Agricultural equipment has come a long way over the industry’s history, but machine-related problems remain prominent.

Addressing these issues is becoming increasingly crucial, as a growing population demands higher farm productivity and wavering labor places more emphasis on machinery. Conventional solutions are no longer sufficient amid these shifting conditions, so farms must embrace new alternatives.

Thankfully, the saying that necessity is the mother of invention holds true. The past few years have seen several cutting-edge solutions to some of farm equipment’s most persistent issues.

1. Suboptimal Maintenance

Ongoing maintenance issues plague any industry reliant on heavy equipment, and agriculture is no exception. Repair-related tractor downtime costs U.S. farmers $3 billion per year, not including the higher labor costs of hiring mechanics.

Regular repairs are expensive and time-consuming, but unexpected breakdowns are even more so. Striking an ideal balance between the two isn’t easy with conventional means, either, as up to 60% of preventive maintenance tasks don’t add any real value.

Emerging Solutions

Recent advances in Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and machine learning enable a more reliable alternative — predictive maintenance (PdM). PdM analyzes real-time data from IoT sensors to predict when equipment will fail. These algorithms then alert farmers of the issue so they can repair their machinery before breakdowns occur.

In addition to preventing unplanned downtime, PdM addresses losses from unnecessary preventive repairs. Using AI and data to inform maintenance ensures all fixes actually address a real problem. AI is also better at detecting subtle trends than humans, so it’s a more reliable way to gauge equipment health.

Other technologies, like farm management software, help by providing a single point to organize and view all equipment’s maintenance records. This visibility makes it harder to overlook needed repair tasks and reveals when it’s best to upgrade or replace machinery.

2. High Emissions

Hazardous emissions are another common issue with agricultural equipment. Most of this machinery relies on gasoline and diesel, producing greenhouse gases that can affect crops and contribute to climate change. As laws governing these farm emissions become more common, minimizing them becomes all the more important.

Emerging Solutions

Many farm vehicles can also run on biodiesel, but these fuels still produce carbon emissions, albeit less than conventional diesel. Electrification is a newer and more impactful alternative.

Electric vehicles (EVs) have been around in the consumer space for a while, but they’ve begun to break into industrial applications in the past few years. Many of these are battery-powered, but newer hydrogen equipment holds more long-term potential for agriculture. Hydrogen-powered electric motors are two to three times more efficient than gas alternatives and don’t require the same extended charging times as battery EVs.

Hydrogen tractors and other farm equipment are relatively new but are already commercially available. As liquid hydrogen becomes more accessible, these options will become increasingly viable as an alternative to inefficient, hazardous fume-emitting diesel options.

3. Equipment Availability

Some of the most persistent agricultural equipment issues have less to do with the machinery’s actual operation and more with acquiring the equipment. Labor shortages have raised demand for machinery, but meeting that need carries significant upfront costs.

Purchase price aside, businesses spend over $100 billion annually on repairs and maintenance for facilities and critical equipment. These high expenses make it challenging to scale up to meet growing demand, especially for smaller farms.

Emerging Solutions

Many new technologies make leading farm equipment more expensive. However, the emergence of cloud-based equipment rental and sharing platforms offers a more accessible business model.

These solutions apply the underlying principles of consumer apps like Uber and AirBnB to farm equipment. Farmers who own specialized machinery can rent it to nearby farms through an online marketplace. That way, farms with excess machines make up for depreciation-related losses, while those who rent from them can access new ones without the high costs of ownership.

This democratization also has benefits outside the financial realm. Early examples have shown that these platforms have led many farmers to diversify their farms as the necessary equipment becomes more accessible. In turn, this diversification promotes healthier crops and more climate resilience.

4. Corrosion

Most specific equipment issues vary widely between machines, but some are almost universal. Such is the case with corrosion, as the moisture, dirt and other contaminants farm equipment frequently encounters tend to eat away at metal.

Emerging Solutions

The conventional approach to fight corrosion in farm equipment is to treat metal surfaces with corrosion-resistant additives. While many of these coatings are effective, they incur extra ongoing costs and wear off over time. More recently, equipment manufacturers have developed more resilient alloys to provide the same resistance from the start.

Some novel carbon alloys are three to five times more corrosion-resistant than conventional coatings like zinc, nickel or chrome. Manufacturing farm machinery parts out of this material ensures equipment can withstand repeated use without the expensive reapplication of chemical resistors.

Another emerging solution is to use laser technology to texture metal surfaces. These microscopic patterns can make the metal hydrophobic, reducing rust and other fouling that may occur from liquid sitting on the surface.

5. Operator Errors

Another common equipment issue is the growing lack of skilled labor to operate these machines. Conventional farm tools are only useful as their operator’s ability to use them. Consequently, human error is common, leading to inefficiency and unplanned breakdowns from misuse.

Growing labor challenges intensify the issue. In some areas, as many as 63% of farmers say labor availability is a serious challenge — one that will likely worsen, considering farm hands’ median age hovers around 56. As labor becomes scarcer, stress and workloads increase, making operator errors more likely.

Emerging Solutions

The solution is one that’s been common in manufacturing for years but has only recently become viable in agriculture — automation. Automated farm equipment mitigates labor shortages while minimizing chances for human error to occur.

Leading brands began releasing fully autonomous tractors around 2022, and they’ll become increasingly common from here. While this technology may not be reliable enough yet for driving on city streets, it’s more than capable in predictable, less traffic-heavy farms. Some of these vehicles can process visual information in just 100 milliseconds, theoretically letting them react faster than a human driver for increased safety.

Farms can also capitalize on automation through autonomous harvesting robots, which have been around slightly longer and may be more reliable. While these technologies carry high upfront costs, the resulting efficiency and less error-related downtime compensate for them over time.

Technology Is the Answer to Many of Agriculture’s Problems

The world needs the agricultural industry, but farms must evolve to meet growing demands. While each farm faces a unique set of challenges, some of the most common issues are solvable with new technology. As these innovations become more accessible, they could reshape the face of agriculture for the better.