Sabanto to Partner with 1st Products and Ag Technologies to Develop AGRI-vator Compatibility with Sabanto Steward™ Autonomy
ITASCA, IL, April 16, 2024 – Sabanto with 1st Products and Ag Technologies announce their joint cooperation in developing a revolutionary autonomous solution for the turf farming industry. This collaboration will focus on creating a new monitoring and control system developed by Ag Technologies for 1st Product’s AGRI-vator equipment, integrating seamlessly with the Sabanto Steward™ autonomous system.
This initiative will leverage the expertise of Ag Technologies’ precision ag engineers to develop a system that monitors the operations of AGRI-vator equipment, ensuring optimal safety and performance through advanced fault detection and autonomous control capabilities. The system will be a retrofit kit that may be applied to the latest generation of AGRI-vator equipment.
“We’ve created a world where third parties can freely develop, integrate, and deploy their own autonomous technology in the agriculture industry without asking permission from the incumbents. This partnership will leverage 1st Products and Ag Technologies’ engineering capabilities to accelerate the adoption of technology in the sod industry,” exclaimed Craig Rupp, CEO of Sabanto.
A John Deere 5100E equipped with Steward™ doing field work with an AGRI-vator.
“1st Products is eager to offer an enhanced product featuring the latest technology with autonomous capabilities to improve operational efficiencies for our customers. We are committed to advancing the turf industry through technological innovation by bringing this product to market,” stated Robert Funk, President of 1st Products.
“Our relationship with 1st Products and Sabanto creates a unique opportunity for us to utilize our experience in the precision ag field, adding additional capabilities to AGRI-vator equipment. Our customers utilizing tractor autonomy are looking for implements that interface with Sabanto’s system, giving them more control of their field operations without being physically present,” noted Brian Kelley, President of Ag Technologies.
Details on the release of this product are yet to be confirmed, as all parties involved are committed to offering growers a product with superior quality and safety features. More information and details on the development of this system will be announced as they become available.
About Sabanto
Headquartered in Itasca, Illinois, Sabanto’s mission is to accelerate autonomy in agricultural machinery to solve two primary problems: (i) the increasingly acute scarcity of labor in rural areas and (ii) ever-increasing capital expenses for modern ag machinery. Sabanto’s core competency revolves around low-cost retrofits of existing agriculture machinery regardless of make or model, along with the development of necessary supporting software to maximize the utility of autonomous technology, thereby increasing producer ROI. Learn more at sabantoag.com.
About 1st Products
Since inception in 1980, 1st Products, Inc. continues its firm commitment to innovative turf and agriculture equipment, quality manufacturing and customer service. Our efforts result in the development of specialty patented products proven to save time and money for a variety of industries. 1st Products employs staff engineers who guide the design of our equipment, which means that the products we produce are unsurpassed in functionality and versatility.
About Ag Technologies
As a member of the global Vantage Network of Technology Service Providers since 2016, we are at the forefront of connecting local insights with global advancements. Ag Technologies stands at the unique intersection of agriculture and technology. With over 20 years of dedicated service, our team, enriched with over 100 years of collective experience, bridges these worlds. Our diverse pool of experts, including MBAs, CPAs, Spatial Analysts, Programmers, and more, are united under one goal— to navigate the complexities of precision agriculture, ensuring technology works not just for you, but with you.
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