A team of researchers from Harper Adams University in the UK say they are the first in the world to complete a harvest – from sowing and fertilizing all the way through to the actual harvest of the crop – using robotic technology and autonomous vehicles.

Although Google’s autonomous car got a lot of press, the auto-guidance system on tractors, combines, sprayers and other farm equipment has been around for years.

Iott Seed Farms produces seed potatoes used to grow spuds for potato chips near Kalkaska in northwest Michigan. Owners Dennis and Greg Iott also grow wheat, rye and sudex in their potato rotation. This specialty crop presents challenges as the Iotts strive to collect better data to fine-tune their cropping system.