Technological advances continue to find their way to the farm to improve the efficacy of operations. Ryan Bergman, Technical Project Specialist within the Department of Agriculture and Biological Systems Engineering at Iowa State University works with industry sponsors to develop, validate and test those technologies for use in agriculture with a timeline of two to 10 years for implementation. Bergman joined KCII news during National Ag Week to talk about the headline items coming down the pipeline, led by autonomous equipment. “There are several options out there right now available on the market today. Recently this has been getting a lot of attention with John Deere’s unveiling of their new autonomous tractor. I have gotten the question a lot ‘Is it different than a lot of the options that are already out there?’ Fundamentally, it’s not that different but it does bring a new level of validity to the the industry when you have a major OEM like John Deere who says ‘We’re ready to play in this space’! We’ve had options in this space for quite a while. I go back to Smart Ag, I believe, who had an autonomous grain cart. I believe they are commercially selling that product. It’s important to get a product that is really well integrated. They’re going to have good connectivity to their mobile apps to control it and understand it. That’s a very important level.”
Other advances that have crossed Bergman’s desk recently include drone usage for mapping and spraying tasks, digital imaging, conservation practices for carbon markets, indoor farming, targeted spraying technology and more. Listen to the full interview with Bergman as part of the KCII Special Edition Agriculture Magazine below.