Future Farming

US company Sabanto has announced support for planters equipped with the Precision Planting Gen 3 20|20 system. Combined with a Sabanto-retrofitted tractor, the setup allows autonomous planting without an operator in the seat. Growers can supervise the work remotely through Sabanto’s Vehicle Mission Control (vMC) interface. Support is planned for the 2027 growing season.

Smart digital applications are increasingly taking shape in greenhouse horticulture. AI applications can help growers analyse business data, predict developments and improve crop production processes. The next step is to use AI agents that collect and process information independently.

The possibilities offered by data and artificial intelligence (AI) are constantly...

British robotics company Earth Rover has sold its first 10 CLAWS robots, with another 15 under construction. The autonomous machine kills weeds using concentrated pulses of light rather than lasers, herbicides or mechanical tools. The company claims lower energy consumption than laser-based systems.

Which makes more sense on an arable farm: a purpose-built field robot or a conventional tractor equipped with an autonomy retrofit kit? Dutch grower Marijn Vermuë has tested both. After working with an AgXeed AgBot 5.115T2 for an entire season in 2025, he trialled an iQuus-equipped New Holland T6.180 in 2026. His conclusion: both systems are mature enough to justify an invest...

Swiss manufacturer Ecorobotix is expanding its ARA precision sprayer with 10 new commercial plant-detection models from March 2027, including potatoes, garlic and leeks. Another 55 models will become available for free testing, including one targeting yellow nutsedge. According to Ecorobotix, field trials of the newly commercialised models achieved an average 86% reduction in...