MILWAUKEE, WISC. (RFD NEWS) — Artificial intelligence is becoming a larger part of agricultural equipment as manufacturers look for ways to help farmers make decisions, improve efficiency, and manage increasingly complex operations.
Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) Senior Director of Ag Services Austin Gellings joined us on Friday’s Market Day Report to discuss how AI is becoming more practical in the machinery industry because it can scale and help farmers use the large amounts of data coming from their equipment and operations.
AEM and AI Adoption: Assist, Advise and Act
In his interview with RFD News, Gellings says AEM breaks AI integration into three levels: assist, advise, and act.
“Farmers want to farm at the end of the day,” Gellings said. “Our job as equipment manufacturers is to provide them tools that hopefully make that job easier.”
He noted that AI can not only help farmers make decisions in the office or in the field but also enable autonomous and highly automated machinery.
One example is targeted application technology, where cameras identify weeds in a field and help equipment determine where applications are needed. He said the technology is already delivering measurable benefits in the field.
“You wouldn’t think of that as AI, but when you have cameras identifying a weed in a field, the backbone for that is some level of AI as well,” Gellings said.
Gellings said sprayers can use cameras to identify weeds and activate individual nozzles only where needed, rather than keeping the entire boom activated.
That can reduce the amount of products applied to fields, with reductions ranging from about 65 percent to more than 90 percent. According to Gellings, this technology is one example of how AI can support more precise applications while helping farmers improve efficiency.
Looking Ahead: Building Trust in Autonomous Equipment
Gellings says it is difficult to predict exactly how AI will develop over the next five to 10 years because the technology keeps evolving.
But he expects AI to become increasingly integrated into farm equipment as systems improve and farmers become more comfortable using them.
“I think it’s just building that trust,” he said, noting that greater adoption of highly autonomous equipment will depend on manufacturers proving that the technology works and provides value to farmers.
Gellings said that process includes an ongoing conversation among farmers, equipment manufacturers and dealers about what works, what does not work and where different technologies make sense.
“As that trust builds and those systems get better, I think it’s going to become more and more of a foundational piece in something that farmers work right alongside and don’t think twice about,” he explained.
He also sees AI and other emerging technologies as a way to attract younger generations to agriculture by making farm work more innovative and technology-driven.
