Kansas becomes first state to trial autonomous tractors on public roads
A US state has become the first to allow autonomous tractors on public roads. The launch of the Rural Autonomous Mobility Program (RAMP) in Kansas marks the first time that autonomous tractors and farm machinery have been allowed to legally operate on public rural roads in the US.
The initiative aims to tackle one of the technologies biggest logistical hurdles, the requirement to move equipment between fields. By removing this bottle neck, it is hoped that autonomous tractors will deliver further time and labour savings.
RAMP is the brainchild of Lukas Koch, founder of Kelly Hills Unmanned Systems, and has been made possible by the Kansas Department of Transportation’s (KDOT) ‘Innovative Technology Program’. Commenting, Lucas Koch said:
“As far as we know, this is the very first time that autonomous tractors will be traversing on roads anywhere in the US, and likely in the whole world. We are thrilled to take the lead on this and help bring back a quality way of life to very rural areas of the US. Automating tedious tasks in large farming operations will bring back a better standard of living to those areas and driving tractors autonomously on roads will unlock an entirely new level of efficiency.”[i]
RAMP will continue its pilot phase in Kansas through 2026, collecting data on autonomous road operations, engaging with rural communities, and working with regulators to build a scalable model for other states and agricultural regions. According to Forbes, the driverless tractor market is currently booming, with agriculture-heavy areas such as India and China leading uptake, with the industry projected to grow from $1.5 billion to $13-15 billion by 2033[ii]
It represents a wider shift within the agricultural sector to explore the applications for autonomous machinery, robotics, and AI, leading to the development of a range of solutions. These not only include autonomous tractors, but also autonomous vehicles for pest control, milking robots, automated feeders for livestock, unmanned drones for crop monitoring, and autonomous vehicles to map and analyse soil/farmland.
ZCA’s upcoming cleantech research, due to launch next week (October 7th), explores the evolving Agtech landscape, and singles out the leading innovators from this segment as representatives in our Cleantech Top 50 for 2025.
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References
[ii] Driverless Tractors Set To Dominate Farming Industry, Say Experts
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