Autonomous Fendt at work in onion and potato fields
Just like in 2023, the National Fieldlab for Precision Farming (NPPL) continues testing autonomous tractors. The Fendt 716 equipped with the iQuus system for autonomous operation is now in action. In the Dutch village IJzendijke, the tractor has started with tasks such as tilling onion beds and preparing potato fields. However, the damp soil somewhat hinders its autonomy.
Dutch arable farmer Brian Salomé kicked off the NPPL practice test 2024 with an autonomously operating tractor on Ascension Day. This test follows up on last year’s trial with the unmanned, iQuus-equipped Steyr. Based on feedback and user experiences from last year, supplier GPX Solutions has equipped a Fendt 716 with a more versatile version of the system: iQuus Autonomy. After the Fendt 716 tractor was delivered, it was immediately fitted with narrow crop wheels set at 1.50 meters to till the onion beds and lay down fertigation hoses at the first opportunity.
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Either autonomous or not
Salomé initially intended for the Fendt to operate entirely on its own, with him only needing to cut the fertigation hoses at the end of each row. However, the wet spring changed those plans. The carrying capacity of the field, where Salomé was working as a contractor, varied significantly from one spot to another. The clay’s heaviness ranged between 35 and 45 percent silt.
As a result, the tractor sometimes sank too deep, causing the tiller’s wheels to occasionally go too deep or too shallow. “To consistently deliver good work, I had to adjust the lift depth too often. And with the current system, it’s either fully autonomous or not. So I didn’t use the iQuus system while tilling the onion beds,” Salomé reports from the Fendt.
Since he couldn’t utilize the Fendt’s autonomy, he also didn’t create wide headlands for turning. “I drive right up to the ditch and leave a minimal headland.” With mid-May approaching, there’s pressure to get the onions in the ground. With more rain expected, waiting for more uniform carrying capacity of his onion field isn’t really an option.
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Autonomous work for real
Upon arriving, the wide tires on the Fendt 716, originally set at 2.25 meters, were replaced with VF culture tires set at 1.50 meters. Wouldn’t Brian have preferred to keep the wide tires on for preparing potato land this spring? Salomé: “It might sound a bit strange, but narrow tires compact a narrow area and perhaps deeper, but wide tires compact much more, including where your crop needs to grow.”
The plan is to use the Fendt autonomously for preparing the potato land with the rotary tiller. The significant difference from the 2023 practice test is that the Fendt can now truly work independently. Unlike last year, the extended safety components no longer require someone to continuously press a button remotely to keep the tractor running. The tractor is more autonomous than last year.
Not entirely smoothy
Salomé will now prepare the potato land and plant it in separate passes. Simultaneously preparing the seedbed and planting isn’t possible since the demo Fendt lacks a front PTO. The use of the autonomous Fendt didn’t go entirely smoothly at the start. As is often the case when setting up a new smart TV or printer via WiFi, there were a few startup glitches here too. This led to about twenty WhatsApp messages exchanged between Salomé and GPX.
“But in fact, there wasn’t much wrong,” says Luco Hetebrij of GPX Solutions. “Nothing major or strange, really. If the laptop battery on the tractor runs out, it stops after a while. Or if the turning radius isn’t set correctly, you can miss the track line. Restarting after adjustments, ticking a box in the Raven settings. We managed to resolve it all while working.” Despite the fact that the narrow tires dig in a bit deeper, the tractor will stay on culture tires while preparing the potato land. Salomé: “It’s too wet for wide tires. It might sound a bit strange, but narrow tires compact a narrow area and perhaps deeper, but wide tires compact much more, including where your crop needs to grow.”
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Straightforward work
Brian Salomé considers the autonomously operating tractor to be primarily suitable for relatively simple tasks. “Preparing land, and I think also mowing, tedding, raking… For example, when planting potatoes, you have to keep refilling the bunker. Planting potatoes requires more supervision from the tractor anyway.” Researcher Koen van Boheemen of Wageningen University & Research (WUR), who oversees the practice test, acknowledges that complex operations require continuous supervision. “But in this case, the autonomously operating tractor can help the ‘driver’ focus more on that supervision.”
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