> building an automated solution is a lot harder than an autopilot for a combine that works a bunch of perfectly flat, mile-by-mile plots in Nebraska
Absolutely, and I don't expect it to be a thing for a decade(s) - until after it's a solved issue on roads and/or the large, flat plots out west.
> If you're haying a small factory farm, driving the tractor is a small fraction of the labor
I agree. However, it's also (in my limited experience) the most weather dependent part - there's usually a short weather window to get it cut, dried, and baled - and having an extra set of (self-driving wheels) would be beneficial.
> All of this might eventually get automated a la the recent news on Amazon factories, but we're probably (at least) a few years away from that.
Absolutely, and I don't expect it to be a thing for a decade(s) - until after it's a solved issue on roads and/or the large, flat plots out west.
> If you're haying a small factory farm, driving the tractor is a small fraction of the labor
I agree. However, it's also (in my limited experience) the most weather dependent part - there's usually a short weather window to get it cut, dried, and baled - and having an extra set of (self-driving wheels) would be beneficial.
> All of this might eventually get automated a la the recent news on Amazon factories, but we're probably (at least) a few years away from that.
Definitely agree.