-friendly equipment more popular. In particular, Hassenfritz noted that the 1025R model, a tractor made by John Deere, has been a good seller at his store, with about a dozen sold every year since it was introduced into the market in 2015.

'It's a smaller piece … it allows them to have a 4-wheel drive tractor and diesel power so it's very efficient and very economical,” Hassenfritz explained.

The tractor has a three-point hedge, a rear power takeoff, a belly mower and a loader. The tractor's multifacetedness makes it a popular item because of its ability to play the role of what used to be multiple pieces of equipment that were sold and used separately. The improved technology that allows farmers to easily attach and detach implements onto the machine is also a big driver for why the tractor sells so well.

'Its market is so broad … it just kind of fits … it's so versatile, we can take the loader off without leaving the seat, you can take the mower off without leaving the seat … now this one machine does it all,” Hassenfritz concluded.