
John Deere Plans to Feed the World with Robotics - CitizenTekk
https://beth.technology/john-deere-world-robotics-podcast/
======
afandian
Pretty tone-deaf in an 'analysis' piece not to mention the rights they are
taking from farmers, and the struggle to regain them.

(Edit: If not for the sake of telling the whole story, then at least as a
commercial / competitive factor.)

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ahupp
Which rights do you mean?

~~~
afandian
Right to repair. Sorry, it's such a talked-about thing on HN I didn't say.
Previous discussions:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9414211](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9414211)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13925994](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13925994)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13802969](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13802969)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14176195](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14176195)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17479629](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17479629)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13990266](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13990266)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=889355](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=889355)

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dentemple
I'm sorry, but if I'm going to rely on a robot, I'd want the ability to open
it up and perform my own maintenance.

John Deere is actively hostile to people like us.

The only trustworthy robotics software is open source robotics software.

~~~
sambull
John Deere wants to move 50 year lifespan and secondary markets into
guaranteed MRR. Just like everything in my industry as well.

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perlin
Sure, we could move humans even further away from the means of production and
deploy robots to do mega-scale monoculture using closed-source hardware /
software, while continuing to further the monopolies held by Monsanto, John
Deere, etc..

Or, we could try to shift agriculture back to a local scale, use open source
hardware/software, and community-owned infrastructure to build more
sustainable, polyculture food systems.

In particular, I am excited about the rooftop farming work being done in the
Brooklyn Navy Yard here in NYC(1). Our Public Advocate has even discussed
building-code mandated "green roof" legislation(2). CNC/Robotics & IoT are the
key to unlocking urban micro-agriculture that can begin to offset some of our
dependency on dirty food, and I applaud those(3) who are working on these very
important problems.

(1)
[https://www.brooklyngrangefarm.com/navyyard](https://www.brooklyngrangefarm.com/navyyard)

(2) [https://www.bkreader.com/2018/07/18/brooklyn-
councilmember-i...](https://www.bkreader.com/2018/07/18/brooklyn-
councilmember-introduces-bill-transform-nycs-concrete-jungle-oasis-green-
rooftops/)

(3) [https://farm.bot/](https://farm.bot/)

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rgrieselhuber
In our race to the cities and suburbs, Americans have given up an incredible
amount of food sovereignty, both in terms of zoning laws and our own skills.
Our grid in the US is quite vulnerable and even brief interruptions could have
catastrophic effects. Re-focusing on growing some portion of our food and
sourcing locally as much as possible can alleviate many of these risks.

~~~
Retric
The abundance of modern farming is hard to fathom. Local food is more
expensive specifically because it’s less efficient and therefore less capable
of dealing with significant shocks.

~~~
rgrieselhuber
Efficiency is a loaded word in this context. Agricultural monoculture is
destructive in many ways and yet is easily portrayed as "efficient."

~~~
Retric
Local does not mean 4 fold crop rotation, it just means close to the consumer.
You have all of the same issues as regular agriculture, and add growing plants
less suited for local conditions. It’s a pure net loss with zero benifit.

More water use, more fertilizer use, more greenhouses, more pesticides, more
machines, more labor, more of frankly everything.

~~~
rgrieselhuber
I’ve noticed that efficiencies and the idea of net loss appears quite
frequently in your comment history.

~~~
Retric
Efficiency is something I consider really important.

The difference between say subsidized green energy and a carbon tax seems
minimal to most people. But, a difference in efficiency means one simply works
better.

It’s really easy to end up with sub optimal choices, like US efficiency
regulations subsidizing SUV’s. Individual choices that seem reasonable rarely
result in optimal results. Add in a little corruption or propaganda and people
get down right stupid.

~~~
rgrieselhuber
There are serious costs to consider when you submit everything to the ideal
(idol?) of efficiency. Regardless, the type of local I'm most interested in is
people growing food in their own backyards. Dependence on food supply chains
is a single point of failure that is completely unnecessary.

~~~
Retric
As an ideal it seems like a good idea. However, you need to grow a lot of food
to avoid that dependence.

In terms of disaster preparedness having actual food stored is also much more
valuable than growing plants that can’t be moved.

Thus, you’re either talking about a meaningless token, or a huge life
commitment for minimal gain.

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srean
People who remain underfed today arent so because of lack of food/grains.

US and India combined have historically dumped mountains of wheat into the
(metaphoric) sea.

