MENSCHEN INTERVIEW Agricultural technology 2025 LOOK INTO THE FU Since 1997 Dr Gottfried Eikel is deputy chief editor of the specialist farm machinery magazine “profi” and is numbered among the most renowned experts in the agricultural machinery scene. We would like to learn about this man’s assessment over future developments in this respect. Will machinery become ever-larger? Or might there be conflicting trends? 54
TURE We meet Dr Gottfried Eikel in a relaxed atmosphere for an interview in his office within the “profi” editorial department in Münster. The 1989-grounded magazine belongs to the Landwirtschaftsverlag and with an approximate circulation of just under 70,000 is the most successful farm machinery magazine in Germany. Currently, editorial staff numbers 22, conducting machinery tests, producing video reports and managing the magazine’s online presence. Dr Gottfried Eikel has been in the editorial team of “profi” magazine for over 26 years. Dr Eikel: Drones and swarm technologies will, especially in Germany, first of all have a difficult time because of legal restrictions. In the short and medium term, developments will therefore probably tend to move towards an intelligent, above all efficient and soil-protecting management of machines. To this we can count the automatic headland turning, automatic adjustment of working depths, more precise applications of plant nutrients as well as the online utilisation of satellite or sensor data. Keyword drones: nowadays we already have many drone applications that are used in practice including distribution of trichogramma wasps, animal rescue, crop or livestock surveillance, as well as documentation of wild animal or hail damage to crops. XtraBlatt: Over the last decades, machinery performance continually increased. Will this still continue in the future? Dr Gottfried Eikel: On the whole, dimensions will be unable to increase markedly. At least as far as Germany is concerned and, in the broader sense, the rest of Europe. We are approaching the vehicle dimension permittable on our highways. Wider cutterbars and sprayer booms may be conceivable. But we have to recognise that only broader and faster doesn‘t necessarily solve efficacy and efficiency problems. Slowly we approach the limits whereby it might perhaps be more sensible to apply two large machines instead of one mega-machine. XtraBlatt: In the specialist media there are already concepts based on drones or swarm technology. Is this a trend that in future we’ll also see on our fields? XtraBlatt: When will autonomic farm machinery enter practical farming? Dr Eikel: Most likely would be the initiation of such machinery where repetitive work has to be carried out regularly in confined areas, such as feeding livestock. This technology will, however, change agricultural machinery usage at least where work is carried out without large amounts of input material and harvested produce. Mechanical weed control is, for example, a process where autonomic vehicles with intelligent sensor systems will very certainly be used. The industry currently works on exciting systems with intelligent algorithms. Fundamentally, all “simple” tasks such as grubbing, ploughing, plantation care etc, could be tackled with autonomous tractors, or is already featuring this approach. We will have to wait probably a little time before silage harvester, combine or beet harvester drivers lose their jobs through such developments. XtraBlatt: In the car industry there is much discussion currently over electric drive. Dr Eikel: Nowadays we can already imagine this technology with small tractors for winter clearing work in cities. A battery-driven BiG X self-propelled silage harvester we will probably not see, even 20 years ahead. Where high performance is required, only diesel-electric power will function. An electric-powered aggregate and implements such as fertiliser spreaders we can already believe in. That is, they 55
