Kverneland: 'Robotised ploughs to run 24/7 in the future'

In an interview with Kverneland’s own iM FARMING magazine, Per Varhaug set out his vision for the plough of the future. Varhaug is Kverneland’s R&D (Research and Development) Director (plough division).

“A good plough should be able to go by itself,” he noted. “I can think of future scenarios where the plough is going to be robotised, so that it can run 24/7.

“Of course, you then need a different type of plough than we have today. We need to take care of the limited soil available for food production and, therefore, we [must] carefully look into solutions how we can, for example, reduce soil pressure to preserve it.

Image source: Shane Casey

“There are lots of opportunities in soil mixing, preservation, airing, loosening up and speeding up growing. With the help of sensors, precise field mapping and data sharing with other machines we will further build up our knowledge database,” he added.

It will give us essential information about soil behaviour and conditions that influence soil treatment and, finally, crop results.

Asked what future developments might bring savings for farmers, Varhaug said: “For me, it is about automating what you are doing. In which form I can’t tell at this stage, but I have a great R&D team working on new solutions to tackle future challenges.”

He expanded on this saying: “We are facing climate changes that impact farming. We could envisage a future reality of urban farming with farming in cities, and production shifting to indoor farming in areas with water issues. That will, for sure, influence our world of ploughing.”