Le 13/01/2025
New Holland’s Autonomous Solutions Boost Efficiency, Support Sustainability
New Holland to showcase robotic farming solutions at World FIRA 2025.
The phrase, “work smarter not harder” was coined almost 100 years ago, but it’s still meaningful today. As farmers around the world are asked to produce more food on the same land with a shrinking labour pool, working smarter means adopting 21st century solutions.
“Farmers are increasingly interested in machines that can operate with reduced human intervention,” said Marie Mouton, Head of Global communications New Holland. “Not just driverless tractors, but a variety of functions typically handled by an operator or farm manager.”
Mouton said adoption rates vary in different parts of the world, noting cost and economic viability as key factors to adoption. “But it's not always about cost. It's also about making technology that’s easy to adopt and manage long-term,” Mouton said.
Automated Solutions for Harvesting
New Holland’s automated baler is just one example of how technological innovations can make a complicated job easier. Manual baling requires the operator to constantly multitask: observing swath density, making speed adjustments, steering — all while keeping an eye on the bale fill indicator. New Holland’s automated baler minimises the opportunity for error by reducing the number of manual adjustments.
“Our baler is the first of its kind,” said Mouton. “It uses LIDAR to follow the path of mowed and raked grass and continuously scans the swath ahead. It can also automatically adjust steering and forward speed based on sensor information, ensuring precise baling.”
The result?
- Consistent bale size
- No overloads
- Reduced fuel consumption
“Automation and robotics will be key to producing more while using fewer resources,” Mouton said. “New Holland is committed to developing technologies that reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. ”
Driverless Tractor Automatically Syncs with Harvester
Partnerships with innovators such as Raven Industries are a key part of New Holland's strategy to drive advancements in automation and robotics. These advancements are key to helping farmers increase productivity and profitability.
For example, a combine operator can control a driverless tractor towing a grain cart via a touchscreen mounted in the cab. The driverless tractor utilises Raven’s Autonomy technology to sync with the harvester within a 175-meter by 55-meter range (574 x 180 ft.). The tractor automatically adjusts its direction and speed to keep the grain cart under the auger.
By eliminating manual coordination between the tractor driver and combine operator, spillage is minimised. Even inexperienced operators can have a spill-free unload. When the cart is full, the combine driver can send the tractor to a predetermined unload area.
Specialty Crop Care
“Our mission is to support farmers with the best solutions to make their work more efficient, easy, and productive,” Mouton said. “That includes building autonomous solutions for cash crops, orchards and vineyards. These are key customer segments for New Holland given our historical leadership in these areas.”
New Holland’s award-winning Advanced Vision Assisted Guidance helps specialty crop producers cope with a lack of skilled operators. The technology, developed for New Holland’s T4 FNV specialty tractors, manages steering movements both in the rows and at row ends. It can also handle implement control. The system was designed to support less-skilled operators but may help retain experienced operators by reducing fatigue.
The LiDAR-based guidance functions well in areas where GPS systems may lose a signal. Greater precision means minimising unnecessary use of fertilisers and crop protection products.
New Holland Product Demonstrations at World FIRA 2025
The T4 be on display at World FIRA 4-6 February 2025 in Toulouse, France. The event is more than just an exhibition, it’s a living lab with four demo zones including vegetables, vineyards, field and raw crops and fruit trees.
New Holland recently signed a multi-year agreement with FIRA as part of its commitment to modernizing the agricultural sector. “World FIRA gives us the opportunity to collaborate with industry leaders, researchers and technology providers while also engaging with growers,” Mouton said.
“We can promote our initiatives aimed at enhancing efficiency and reducing environmental impact while fostering new innovations and business development,” Mouton added. “New Holland sees automation as a means to enhance productivity, reduce costs — paving the way for a more efficient, sustainable future.”
Related Reading