The company announced its plans at the 2022 Consumer Electronics Show to develop a tractor that can take on many of the duties of growing crops — with no farmer on board.“And I think we would see a huge issue in our food supply if we went completely that way.”Others argue autonomous tractors could be good for the environment by increasing efficiency that could mean reduced use of fuel, fertilizers and pesticides.John Deere cited three reasons for developing the autonomous tractor: addressing the labor shortage in rural areas, making farming more efficient and freeing up a farmer’s time to do more important things than being behind the wheel for hours on end.“I’d say we’ve been chipping away at autonomy for the past 20-plus years, really,” said Ryan Jardon, manager of product marketing at Deere.“And that includes things like adjusting the tillage tool depth, or steering around an obstacle.”While Deere made a big splash at CES, there aren’t a lot of details on an exact time frame on when the machines will be available."