[begin quote] A few weeks back, I saw a picture of Case-IH equipment lined up on Wall Street. Apparently, Case-IH was there to ring the bell for some reason. There it stood – Case’s autonomous tractor. The wave of the future. Imagine a row crop tractor without a cab. I had a few questions: how do you get it from the farm to the field without a cab? How do you make sure your turns are wide enough to keep the implement safely on the road? What happens if it gets stuck in the mud?

“Big Iron” is the largest farm show between Minneapolis and Seattle. Everybody brings their biggest and best. So imagine my surprise when it wasn’t there. Case-IH had a huge display, I loved the 7000 series combine with the retro paint job to make it match the color scheme of the old 1460’s my grandpa drove. No autonomous tractor. Not even a poster. I walked away asking myself “who is their target buyer – Wall Street stock investors or Upper Midwest farmers”?[end quote]