The Challenges and Opportunities of Rural Labor Shortages in Farming

In recent years, there has been a significant shift in the demographics of rural areas, with many people leaving to pursue urban lifestyles. This exodus has left a severe labor shortage in rural areas, particularly in farming communities where skilled workers are desperately needed to maintain crop yields. According to one farmer from Blue Earth, Minnesota, who farms approximately 2,000 acres of corn and soybeans, "it's always been an issue, but over the last 24 months it's become even bigger." The farmer expresses concerns that the lack of available labor is hindering their ability to grow food, which is essential for feeding communities.

The farmer believes that this issue is not about replacing existing jobs, but rather filling a void that already exists. They acknowledge that technology has the potential to alleviate some of these challenges, stating, "the biggest things that surprised me are all the things that an autonomous piece of machinery would encounter." The use of advanced technologies such as cameras, compute capabilities, and machine learning algorithms is crucial in addressing these issues.

Autonomous Farming: A Game-Changer for Rural Labor Shortages

The advent of autonomous farming technology has sparked hope among farmers like the one from Blue Earth. This technology allows for increased efficiency, reduced labor costs, and improved crop yields. The farmer notes that the autonomous system on their tractor is "sort of separated, sort of integrated in the tractor." They explain that the perception stack, cameras, and compute capability are added onto the tractor to enable autonomy.

The benefits of autonomous farming are multifaceted. For instance, it allows farmers like this one to perform two jobs at once – operating the harvester while the autonomous tractor works on tilling fields. The farmer describes this as "making my life a lot easier." However, they also acknowledge that there are challenges to be addressed, such as unexpected obstacles in the field and varying weather conditions.

The Technology Behind Autonomous Farming

Autonomous farming relies heavily on three key dimensions: connectivity, computational capability, and advanced algorithms. Connectivity is essential for data transmission and communication between machines and farmers. Computational capabilities enable the processing of vast amounts of data from cameras and sensors to make informed decisions. Advanced algorithms, such as machine learning, allow the system to adapt and learn from its environment.

The development of autonomous farming technology has been a gradual process that has evolved over the past five years. This timeframe allows for significant advancements in hardware and software, enabling more sophisticated machines that can tackle complex tasks. The farmer notes that "we started out with basic cameras on the tractor" but have since seen the system evolve to include features like obstacle avoidance, autonomous navigation, and even self-driving capabilities.

Business Model and Pricing Frameworks

As the technology advances, the question of business models and pricing frameworks becomes increasingly important. Farmers will need to partner with companies like John Deere to access autonomous farming systems, which will come with a cost. The farmer notes that "the right pricing framework is relative to the value that it can provide" to farmers who adopt this technology.

The company behind the autonomous farming system aims to validate its technology and determine the optimal business model through partnerships with farmers in 2022. They plan to provide farmers with an opportunity to rent the system, learn together how it works, and roll out autonomy across more crops, implements, and jobs in the coming years. This partnership will enable the farmer to enjoy a better work-life balance while continuing to contribute to food production.

