A self-driving tractor which has caterpillar tracks that leaves behind ruts in the soil that aren’t as deep. This is just one of the projects that will be supported within the Farm of the Future research at the Wageningen University & Research (WUR) in The Netherlands. The aim of the research is to foster circular or sustainable agriculture. One of the ways they will do this is by issuing vouchers to companies that have developed a new technology that still needs further testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The university claims that applications for the project are pouring in. The starting shot was fired in January. Since then, over fifty companies from the Netherlands and abroad have applied to have their innovations tested. The autonomous caterpillar tractor from the Dutch company Agxeed<\/a> is one of the first four lucky recipients of the vouchers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n All four cases involve self-driving field robots that can be used for weed control, storing potatoes and other tasks, according to the university. “We want to show, as part of the research, that our Agbot fits in perfectly with the agricultural farming of the future. And that that leads to improved crop results,” says Rienk Landstra of AgXeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is still unknown who the other participants in the Farm of the Future project will be. “The applications submitted so far are extremely diverse,” Marleen Riemers of WUR adds. “In terms of innovation and in the topics they focus on, and the sectors and countries they come from.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n1.5 million euro<\/h3>\n\n\n\n