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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (March 30, 2016)
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2016 HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A9 Homegrown CUTTING EDGE TRACTORS GO ON THE MARKET Post Falls farmer to sell automated tractors By JOHN O’CONNELL EO Media Group A Post Falls, Idaho, seed potato farmer has announced he’s building driverless tractors and will deliver the ¿ rst machine within 60 days. With no cab, steering wheel, seat or gauges, Da- vid Farb, founder of Farb Guidance Systems, said his innovation will require just 75 horsepower and will be roughly half the size of a modern, conventional trac- tor. Farb expects to build about 60 units in 2016 and has already received com- mitments for 100 units. He plans to step up produc- tion in 2017. The purchase price for one of his tractors will be from $160,000 to $170,000. He’s working with equipment dealers around the state, includ- ing a large dealership in Southern Idaho, to provide a network to maintain the machines. A second machine will be delivered to the Southern Idaho farm shortly there- after, with tweaks made based on performance ob- servations. “We think that once these get in the dirt that it will be an explosive type market,” Farb said. “It’s pretty hard to say no to it at the cost and what it does for you.” The tractors will have several sensors to alert JOHN O’CONNELL/CAPITAL PRESS During the March 7 Intermountain AgTech Conference in Pocatello, David Farb of Farb Guidance Systems in Post Falls, Idaho, discusses the driverless tractors his company will soon deliver to farmers in Idaho. Farb said his business will be on the forefront of the development of automated farming equipment. COURTESY OF FARB GUIDANCE SYSTEMS Farb’s initial platform, the FGS 1, is a 75hp Caterpillar Skid Steer driven completely by a computerized guidance system which can be monitored remotely via cell phone or computer. farmers in the event of an equipment problem. They’ll be guided by GPS maps, and Farb said they’ll be capable of pulling “the smaller end” of existing implements. Farb also has driverless equipment in de- velopment, believing auto- mated technology will soon render tractors — even those with no cabs — obsolete. Farb also expects automated planters, harvesters and oth- er equipment will be much smaller than current equip- ment — and far cheaper. Farb explained machines have evolved to be bigger, more powerful and more expensive to enable a sin- gle operator to cover more ground. With driverless equipment, his company calculates growers will achieve the greatest return on investment with mul- tiple, smaller machines. Smaller equipment will have added bene¿ ts for pre- cision agriculture. With big equipment, growers must utilize large zones for their variable-rate applications. Farb antici- pates automated sprayers of the future will use single nozzles to treat individual plants. “We believe we can get it down to the plant scale,” Farb said. “That’s not pre- cision agriculture. That’s surgical agriculture.” Farb’s company is ini- tially ordering components and assembling tractors in- house, but eventually hopes to work with another com- pany on manufacturing. Farb has tested the trac- tors on his farm and plans to use them in his regular farming operations this sea- son. He believes his com- pany is farther along than any competitor in commer- cializing automated farm equipment. “Companies have pro- totypes out there, but we believe at this point in time we’re the world leader in unmanned agricultural COURTESY OF FARB GUIDANCE SYSTEMS This artist’s conception shows the T8.300 tractor, designed by Farb Guidance Systems. The 75 horsepower autonomous machine is about half the size of a conventional tractor and can be monitored remotely via cell phone or computer. Farb expects to build about 60 units in 2016. equipment,” Farb said. He’s discussed partner- ing with Idaho State Uni- versity, which offers an associate’s degree in civil engineering technology, on research into prescription maps. Darren Leavitt, an instructor in ISU’s College of Technology, sees oppor- tunities for student intern- ships in map design. “How are you going to send an unmanned tractor out to mitigate a problem in the ¿ eld if you don’t have the coordinates for that problem?” Leavitt asked. W HEN E VERY D ROP C OUNTS Irrigation Specialists has served the Oregon and Washington markets since 1970 - over 45 years of quality service and support. At Community Bank, You Can Count On Us To Be: T ransparent R easonable U nderstanding S traightforward T ruthful We are a full service irrigation dealership. 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