Conclusion

The challenges of rural labor shortages are multifaceted, but technological advancements offer promise for addressing these issues. Autonomous farming systems, such as those developed by John Deere, have the potential to alleviate some of the difficulties faced by farmers in rural areas. As the technology continues to evolve, it will be essential to develop business models and pricing frameworks that make this innovation accessible to growers worldwide.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthe new technology that we're showing is an autonomous tractor and it's the first time that we've ever been able to take the operator outside of the tractor this is our all-new john deere autonomous adar tractor and tillage tool this is a the same tractor that a farmer could buy today it's the same 2430 chisel plow that they could go buy today from their local john deere dealership what we've added is the new autonomous components to complete the solution so we've added stereo cameras on the front and rear of the tractor and what you see is three stereo camera pairs on the front weight stack of our tractor that gives us the view on the front half of the system on the back of the tractor cab there is three more stereo cam repairs that completes our 360 degree envelope of the system and that really looks for exceptions in the field as this autonomous system is running today farmers are hands-free on the steering wheel as they do the job what we're asking them to do now is take a step out of the cab and go do something else with their time and ultimately then the way they control the machine monitor the job will be through our operation center mobile application on a cell device and then we're going to enhance operation center mobile by allowing live video and images off the equipment we'll send pictures of exceptions that are happening in the field so if there's a tree branch that's down in front of the tractor we'll send that specific image to a grower via a notification on their cell phone so they can look at it and make operational decisions and so this will be available to farmers later in 2022 to use in their operation to autonomously till acres this fall the number one issue when i go visit farmers today is labor and finding the people to do the work because it's a seasonal job and more people are moving from rural areas to urban areas and so there just aren't the people that we need in rural areas to grow the food that we all want to eat and so i don't think this is about taking away jobs i think this is about filling a gap that's huge and every day is getting worse it's always been an issue but over the last 24 months it's become an even bigger issue to get people that are skilled enough to do the work to be there to execute it so this isn't about replacing people it's about filling a void that's there today i am a fourth generation farmer from blue earth minnesota i farm approximately 2 000 acres corn and soybeans basically farm myself and i do have some great part-time health but they won't be with me forever so we're always looking for more labor more help it's always a concern to me it's been exciting just seeing the progress of it because we started out it was very basic just cameras on the tractor and then seeing it progress to the next year to the tractor stopping itself for obstacles in the field to then the next year the tractor driving itself with a safety operator in the cab to now we're seeing it drive in the field with no one in the cab was really exciting the autonomous system on the tractor is sort of separated sort of integrated in the tractor right so the perception stack the cameras and the compute capability is added onto the tractor but we had to do other things to the tractor to make it autonomous capable right so for example from a safety perspective we want to make sure that we have redundant ways of stopping the machine so you can stop the machine with the traditional service brakes that are on the tractor and then we also had to come up with a way to stop the machine with an additional method we do that through the transmission on the tractor so that's a way that the base tractor changed in order to make sure that it was ready for autonomy so the nice thing about it is you can start this field the the autonomous tractor going in the field and then i can go back to my harvester while the tractor tills the fields so it allows me to do two jobs at the same time the biggest things that surprised me are all the things that an autonomous piece of machinery would encounter that i never thought of shadows would stop the tractor yeah i never dreamed that that would be an issue dirt clods in the field that had a different moisture level to them so are a different color than what the tractor was used to seeing would stop the tractor to begin with and john deere is always aired on the side of caution but things like that just really surprise me what it's going to change mainly it's just going to make my life a lot easier is what i see that's what i'm excited about why now uh you know there's sort of a big picture answer to that and it's really the technology today is uh there are kind of three dimensions to it that are coming together in the modern time that make it all possible right there's significant connectivity that's available today not everywhere it's not ubiquitous but connectivity is a prerequisite for autonomy for us so that's one one element there's a computational capability that exists today that hasn't existed you know necessarily in the past and we need that computational capability on the machine to do the to crunch the math right to do the numbers and make sure that the perception system's performing and then the last one is really advanced algorithms machine learning algorithms that enable us to sort of sense these things and understand and make good decisions from the information the visual information that the cameras are providing and all of those things have sort of come together in the last i would argue five years to make the technology possible so the technology is not inexpensive right you're adding significant compute capability on the machine obviously the the cameras etc so it's a significant increase in terms of the overall cost of the vehicle we're trying to work through right now what the right business model there is and how to share that cost with the grower relative to the value that it might create so that's actually part of the 2022 calendar year work we not only are validating the technology so to speak but we're also validating what the right pricing framework is relative to the value that it can provide to those growers that are going to be in that program in 22. we'll have farmers signed up to partner and rent this system from deer to use on their operation we'll learn together on how things work and then we'll continue to roll out autonomy in a broader geographical area across more crops with