Mississippi State is partnering with John Deere through a master research agreement, establishing a framework for the university’s Agricultural Autonomy Institute to help develop technology to automate critical steps in the production of cotton and other crops.

“There has been a lot of interest in automating a variety of farming processes because the skilled labor needed to carefully operate modern equipment is increasingly hard to find,” said Alex Thomasson, AAI director and head of MSU’s Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering. “An advantage of autonomous systems is that they don’t get tired or distracted.”

MSU Assistant Professor Hussein Gharakhani is the project’s principal investigator. A scientist in the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, or MAFES, who has worked with AAI since its inception, Gharakhani has focused his research solely on agricultural autonomy—the concept of machines that independently perform tasks traditionally requiring manual labor.

“Operating agricultural equipment in certain applications requires intense focus and attention to detail,” said Gharakhani. “Imagine operating in such a situation all day, and you’ll understand how easy it would be to lose concentration and start making costly mistakes.”

As a global machinery manufacturer, John Deere has a history of collaborating with universities to advance agricultural technologies.

“We are excited about this opportunity to partner with the Agricultural Autonomy Institute at Mississippi State University,” said Holly Mayton, John Deere’s Research Partnerships and Science Policy Lead for Emerging Technologies and Architecture. “Establishing research agreements with MSU and other universities reflects our desire to build strong partnerships with leading research institutions and to connect with future tech talent.”

The company’s agreement with MSU also highlights the need for more agricultural machinery research to be conducted in the South.

“Our cropping systems and methods are unique to our crops, soils, terrain and climate, so there are opportunities for manufacturers to work with researchers here in the specific conditions where their equipment will be used,” Thomasson said.

Thomasson added that the partnership will help AAI advance its mission of attracting companies in the ag autonomy industry to Mississippi, creating options for research and startups, and developing and training a Mississippi-based ag autonomy workforce.

“Our vision for AAI is to establish Mississippi as the ‘Silicon Valley’ of agricultural autonomy, and working with John Deere is a major step forward in placing our state and university on the national stage as having the first institute in the U.S. focused on autonomous ag,” he said.

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