18 “OUTRUN PROVIDES EVERYTHING REQUIRED TO TAKE A BASIC MODEL TRACTOR OF THE SUPPORTED TYPES AND ALLOW AUTONOMOUS OPERATION.” If there’s one thing PTx Trimble dislikes, it is sitting on their laurels. PTx Trimble is the name of the joint venture between Trimble and AGCO, specializing in precision agriculture, technology, guidance and steering, and more. In 2024, the company released OutRun as an autonomous grain cart solution. Not wanting to stand pat, PTx Trimble has expanded the OutRun system to offer farmers autonomous tillage in 2025 with plans to support other operations moving forward in 2026 and beyond. Dinen Subramaniam, Product Launch Manager at PTx Trimble, spoke with Farms.com Precision Agriculture Digital Digest, explaining that the OutRun technology “allows farmers to install autonomous capabilities on tractors that are up to 10 years old, improving efficiency and reducing labor dependency.” Subramaniam said that OutRun with tillage enabled will still perform autonomous grain cart duties. Currently, OutRun is compatible with John Deere 8R tractor models from 2014 and later, as well as the Fendt 900 tractors. However, Subramaniam noted that the commercial launch of Fendt support will arrive in 2026 and that further brands and tractor models will be introduced yearly. Subramaniam said that although OutRun installs autonomous capabilities onto older tractors, the tractors do not need to be autonomous-capable or even an autonomous-ready vehicle. “OutRun provides everything required to take a basic model tractor of the supported types and allow autonomous operation,” he said. Farmers utilizing OutRun will find that the autonomous tillage solution will increase their ability to have a successful planting season. As PTx Trimble noted, when tilling is to be performed to prepare the seedbed, it is difficult to stay ahead of planters, which can cause delays. However, said Subramaniam, OutRun can increase tillage capacity and can let growers plant at the most optimal time, providing a bump to their yields. Also, during spring and fall tillage, farmers can reduce work hours and attend to more urgent matters by deploying OutRun to perform tilling on a field and monitor it remotely. PHOTO: PTx Trimble BECOME AUTONOMOUS WITHOUT A NEW VEHICLE PTx Trimble’s Autonomous Platform Turns Non-Autonomous Vehicles Into Precision Ag Tech ANDREW JOSEPH FARMS.COM WATCH THE VIDEO
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