Dr. Alfons Weersink, a professor in the Department of Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics in the Ontario Agricultural College, spoke to CBC Radio about John Deere’s debut of a fully autonomous tractor at this month’s CES (formerly the Consumer Electronics Show).

The interview appeared on CBC Radio stations across the country, including on CBC Saskatchewan.

Weersink said he wasn’t surprised by the technology. He noted that, contrary to popular belief, agriculture is very technology-intensive today. The rate of adoption of new technology and the rate of innovation is “just increasing dramatically — exponentially almost,” he said.

Weersink is an agricultural economist. One of the focuses of his research is analyzing new agriculture technology to determine their potential impact on agricultural and environmental policy and on individual farmers.