Rose interviewed by CNN on autonomous agriculture

The quotes from David in the CNN article on the future of autonomous agriculture were as follows:

“David Rose, an Associate Professor of agricultural innovation at the University of Reading, says farmers are under increasing pressure to juggle feeding a growing population with increased customer demand for sustainable produce, while facing labor shortages.

Society is asking farmers to do an awful lot,” he says. “I don’t think we look at our plate three times a day and think of all the challenges farmers have faced to put that food on the table.”

He says that at this stage, the most transformative feature of the Monarch tractor is that it’s electric. “To move away from the gas-guzzling, diesel-guzzling … equipment is fantastic,” he says.

But many countries lack a legal framework for self-driving vehicles. “Policy and regulation needs to fundamentally get a grip on this new way of farming,” Rose says. “Until then, I think the potential benefits of autonomy won’t be fully realized.”