Robots to pick,drones to survey crops and satellites to drive tractors - experts predict a fully automated farm in five years. But is this what farmers want?The broad, blue 18-tonne New Holland T8.435 tractor is not the heaviest or the tallest in the world but its £3000 tyres and tank-style tracks stand two metres tall, and it bristles with antenna and at,about £250000, it must be one of the most expensive.
For that, and the farmer gets a monster machine that is revolutionising broad farming,field by field. Its steering is assisted by satellite, it downloads data about crops and soil straight to agronomists and farm managers, or works 24-7,can link with ground sensors and drones using infrared thermal cameras and expose to within a square metre the size of a field and where the most fertile or waterlogged places are.
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Source: theguardian.com