Kyle Ledford, a third-generation farmer, is using autonomous technology to lighten the operational load on his family’s Pontiac, Ill., farm.
Ledford Farms has consistently prioritized staying at the forefront of agricultural innovation. Alongside his father, uncle and cousins, Kyle farms 3,000 acres of corn and soybeans.
To maintain their commitment to modernization, the family put the OutRun|Tillage system by PTx Trimble and AGCO to work this past fall. They deployed the technology with a chisel plow across 1,200 acres. As an autonomous retrofit system, OutRun outfits existing tractors with fully driverless capabilities. The system’s impact on the industry was recently recognized with the 2026 Davidson Prize at Commodity Classic.
Darcy Cook, senior director of autonomous systems for PTx, expects autonomous adoption to mirror autosteer based on a Purdue University report that shows autosteer adoption grew from 5% in 2004 to 90% by 2018. While autonomous technology is used on very few farms, PTx believes growth will accelerate in the next decade.
How Autonomous Systems Empower Farmers to Multi-Task
For the Ledfords, the shift toward autonomy was driven by a tightening labor market.
“It is difficult to find part-time help during the season,” Ledford says.
Since the OutRun system is fully autonomous and controllable via smartphone, the team can effectively multi-task.
“It was huge — not having to pay someone to be in the cab, and then being able to go do something else while the autonomous tractor is running,” Ledford explains.
While the tractor worked the fields, Ledford and his father were able to haul and spread fertilizer, completing two or three jobs simultaneously.
Illinois farmer Chad Baker recently ordered an OutRun retrofit tillage system with the hopes it will help him address the labor shortage.
“The goal is to improve productivity, while lessening the labor force that we need to operate day to day,” Baker explains.
Navigating the Realities of Autonomous Farming
While the technology worked with few issues, Ledford remains cautious in fields that require complex decision-making.
“If field conditions are good enough, it’s great. But you have to make sure you aren’t running into a wet spot — stuff like that makes me a little hesitant,” he notes.
However, the tractor’s integrated camera system provides a comprehensive view of the land before the machine is “cut loose” on a field.
The only technical hurdle the Ledfords encountered involved a pattern issue where the tractor attempted to get too close to a pre-set boundary. When the system stopped, it sent an alert to their phones, requiring a quick trip to the field to reboot the system. The issue occurred only three or four times across 1,200 acres.
Adapting to the Ease and Challenges of Driverless Technology
Ledford encourages other farmers to explore autonomous machinery to combat the time-sensitive nature of modern agriculture.
“When you can put an autonomous system on a task to get it done quicker, you aren’t just making money — you’re saving money,” he says.
Meanwhile, Baker says the system, whether operated by your tablet or phone, is “easy” to operate. However, he warns farmers will have to learn to adapt to and trust this new form of technology.
Baker says it’s all about trusting the machine to do the work without someone in the seat, while also learning how to properly set up the system for success.
