It is no secret that agriculture is the backbone of the world we live in. Widely considered the oldest industry in the world, agriculture is responsible for the food we eat, the clothes we wear, and even the homes we live in.
Throughout history, agriculture has been forced to evolve to meet the demands of a growing global population. The need to continuously rise to the occasion has heavily driven the adoption of precision agriculture.
Formerly known as Trimble Agriculture, PTx Trimble has been a leader in the precision agriculture industry for over 20 years. Our focus on developing cutting-edge technology has led us to reinvent traditional agriculture methods and make farming practices more efficient, more sustainable, and lessen the amount of fatigue on the operator.
Our involvement in the evolution of precision agriculture is one we don’t take lightly, and today we’re helping pave the way for the advancements of the future.
Our Journey to Autonomy
The pathway to autonomy is far from linear. A long list of technological advancements are needed to make a machine operate fully autonomously: GNSS positioning, steering control, high accuracy corrections, perception technology, and the list goes on. Each product within the PTx Trimble portfolio has helped lay the foundation in our journey to autonomy.
Our earliest developments in GNSS positioning, guidance, and mapping have served as steppingstones to the technology available today. The focus on continuous product improvement is rooted in our desire to serve farmers around the globe to the best of our abilities and meet the future demands that agriculture will bring — autonomy included.
The Society of Automotive Engineers categorizes autonomous vehicles in a series of stages: No Automation, Driver Assistance, Partial Automation, Conditional Automation, High Automation, and Full Automation.
Stage Zero – No Automation – The driver has full control of all tasks relating to the vehicle.
Stage One – Driver Assistance – The vehicle has a single automated system.
Stage Two – Partial Automation – The vehicle can provide steering and acceleration automation.
Stage Three – Conditional Automation – The vehicle can control most driving tasks.
Stage Four – High Automation – The vehicle performs all driving tasks under certain conditions.
Stage Five – Full Automation – The vehicle performs all driving tasks under all conditions.
Today, the agriculture industry as a whole falls somewhere between stages two and three, partial automation and conditional automation, with many products within the PTx Trimble portfolio supporting those efforts.
Our Autopilot automated steering system provides integrated, high-accuracy steering in any terrain type. The system automatically steers the vehicle with one-inch reliability, allowing for less fatigue on the operator while increasing productivity and efficiency. With advanced features like NextSwath end-of-row turn technology, the operator can complete much of the fieldwork without ever touching the wheel once engaged.
High Automation is Here
Although adoption across the industry sits between partial and conditional automation, PTx Trimble’s OutRun platform brings high automation to the forefront of modern farming.
OutRun, the first commercially available retrofit autonomous grain cart is a self-contained solution that enables autonomous grain cart operations without the need to buy a new tractor. In a world where skilled labor can be challenging to find, OutRun allows farming operations to deploy their skilled labor to other critical harvest-related tasks and enables a more efficient harvest season.
The combine operator can use an in-cab tablet to stage or position the grain cart around the field, call the grain cart to unload on the go, and then send the grain cart to the predefined truck unload zone for a manual unload to take place. These tasks are executed safely using a fusion of perception technologies, a robust safety framework, and advanced positioning system.
Additionally, OutRun addresses one of the main issues associated with harvest-related yield loss: harvesting outside of the ideal harvest window. OutRun gives farmers the flexibility to deploy labor when and where they need it. Available labor can be deployed to other critical tasks around the farm instead of operating the grain cart all day.
Work smarter, not harder and get more out of your operation by talking to a PTx Trimble dealer today.
PTx and the Associated Logo are worldwide brands of AGCO Corporation. Trimble is a trademark of Trimble Inc registered in the United States and in other countries. © (2025) PTx Trimble LLC All product names and brands are the property of their respective owners. All company, product and service names used are for identification purposes only. Use of these names and brands does not imply endorsement. Other names or logos, may be trademarks of their respective owners.
