Deere Ramps Up Technology Race

Just ahead of the 2025 Commodity Classic in Denver, Colorado, John Deere released a long list of new technologies and upgrades it will be showing to 10,000 or so farmers who will be in attendance. Here's a look at some of them.

THREE PLANTING TECHNOLOGIES

-- Seed-Level Sensing. Seed-level sensing places a sensor in the tank that can measure the volume of seed left inside. It is a feature that should improve seed logistics, Deere said. This feature is available on model year 2026 planters or as a precision upgrade for certain models back to model year 2022.

-- Fertilizer-Level Sensing. Similar to seed-level sensing, fertilizer-level sensing is an external manifold that includes two pressure sensors used to calculate both the liquid density as well as the volume remaining in the tank. Fertilizer-level sensing is available on model year 2026 planters and is also a precision upgrade that can be added to machines that are model year 2022 and newer.

-- Active Vacuum Automation. Deere added active vacuum automation to model year 2026 planters with electric drives and the SeedStar 5 Monitoring system. This feature looks in real time at singulation and automatically adjusts the vacuum, helping to prevent skips and doubles.

SPRAYING TECHNOLOGIES UPDATE

-- See & Spray Select Variable Rate. See & Spray Select has been used to control weeds in fallow fields. New variable rate capabilities offer opportunity for precise application, and product savings, in later-season fungicide, desiccant and pre-harvest passes. Each See & Spray camera rates the amount of green biomass detected and varies the volume of product applied. Variable rate capabilities require a G5 or G5Plus CommandCenter display.

AUTOTRAC TURN AUTOMATION UPDATES

-- AutoTrac Turn Automation (ATTA). Available now on John Deere and Hagie sprayers, ATTA ensures consistent and accurate turns at the end of each pass. It allows the sprayer operator to focus on managing sprayer booms and adjusting their height while also controlling the machine's speed. ATTA allows the operator to plan the shape of their turns while helping reduce crop trampling. ATTA is compatible with John Deere 400 and 600 series self-propelled sprayers, 800R floaters, and Hagie STS12, STS16 and STS20 sprayers, model year 2022 and newer.

-- AutoTrac Vision 2.0. Ensures the sprayer wheels remain centered within each row at a maximum speed of 22 mph, a slope of up to 6 degrees and navigate curves with a radius of 50 meters. A cab-mounted stereo camera array is capable of detecting crop heights as low as 4 inches and can manage crops of up to 90% canopy coverage. AutoTrac Vision 2.0 technology is now available on model year 2026 John Deere sprayers as a factory option.

EXACTAPPLY UPDATE

Deere introduces ExactApply Variable Rate capabilities, with AutoSelect Pulsing (and A+B pulse width modulation nozzle switching). With AutoSelect pulsing enabled, sprayer operators can now vary multiple application rates across the entire boom. Operators will also have increased rate range for variable rate prescriptions and curve compensation. This technology is available as a software update for model year 2023-2025 sprayers, and for model year 2026, it will come factory installed with updated software

NEW RATE CONTROLLER

Rate Controller 3 is an option to apply two products (liquid or NH3) simultaneously. The rate controller is fully compatible with Gen 4 v2 and G5 displays. The new rate controller has a new harness and 48-pin connector, which expands the compatibility with third-party equipment.

AUTOMATION ENHANCEMENTS, UPDATES FOR MODEL YEAR 2026 COMBINES

-- Predictive Ground Speed Automation. Deere found operators would disengage the Predictive Ground Speed Automation feature when entering different field terrains such as waterways, ditches or terraces. To help better manage these various terrains and maintain the proper speed, a new update will incorporate these unique field attributes to adjust the combine's ground speed through these sensitive areas.

-- Predictive Ground Speed Automation -- Weeds. In addition to sensing crop height and mass, cab-mounted stereo cameras used for predictive ground speed automation will now sense individual weed patches that are mixed in with the crop by detecting weed-like characteristics of plant shape and height. Depending on the weed density and operator-defined sensitivity, the combine will reduce ground speed as it harvests through these areas to reduce slugging and help prevent reel or rotor wrapping. Predictive ground speed automation supports wheat, barley, canola, soybean, corn, peas, edible beans and lentils.

-- Harvest Settings Automation. Harvest settings automation will now include an out-of-crop settings adjustment that engages when the combine is passing through areas already harvested. In these areas, the system will apply defined offset values to the combine cleaning shoe settings, helping reduce grain loss and maintain a cleaner tank sample in sparse areas of the field. Harvest Settings Automation supports wheat, barley, canola, soybean, corn and rice crops.

-- AutoTrac Turn Automation Update. Turn automation raises and lowers the combine head as the machine crosses specific field triggers, including coverage, exterior boundary and interior impassible boundary. The new raise/lower automation helps reduce the likelihood of missing a crop or starting a new pass in the wrong place.

-- Auto-Load Camera. A new auto-unload camera, and supporting hardware and software are now available to help consistently fill grain carts. The camera is mounted to the auger and senses the grain fill level inside the cart to automate in-line nudge commands on the tractor to evenly fill the cart. This feature is available as a precision upgrade for older model combines.

-- Grain Sensing with HarvestLab 3000. Available for all model year 2025 and newer X9, S7 and T6 combines. Grain sensing collects and records the percentages of crop moisture, protein, starch and oil content of wheat, barley, canola, corn, soybeans, oats and rye crops.

Dan Miller can be reached at dan.miller@dtn.com

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