AGCO's PTx Trimble brand has been awarded one of Fast Company's 2025 World Changing Ideas Award for its OutRun autonomous grain cart solution. The annual award recognizes businesses and organizations that are developing creative solutions to today's most pressing issues.

OutRun's retrofit autonomous capability gives combine operators the ability to move full grain carts off the harvest field without the need for a tractor driver.

"OutRun is an autonomy platform that will provide multiple autonomous capabilities for farm operations," said Dinen Subramaniam, PTx Trimble senior product manager. "It currently supports autonomous grain cart operation and will support autonomous tillage operation in 2026."

OutRun is currently compatible with John Deere 8R or 8000R tractors with IVT (Intelligent Variable Transmission) and will be commercially available for AGCO's Fendt models in 2026.

OutRun is compatible with corn, soybeans and some cereal operations, such as wheat and barley. AGCO also plans to add tillage applications to OutRun in 2026.

DTN/Progressive Farmer spoke with Subramaniam about OutRun and its current capabilities and those in in development. Here is that discussion.

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DTN/Progressive Farmer: AGCO, its PTx Trimble group, has devoted a good many resources to OutRun. Talk about the technology, if you would.

Dinen Subramaniam: OutRun is an autonomy platform that will provide multiple autonomous capabilities for farm operations. It currently supports autonomous grain cart operations and will support autonomous tillage operation in 2026. It works with existing tractors so that the life of existing equipment can be extended through autonomy.

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DTN/PF: How will the operator switch between grain cart and tillage functions?

Subramaniam: OutRun's base technology kit, called OutRun Intelligence, supports both the grain cart and tillage operations. Coupled with task-specific hardware, like a combine kit or a tillage implement kit, OutRun is capable of servicing both autonomous tasks. Due to the difference in workflow for each of the tasks, harvesting autonomy through a tablet in the combine and tillage through the user's mobile device, each of the mentioned tasks uses two distinct apps. We expect the process of switching between tasks to become even easier in the years to come.

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DTN/PF: With the version of OutRun available today, it is during harvest that the combine operator who calls for the grain cart. Would you describe what happens after that?

Subramaniam: When the combine is full, the combine operator touches a single button on a tablet to command OutRun to bring the grain cart tractor to the combine for an unload. OutRun tracks where crops have been harvested and what has not yet been harvested, what we call a coverage map, so that it can navigate to the combine without damaging any crops. As the tractor approaches the combine, the combine operator is presented with what we call the alignment view, which shows precisely the relative position of the two machines. OutRun automatically positions the grain cart so that the combine spout is centered on it and the operator can then begin the unload. As the unload proceeds, OutRun lets the operator precisely unload to exactly where they want using the control buttons of the alignment view.

One farmer we've been testing with in Rising City, Nebraska, thinks he can get about 10% more grain into the grain cart on each load because of the control he has with OutRun.

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DTN/PF: Tell us why the grain cart doesn't just set off across of field, over harvested ground, but also unharvested rows?

Subramaniam: OutRun is built to safely operate only within boundaries designated by the operator. If the level of positioning accuracy is suboptimal, OutRun will pause and will need to be resumed by the operator when positioning accuracy returns. Additionally, OutRun tracks harvested and unharvested areas in the field being harvested and only runs in harvested areas of the field. Perception systems will also ensure that obstacles like pivots, or fences, or even unharvested crops are not damaged. OutRun also works to reduce compaction by working to retake paths that either the combine or the tractor has previously taken.

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DTN/PF: You mentioned OutRun with a tillage function. Is it limited to any type of tillage tool?

Subramaniam: It is currently limited to some high-speed disks and cultivators but will support more in the future. We are validating one tool after the other, or one class of tool after the other. We hope to be able to get to some of the other common types in the next few months. OutRun will be available for a beta spring tillage program starting in 2026, with commercial release planned for fall tillage in 2026.

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DTNPF: Does OutRun monitor tillage functions behind the tractor, performance and mechanical issues?

Subramaniam: It's relatively easy to pull something behind you. The question is: Are you doing a good job? The work of the OutRun team around tillage has focused on ensuring the quality of the tillage operation. We monitor a number of engine parameters, such as engine load and wheel slip. Additionally, we use sensors and cameras to monitor the quality of the tillage operation. While autonomous tillage is underway, the operator can log into the app at any time and see a live view and also pictures of previous snapshots to ensure that the tillage operation is occurring to the user's preference.

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DTN/PF: You mentioned future tasks applied to OutRun. Would you describe them?

Subramaniam: We are considering a few candidate tasks for future expansion, with farmer value being the principal determinant. One is spreader and fertilizer applications, either with a pull-behind or mounted tractor setup, or on a separate platform like a sprayer system. We are also looking at more worldwide applications, things like harvest in sugar cane applications.

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DTN/PF: One more run at OutRun grain cart operations. That would be the other end of the function, where grain is delivered to an unloading and transport site. OutRun does not have that function within its capabilities now. Will it?

Subramaniam: That is something we're working on. When we undertook the path toward autonomy, we needed to be intentional about the parts of the problem that we chose to solve. We could have attempted to solve autonomy for everyone in every field, every capability. I suspect we would be developing that product for many years. So, we wanted to choose some of the hard problems where we could deliver value to the customer and then continue building on top of that. Unloading into semis or trucks has challenges. Usually, this is often undertaken on gravel roads, or where there are ditches. Every truck is different, with different heights or different shapes. We don't believe any of those are unsolvable. We'll just take that as the next step.

Dan Miller can be reached at dan.miller@dtn.com

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