Ahead of the Curve: Gregg Sauder’s New Outlook on Autonomy

Time now to go Ahead of the Curve with Gregg Sauder, founder and CEO of 360 — the creator of 360 Rain, an autonomous irrigation and nutrient application system. During our recent visit to 360 headquarters in Morton, Ill., Sauder explained why he’s changed his opinion on autonomy in recent years. “So, we probably have the most autonomous machines of anybody in the industry when you think about it worldwide.” “I would've told you three years ago (about) autonomous tractors and planters, ‘Really? Farms can find good talent to do that.’ I've changed my position some and I think Deere’s ahead of us when you see the labor challenges, finding the right labor. There's going to be farms that are going to struggle to get enough help or the right style of help. So, I think autonomous can help there.” “For us, it's a no-brainer. No one is going to ride a machine at a half mile an hour. You saw that in the drag line industry for manure drag lines. They're running three quarters to a mile an hour and people just go literally crazy after 12 hours.” “To me, it's got to make sense. It can't just be, ‘oh, cool. It's autonomous.’ That doesn't mean anything to me. It's like it has a purpose because of autonomy and autonomous technology that really fits this, whatever it's doing has to line up. So, the cool factor doesn't mean a lot to me. It's the fact that that's what makes it the best it can be.” Watch the full Video of this episode of Conservation Ag Update.