The manufacturer is showing off multiple pieces of equipment
Global innovation and technology is on display in Las Vegas, NV, for the Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
The show brings together more than 4,500 exhibitors from multiple industries – including agriculture.
John Deere is among the companies representing the ag sector at the 2025 show.
The company’s theme for CES 2025 is “Real Purpose. Real Autonomy.”
“When we talk about autonomy, we mean full autonomy. No one’s in the machine.” Jahmy Hindman, chief technology officer at John Deere, said during a Jan. 6 presentation.
People who walk by the John Deere booth will get a look at machines equipped with Deere’s second generation autonomous kits for the agriculture, construction and commercial landscaping sectors.
The machines are managed through John Deere Operations Center Mobile.
“By swiping left to right to start, the machine can be started once placed in the appropriate slot,” John Deere told Farms.com in an email. “Through the app, users also have access to live video, images, data and metrics, and the ability to adjust various factors like speed. In the event of any job quality anomalies or machine health issues, users will be notified remotely so they can make necessary adjustments.”
Some machines will be autonomy ready from the factory while others can have kits installed as a retrofit option.
For commercial farmers, there’s the autonomous 9RX and its capabilities for autonomous tillage and other tasks.
The autonomy kit features 16 cameras arranged in pods to create a 360-degree view of the field. The kit can also calculate depth more accurately at larger distances, so the tractor can pull more equipment and drive up to 40 percent faster.
John Deere is also showcasing the autonomous 5ML orchard tractor for air blast spraying – a job that could see workers operating tractors for 10 hours per day at speeds of 2.5 miles per hour. A process that must occur up to eight times per year.
The kit for this tractor includes seven cameras and Lidar sensors to address dense canopies found in orchards.
Lidars provide depth information, allowing the tractor to know where the trees are and how to navigate rows.
“If the tractor sees a human, or a pickup truck, or irrigation piping, or a bee box, it knows whether to stop or drive around the obstacle,” Igino Cafiero, director of high value crop autonomy, told CES.
In addition to showcasing equipment, attending CES helps John Deere engage in discussions about agriculture.
The show provides opportunities to educate people about where their food comes from, and how advanced modern farming is.
“This gives us an opportunity to educate the audience where their food, fiber and fuel comes from. Also connect what farmers do every day and the tech they use every day to put food on our table,” Deere told Farms.com. “We are advocating for the great work farmers do every day using our precision ag technologies to do more with less and for the work the ag industry is doing.
“Farmers are some of the most tech savvy individuals who have consistently adopted technology to face their challenges head on, like eliminating unnecessary waste on their farms to better manage every input like seeds, nutrients, herbicides and pesticides to maximize the success of every plant with the greatest efficiency. The less our customers waste, the more sustainable the farm or jobsite becomes, leading to both environmental benefits and greater economic outcomes.”