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Deployment

John Deere autonomous tractor + See & Spray at Des Moines

John Deere (Deere & Company; Moline, Illinois; NYSE:DE; founded 1837) runs one of the most advanced autonomous-agriculture programs among the major equipment makers. Its most mature robotics product is See & Spray, a computer-vision targeted-herbicide system descended from Blue River Technology (acquired in 2017 for about $305 million), which covered roughly 5 million acres in 2025 at around a 50 percent average herbicide reduction. Deere's Autonomous 8R tractor, revealed at CES 2022, operates commercially but only for tillage, and its perception stack draws on Bear Flag Robotics (acquired in August 2021 for $250 million). At CES 2025 Deere revealed a second generation of autonomy: the Autonomous 9RX large tractor, a 5ML orchard tractor, a 460 P-Tier articulated dump truck, and a battery-electric mower, though Deere published no firm ship dates, so these are treated as early or limited rollout, with the dump truck in pilot trials and the mower pre-commercial. Deere's stated goal is to deliver a fully autonomous corn and soybean production system by 2030, a demonstration and availability target rather than a fleet-scale deployment promise. The frequently cited figure of 1 to 2 million autonomous machines could not be verified and appears to conflate a separate connected-machines connectivity goal, so it is not asserted here.

John Deere autonomous tractor + See & Spray by John Deere · Operated by John Deere · Catalog entry · 6 sources · not yet field-verified · Agricultural robots

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Machine-readable surfaces

Footage

PRIMARY SOURCE
Courtesy of John Deere

John Deere footage of its autonomous 9RX/8R tractors. In-field autonomy is GPS- and vision-guided and operator-monitored (the farmer supervises and can intervene via app), not unsupervised.

PRIMARY SOURCE
Courtesy of John Deere

Official John Deere video showcasing the autonomous 8R tractor for large-scale production agriculture. Features TruSet-enabled chisel plow, StarFire GPS guidance, and six stereo camera pairs for 360-degree obstacle detection.

John Deere commercial rollout of the autonomous 8R tractor across Iowa corn and soybean farms began in 2022 following the CES 2022 unveil (January 4, 2022). The system combines the 8R tractor, TruSet-enabled chisel plow, GPS guidance, and six pairs of stereo cameras for 360-degree obstacle detection, enabling fully driverless tillage. Doug Nimz, a multigenerational corn and soybean farmer from Minnesota, was one of the first farmers worldwide to test the system and was featured in Deere's CES 2022 reveal. Commercial deliveries to Iowa and Upper Midwest farms followed through 2022 and 2023. The platform also supports See & Spray precision herbicide application, which reached approximately 5 million acres by 2025 at roughly 50% herbicide reduction. Deere targets a fully autonomous corn and soybean production system by 2030.

Key facts

Commercial launch
January 4, 2022 (CES 2022 reveal); commercial deliveries to farmers beginning in 2022
First known named pilot
Doug Nimz, Minnesota corn and soybean farmer, featured in Deere's CES 2022 reveal materials
System
8R 410 tractor + TruSet chisel plow + AutoTrac guidance + 6 stereo camera pairs (360-degree obstacle detection)
See & Spray scale
~5 million acres in 2025, ~50% herbicide reduction
Target
Fully autonomous corn/soybean production system by 2030

Safety record

No incidents on record for John Deere autonomous tractor + See & Spray at Des Moines.

Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.

Trust tier
Catalog entry · 6 sources · not yet field-verifiedhow tiers work →
Last updated
2026-07-22
Model
John Deere autonomous tractor + See & Spray
Company
John Deere
Location
United States/Iowa/Des Moines
Operator
John Deere
Status
operational
Operator type
maker operated
First seen
2022-01-01
ID
7e2690ed-94f9-4d6e-b866-b4ed771c90f7

Timeline

  1. Jan 2022
    First recorded
    John Deere autonomous tractor + See & Spray first documented operating at Des Moines.
  2. Jun 2026
    created
  3. Jul 2026
    Current status: operational, reviewed
    Latest recorded state. New status transitions append here as the deployment-status recorder produces them.

On the deployment map

John Deere autonomous tractor + See & Spray operates in Des Moines. Explore the full verified map:

Sources (6)

  1. https://www.deere.com/en/technology-products/precision-ag-technology/
  2. Deere brings autonomous tractor to market · https://www.iowafarmbureau.com/Article/Deere-brings-autonomous-tractor-to-market
  3. Deere unveils tractor that runs without farmer in the cab · https://www.radioiowa.com/2022/01/05/deere-unveils-tractor-that-runs-without-farmer-in-the-cab/ · 2022-01-05
  4. John Deere takes a step into the future with first fully autonomous tractor · https://electrek.co/2022/01/04/john-deere-takes-a-step-into-the-future-with-first-fully-autonomous-tractor/ · 2022-01-04
  5. John Deere Reveals Fully Autonomous Tractor at CES 2022 · https://www.deere.com/en/our-company/digital-security/autonomous-tractor-reveal/
  6. How Deere is preparing for a fully autonomous farm by 2030 · https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/01/how-deere-is-preparing-for-a-fully-autonomous-farm-by-2030.html · 2023-12-01
Methodology: Verified · 6 sources (1 primary) · last reviewed 2026-07-22

Verification posture

Verified

High confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-07-22

Maturity + lifecycle

Maturity stage: commercial

Lifecycle: active

Architectural position

Cohort: agriculture

Sources by quality tier

4
unclassified
Unclassified source
1
primary-company-ir
Company IR disclosure
1
secondary-established-publication
Established publication

The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.

Methodology surface for John Deere autonomous tractor + See & Spray at Des Moines.

Common questions

What is the John Deere autonomous tractor + See & Spray deployment at Des Moines?
John Deere autonomous tractor + See & Spray, built by John Deere, is recorded as a deployment at Des Moines on the DEPLOY registry. John Deere operates the deployment directly.
Who operates John Deere autonomous tractor + See & Spray at Des Moines?
John Deere, the manufacturer of John Deere autonomous tractor + See & Spray, operates this deployment directly. This is a maker-deploys-its-own-product arrangement rather than a customer pilot.
When did the John Deere autonomous tractor + See & Spray deployment at Des Moines go live?
The deployment is recorded as starting January 1, 2022 on the DEPLOY registry. Earlier activity may exist but is not yet sourced.
Have there been incidents at the John Deere autonomous tractor + See & Spray deployment at Des Moines?
No active incidents affecting this deployment are recorded on the DEPLOY registry. Absence of recorded incidents is not a guarantee no incident occurred; DEPLOY records only sourced incidents and suppresses retracted ones.

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