Today Show story about self driving tractors. Maggie Vespa was in Princeton and Maple Park.
Average age of a farmer is 67. Farmer interviewed talked about how he was able to go home, do laundry and get some sleep while his tractor worked a large field.
I’d suggest that’s driven by family farms being able to operate with far fewer members than before. An individual can handle up to 1,000 acres with one or two part time helpers during planting and harvest season.
There are any number of young people ready to drive tractors, combines, etc. They are already working in the industry, but probably aren’t being counted as “farmers” as they don’t necessarily own the land.
From my downstate perspective there are plenty of people ready, willing and able to enter “farming”, there just aren’t enough jobs to support them full time.
- Behind the Scenes - Tuesday, Nov 18, 25 @ 10:48 am:
Self-driving tractors aren’t a real new thing. A few years ago a friend of mine who raises a lot of corn southwest of Springfield, sent me a video of one of his crew relaxing in a lawn chair whilst a tractor made a turn behind him and started down another path.
This is different- gps controlled vs. autonomous driverless unit.
GPS with a driver, aka precision farming controls not only the trctor, turns and straight rows but can turn off planter row units one by one at the overlapping edges if the planting has to overlap at field edges. In the spring you can see it when the corn is just coming up.
- Occasionally Moderared - Tuesday, Nov 18, 25 @ 7:53 am:
Today Show story about self driving tractors. Maggie Vespa was in Princeton and Maple Park.
Average age of a farmer is 67. Farmer interviewed talked about how he was able to go home, do laundry and get some sleep while his tractor worked a large field.
- Downstate - Tuesday, Nov 18, 25 @ 7:59 am:
“Average age of a farmer…”
I’d suggest that’s driven by family farms being able to operate with far fewer members than before. An individual can handle up to 1,000 acres with one or two part time helpers during planting and harvest season.
There are any number of young people ready to drive tractors, combines, etc. They are already working in the industry, but probably aren’t being counted as “farmers” as they don’t necessarily own the land.
From my downstate perspective there are plenty of people ready, willing and able to enter “farming”, there just aren’t enough jobs to support them full time.
- TreeFiddy - Tuesday, Nov 18, 25 @ 8:56 am:
Wife got me onto Waxahatchee a few years ago, and they’re quickly rising up my list of most-seen acts. Excited to see Snocaps next month in Chicago.
- I-55 Fanatic - Tuesday, Nov 18, 25 @ 9:22 am:
Cloudflare outage this morning had me spooked, but it seems to be all good now. Good rainy morning from the north side
- Lakeviewing - Tuesday, Nov 18, 25 @ 9:57 am:
Waxahatchee on CapFax, look how far we’ve come
- Behind the Scenes - Tuesday, Nov 18, 25 @ 10:48 am:
Self-driving tractors aren’t a real new thing. A few years ago a friend of mine who raises a lot of corn southwest of Springfield, sent me a video of one of his crew relaxing in a lawn chair whilst a tractor made a turn behind him and started down another path.
- Occasionally Moderated - Tuesday, Nov 18, 25 @ 11:28 am:
This is different- gps controlled vs. autonomous driverless unit.
GPS with a driver, aka precision farming controls not only the trctor, turns and straight rows but can turn off planter row units one by one at the overlapping edges if the planting has to overlap at field edges. In the spring you can see it when the corn is just coming up.