more implements and ultimately doing more jobs for farmers in the coming years it's things that i'll get to to do that i thought i was gonna have to get to retire to enjoy well now i may be able to enjoy them sooner because i have an autonomous machinery youthe new technology that we're showing is an autonomous tractor and it's the first time that we've ever been able to take the operator outside of the tractor this is our all-new john deere autonomous adar tractor and tillage tool this is a the same tractor that a farmer could buy today it's the same 2430 chisel plow that they could go buy today from their local john deere dealership what we've added is the new autonomous components to complete the solution so we've added stereo cameras on the front and rear of the tractor and what you see is three stereo camera pairs on the front weight stack of our tractor that gives us the view on the front half of the system on the back of the tractor cab there is three more stereo cam repairs that completes our 360 degree envelope of the system and that really looks for exceptions in the field as this autonomous system is running today farmers are hands-free on the steering wheel as they do the job what we're asking them to do now is take a step out of the cab and go do something else with their time and ultimately then the way they control the machine monitor the job will be through our operation center mobile application on a cell device and then we're going to enhance operation center mobile by allowing live video and images off the equipment we'll send pictures of exceptions that are happening in the field so if there's a tree branch that's down in front of the tractor we'll send that specific image to a grower via a notification on their cell phone so they can look at it and make operational decisions and so this will be available to farmers later in 2022 to use in their operation to autonomously till acres this fall the number one issue when i go visit farmers today is labor and finding the people to do the work because it's a seasonal job and more people are moving from rural areas to urban areas and so there just aren't the people that we need in rural areas to grow the food that we all want to eat and so i don't think this is about taking away jobs i think this is about filling a gap that's huge and every day is getting worse it's always been an issue but over the last 24 months it's become an even bigger issue to get people that are skilled enough to do the work to be there to execute it so this isn't about replacing people it's about filling a void that's there today i am a fourth generation farmer from blue earth minnesota i farm approximately 2 000 acres corn and soybeans basically farm myself and i do have some great part-time health but they won't be with me forever so we're always looking for more labor more help it's always a concern to me it's been exciting just seeing the progress of it because we started out it was very basic just cameras on the tractor and then seeing it progress to the next year to the tractor stopping itself for obstacles in the field to then the next year the tractor driving itself with a safety operator in the cab to now we're seeing it drive in the field with no one in the cab was really exciting the autonomous system on the tractor is sort of separated sort of integrated in the tractor right so the perception stack the cameras and the compute capability is added onto the tractor but we had to do other things to the tractor to make it autonomous capable right so for example from a safety perspective we want to make sure that we have redundant ways of stopping the machine so you can stop the machine with the traditional service brakes that are on the tractor and then we also had to come up with a way to stop the machine with an additional method we do that through the transmission on the tractor so that's a way that the base tractor changed in order to make sure that it was ready for autonomy so the nice thing about it is you can start this field the the autonomous tractor going in the field and then i can go back to my harvester while the tractor tills the fields so it allows me to do two jobs at the same time the biggest things that surprised me are all the things that an autonomous piece of machinery would encounter that i never thought of shadows would stop the tractor yeah i never dreamed that that would be an issue dirt clods in the field that had a different moisture level to them so are a different color than what the tractor was used to seeing would stop the tractor to begin with and john deere is always aired on the side of caution but things like that just really surprise me what it's going to change mainly it's just going to make my life a lot easier is what i see that's what i'm excited about why now uh you know there's sort of a big picture answer to that and it's really the technology today is uh there are kind of three dimensions to it that are coming together in the modern time that make it all possible right there's significant connectivity that's available today not everywhere it's not ubiquitous but connectivity is a prerequisite for autonomy for us so that's one one element there's a computational capability that exists today that hasn't existed you know necessarily in the past and we need that computational capability on the machine to do the to crunch the math right to do the numbers and make sure that the perception system's performing and then the last one is really advanced algorithms machine learning algorithms that enable us to sort of sense these things and understand and make good decisions from the information the visual information that the cameras are providing and all of those things have sort of come together in the last i would argue five years to make the technology possible so the technology is not inexpensive right you're adding significant compute capability on the machine obviously the the cameras etc so it's a significant increase in terms of the overall cost of the vehicle we're trying to work through right now what the right business model there is and how to share that cost with the grower relative to the value that it might create so that's actually part of the 2022 calendar year work we not only are validating the technology so to speak but we're also validating what the right pricing framework is relative to the value that it can provide to those growers that are going to be in that program in 22. we'll have farmers signed up to partner and rent this system from deer to use on their operation we'll learn together on how things work and then we'll continue to roll out autonomy in a broader geographical area across more crops with more implements and ultimately doing more jobs for farmers in the coming years it's things that i'll get to to do that i thought i was gonna have to get to retire to enjoy well now i may be able to enjoy them sooner because i have an autonomous machinery you\n"