Automation Drives Next Generation of Farming

The past few years have seen a rapidly increasing trend toward automation in many walks of life from home to business. This automation trend has been embraced by the agricultural industry as one viable solution for the shrinking labor pool impacting farmers. As with any developing trend, there are several factors behind this increasing demand for agricultural automation.

Moving from hydraulics to electrification

Another significant factor driving agricultural automation is the trend of moving hydraulic systems to electrification. This move toward electrification has been inspired in large part by increasing environmental regulations governing diesel engines used to power hydraulic systems, like the EPA’s Tier 4 Emission standards for non-road diesel engines. Larger equipment results in doubling or even tripling the price of engines in addition to increasing their weight. Considering that space is at a premium in this type of equipment, that adds another layer of difficulty in continued use of hydraulic systems.

Some OEMs are moving to a hybrid type of equipment, where the diesel engine operates like a compressor to power some of the hydraulics that have to stay on during use. Other types of equipment that do not require continuous operation can use electric motors and run a diesel engine-powered generator. The OEM’s objective is to reduce the size of the diesel engine so that the equipment costs less. Manufacturers can design equipment that saves consumers money by doing that, and they can also meet the regulations on pollution, because these regulations apply to larger engines.

Another important factor contributing to the move away from hydraulic systems is contamination due to hydraulic fluid leakage. Contamination sometimes requires farmers to cease harvesting fields while they remove contaminated dirt, which is time-consuming and extremely costly. Third-party cleanup crews must be called to the scene in order to treat the field before work can be continued, creating a whirlwind of lost time, productivity and profit.

Swarms of AGVs

With trends in the agricultural industry moving toward electrification and automation, large companies are investing more and more money into developing new technology. One new concept that seems to be very promising is called swarm farming, which utilizes autonomous guided vehicles (AGVs). Instead of having one gigantic machine that plows through a field and comes back, you have a number of much smaller AGVs. How many AGVs are needed will depend on how big of a field they have to work on. These machines have wheels, traction motors and drives to move. They are GPS-controlled and seed each plant by the location that is recorded. They use that GPS technology to go back and tend the different plants, taking care of tasks like weed-killing and eventually harvesting.”

Companies we have spoken to who are developing this new method plan to lease the AGVs to farmers. The assumption is that most farmers would be unwilling to purchase machines that cost several hundred thousand dollars to perform a specific task. The number of AGVs needed is based on the size of each field being worked. These AGVs offer another benefit of being able to work day and night and in various temperatures. In addition to being small, some of them may have a solar panel on top and batteries inside, with everything being electric.

Another big advantage is that using a number of smaller machines would make dealing with breakdowns presumably less costly. This offers an obvious advantage over farmers who have one much larger machine working their fields. When a single machine like that breaks down, work grinds to a halt until the machine can be repaired or replaced. When taking cost in to consideration, using fleets of smaller AGVs is usually cheaper. The cost to repair or replace a small machine is much less expensive than a larger one - both in labor/parts and time wasted.

New opportunities for skilled labor

The demand and cost of labor on farms differs depending on specialization of the crop grown. Labor-intensive crops, such as those in the fruit and vegetable sector, can cost farmers up to 30% of their total spend on labor alone. Despite factoring this into their budgets, farmers are struggling each year to find enough workers. Even in cases where farmers offer significantly higher-than-usual wages, many report they can’t find enough skilled workers to handle their labor demands.

Farmers and agricultural corporations see this added benefit of agricultural automation as opening up a huge opportunity for consistent, assistive skilled labor. Farms that become more automated will need an increased number of skilled workers who can manage that type of equipment, including fleet managers. Instead of programming and maintaining these AGVs to work in an indoor warehouse, these fleet managers will need to direct their AGVs to work and assist workers in fields and orchards.

Over-aging, farm labor shortages, food and fiber requirements of a growing world population and strict regulatory standards are factors that will further increase the demand for agricultural automation. Pairing electric motors and drives with automated farm equipment can help solve the problem farmers face in finding enough skilled labor to work their fields. Nidec Motor Corporation offers a wealth of experience in creating automation solutions and AGVs for farming and agricultural applications. When energy efficiency and reliability are required, having a partner like Nidec Motor Corporation, with proven experience in developing the innovative technology required to solve problems like farm labor shortages, can make all the difference.