THE LARGEST family-owned winery in the world is piloting autonomous technology produced by New Holland Agriculture.
E and J Gallo Winery, based in California, are trialling T4.110F speciality vineyard tractors fitted with New Hollands autonomous system, NH Drive.
New Holland Agriculture, brand president, Carlo Lambro said sustainablity and innovation were important to the company.
“That is how we help our customers to farm efficiently and profitably today, and how we will anticipate the way their needs will change,” he said.
“We believe that speciality operations, in particular those in the vineyard environment, could significantly benefit from the introduction of autonomous technology.
“Our partner in the pilot program, shares our commitment to innovation and sustainability in viticulture, as well as our objective of providing an autonomous solution that will benefit winegrowers around the world.”
He said the program aims to gather agronomic and operator feedback on the use of the technology in everyday vineyard activities.
The NHDrive was first showcased in 2017 at the Commonwealth Bank Agquip field days and has been previewed on the T7 heavy duty and T8 tractor ranges to illustrate row crop applications.
Since then, the NHDrive has undergone a series of upgrades, including the sensing and perception elements and the signal receivers.
New Holland said the pilot is focused on a full range of vineyard maintenance and crop production tasks.
Though the initial focus will be on repetitive activities, aiming to make more efficient use of resources through the increased accuracy and repeatability.
