John Deere, Mississippi State Partner to Develop Automated Farm Equipment

Mississippi State University and John Deere have partnered to develop automated farm equipment through a master research agreement.

The agreement establishes a framework for the university’s Agricultural Autonomy Institute (AAI) to develop technology to automate steps in the farming of cotton and other crops common to Mississippi and the South.

“There has been a lot of interest in automating a variety of farming processes because the skilled labor needed to carefully operate modern equipment is increasingly hard to find,” said Alex Thomasson, AAI director and head of MSU’s Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering. “An advantage of autonomous systems is that they don’t get tired or distracted.”

The partnership with an agricultural equipment powerhouse like John Deere will help put Mississippi on the map for the agricultural autonomy industry. AAI’s mission is to build a critical mass of companies in the industry in the state and thereby foster increased research and startups and develop a Mississippi-based workforce.

“Our vision for AAI is to establish Mississippi as the ‘Silicon Valley’ of agricultural autonomy, and working with John Deere is a major step forward in placing our state and university on the national stage as having the first institute in the U.S. focused on autonomous ag,” Thomasson said.

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“We are excited about this opportunity to partner with the Agricultural Autonomy Institute at Mississippi State University,” said Holly Mayton, John Deere’s research partnerships and science policy lead for emerging technologies and architecture. “Establishing research agreements with MSU and other universities reflects our desire to build strong partnerships with leading research institutions and to connect with future tech talent.”

MSU Assistant Professor Hussein Gharakhani is leading the project. A scientist in the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, or MAFES, he has worked with AAI since its start and has focused exclusively on agricultural autonomy.

“Operating agricultural equipment in certain applications requires intense focus and attention to detail,” Gharakhani said. “Imagine operating in such a situation all day, and you’ll understand how easy it would be to lose concentration and start making costly mistakes.”

The partnership has the added benefit of bringing more agricultural machinery research to the South, which has its own unique style of farming compared to other regions of the country.

“Our cropping systems and methods are unique to our crops, soils, terrain and climate, so there are opportunities for manufacturers to work with researchers here in the specific conditions where their equipment will be used,” Thomasson said.

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