Agritechnica 2017: Christian Adler and Vincent Hardy, KUHN in an interview with LECTURA Press

Christian Adler, KUHN Electronic Development and Vincent Hardy, Export Manager KUHN, talked to Caroline Reese, LECTURA Press at Agritechnica 2017, about the digitalization of the agricultural sector, the silver medal winning KUHN smart ploughing system and the future of agriculture.

Why is the Agritechnica such an important event for this industry?

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Christian Adler

From our perspective, the Agritechnica is the most important event regarding technical innovations in the entire field of agricultural mechanization. Here, manufacturers are given the chance to showcase new technologies and compare new products to those of the competition. Every other year, the Agritechnica is a must attend event.

Vincent Hardy

The Agritechnica remains the world’s most important show for us. Mainly due to the fact, that the market for agricultural machinery is very strong in Germany. Here the expectations and standards are very high and it is a challenge for all manufacturers, that want to compete on the European market. This is also the perfect platform to identify and assess new trends.

How important are trends within the agricultural industry?

Christian Adler

Trends are very important. Emerging technology is one of the most significant issues ahead for agricultural retailers. This is something every manufacturer has to figure out in advance in order to be competitive.

The biggest changes to impact this industry in the last years has been precision farming. GPS technology has allowed for the delivery of just the right amount of product, force, chemicals and many more. GPS has also allowed for the introduction of auto steer technology on combines and other equipment. Furthermore, mobile devices like smartphones have increased efficiency dramatically by allowing farmers to observe market changes and simply retrieving data from their machines, when and where they need it.  

Digitalization is the key topic of this industry and in the past five years, no other innovation has had as much impact on agriculture as precision agricultural technology.

In addition to that there is the emerging issue of cyber security. Assuming a safe computer and communication infrastructure, whether local or remote, the processing of the collected data, will continue to be a challenge.

Are these trends only affecting this industry?  

Christian Adler

No, of course not. All of these developments affect the automotive sector, construction and many more, as well.  As a member of the VDMA manufacturer association, we have a clear view on what is happening in other industries. We can filter new trends and identify synergies between these industries. Many trends, regarding electronic developments, will bring standards that we still need to work on. Furthermore, I think, that we can’t call something like digitalization a trend. This is something, that will influence and reshape entire industries from the bottom up.

The leading theme for this Agritechnica 2017 is “Green Future - Smart Technology”. This year, Kuhn won the silver medal for innovation for the “Kuhn-smart-ploughing”- system. Please tell us more about this.

Vincent Hardy

Smart Ploughing is a GPS based precision farming system, which automatically lifts and lowers each individual body of the plough at the start and end points of each furrow. This patented precision farming system will ensure uniform ploughing across the whole width of the field. One of the benefits is less compacted soil, by avoiding z-shaped furrow lines. With smart ploughing, the number of times the tractor passes over the headland is significantly lower.

We wanted to make ploughing easier and less time consuming for the farmers. The driver can concentrate on driving the machine, since the plough automatically lifts and lowers the plough bodies into and out of the soil.  Whether the operator is young and less experienced, no longer has an effect on the quality of the ploughed area.

Is it true that there are still crucial challenges to be addressed, in order to ensure equal dissemination when it comes to digitalization?

Christian Adler

Yes, unfortunately a lot of work needs to be done here. In my opinion, the most important thing is the broadband infrastructure. All farmers should be connected to the world wide web today. It can be vital for the everyday work, to ensure a connection between machinery components and other technological devices. I’m afraid, this is still a limiting factor here in Europe. We need the European Union to continuously support connectivity in rural regions.  This is something that was addressed at the CEMA 2017 summit in Brussels this year.

In cooperation with DKE-Data GmbH & Co. KG and other manufacturers, we developed the Agrirouter, which also won a silver medal for innovation. The Agrirouter is an internet based data exchange platform which enables farmers to exchange all working data throughout their machines, regardless of the manufacturer. Of course, these systems can only be of use to the farmer, if there is a barrier-free access assured.

Is the introduction of robotics and autonomy systems part of the solution of making civilization sustainable?

Christian Adler

These last years we have talked thoroughly about precision agriculture and the effects that these innovations will have on this industry and all the people working in it. Taking it to the next level and introducing autonomous systems and robotics, is inevitable. The key factor here is that every step is well thought out. There will be jobs in every industry, which will be replaced by machines. It is our responsibility to ensure that there are new jobs created by these developments. We, as manufacturers need to assess, where the opportunities lie and also work together, within the industry, with universities and governmental organizations.

Yes, robotics will play an essential role in agriculture as well as all other industries. Robotic solutions are not as heavy and can be more efficient than human work.  Then there is also the interesting aspect that intelligent robotics solutions can reduce the application of chemical actions in the agricultural sector. When you mention robots, what comes to the minds of most people is an assembly line with robot arms assembling machinery. Robotics is so much more than that if this is applied in the right way. Maybe in the form of a virtual field manager, that gives the user recommendations for production practices. This will become even more important because of the big data challenge. No human being can process the amount of data that is being collected.

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