Agricultural machinery

Agricultural machinery refers to mechanical devices, vehicles, and structures used in farming or other agriculture. There are many types of such equipment, from hand tools and power tools to tractors and the farm implements that they tow or operate. Machinery is used in both organic and nonorganic farming. Since the beginning of mechanised agriculture, these tools have become essential for feeding the world.

Agricultural machinery is part of broader agricultural automation technologies. This includes more advanced digital equipment and agricultural robotics. While robots can help with important steps in farming, most machinery today mainly helps people perform tasks, with humans still making decisions based on what they see and know.

History

Industrial Revolution

When the Industrial Revolution began, farming changed a lot. Machines could now cut grain instead of doing it by hand with a sharp blade. Special machines called threshing machines could separate seeds from the plants. The first tractors started appearing in the late 1800s.

Steam power

At first, animals like oxen provided the power for farming machines. Then, steam power was invented, leading to machines that could move on their own, called traction engines. These steam engines did heavy work that oxen used to do and could also power other machines using a pulley and a long belt.

Internal combustion engines

Later, internal combustion engines—first using petrol and then diesel—became the main power source for new tractors. These engines helped create the self-moving combine harvester, which could cut, separate, and collect grain all in one go while moving through the field.

Agricultural machinery types

Tractors

Tractors are important on most modern farms. They push or pull special machines called implements that help with many farming jobs. Some implements prepare the soil for planting by loosening it up. One well-known implement is the plow, which was improved a long time ago. Today, other tools are often used instead.

Combines

A combine is a big machine that can harvest many types of grain crops, like wheat, rice, and corn. It does several jobs at once, making harvesting faster and easier.

Planters

Planters are a common type of seeder. They space out seeds evenly in rows. Some crops are planted using drills, which put out more seeds in closer rows. There are also machines that move small plants from one place to another.

Sprayers

After planting, sprayers can be used to put liquid fertilizer or other products on the crops to help them grow and stay healthy.

Balers and other agriculture implements

Hay balers can pack grass or alfalfa into neat bundles for storage. There are also machines for watering crops and others for applying liquids that help the plants grow. Vehicles like trucks, airplanes, and helicopters can also be used on farms for moving things and helping with crops and animals.

New technology and the future

Main articles: Digital agriculture and Precision agriculture

The basic tools and machines used in farming have not changed much over the last hundred years. Even today’s advanced harvesters and planters still work in much the same way as older models. However, new technology is changing how people use these machines. Computers, GPS, and self-steering programs help tractors and tools work more accurately and use less fuel, seed, or fertilizer. In the future, there might even be tractors that drive themselves using maps and sensors.

Agricultural automation

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) describes agricultural automation as using machines and tools to help with farming tasks. This makes farming easier and more precise. Over time, farming has gone from using hand tools to animals, then to machines, and now to digital tools. Today, machines can do many jobs automatically, like ploughing, planting, and watering crops. With new technology, even decisions about crops can be made automatically. For example, robots can pick and plant crops, and drones can fly over fields to gather information. Tractors can also drive themselves to plant seeds.

A 2023 report by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) found that more than half of certain crops in the United States, like corn and soybeans, are planted using systems that guide machines automatically. These systems only need a farmer watching over them.

Open source agricultural equipment

Some farmers find it hard to fix modern high-tech farming tools because companies often do not allow farmers to repair or adjust their machines. In 2015, a change was made to allow farmers to inspect and adjust the software in vehicles, including farm machines.

The Open Source Agriculture movement includes groups like Farm Labs in Europe and l'Atelier Paysan in France, which teaches farmers to build and repair their tools. In the United States, the MIT Media Lab’s Open Agriculture Initiative works on creating open technologies for farming. This includes the Personal Food Computer, a project that uses robots to control conditions inside a special chamber for growing plants. It also develops Open Phenom, a tool that shares information about how plants grow under different conditions.

Manufacturers

Many companies make machines and tools that farmers use. Some of the big names today include AGCO, Case IH, Claas, CNH Industrial, Deutz-Fahr, Fendt, Iseki, JCB, John Deere, Kubota, Lamborghini Trattori, Landini, Lindner, LS Mtron, Mahindra Tractors, Massey Ferguson, McCormick Tractors, Minsk Tractor Works, Mitsubishi Agricultural Machinery, New Holland Agriculture, SAME, Steyr, TAFE, TYM, Ursus SA, Valpadana, Valtra, Versatile, Yanmar, YTO Group, and Zetor.

In the past, other companies like Allis-Chalmers, Case Corporation, Ferguson-Brown Company, Fiat Trattori, Ford, International Harvester, Leyland Tractors, and Massey-Harris also made farming machines.