Tractor technology has come a long way in the past 20 years — and it’s evolving faster than ever. In this episode of the Agriculture Technology Podcast, host Tony Kramer is joined by Brian Verkuehlen of RDO Equipment Co. to discuss how John Deere tractors are becoming more versatile to meet autonomy and precision agriculture. Once used solely for tillage and planting, John Deere tractors have transformed into advanced, multi-purpose machines. Tony and Brian dive into the impact of emerging techn...
Jul 07, 2025•20 min
Want to cut fertilizer costs without sacrificing yield? In this episode of the Agriculture Technology Podcast, host Tony Kramer unpacks John Deere’s ExactRate and ExactShot fertilizer systems to help you decide which makes sense for your operation. He breaks down how each system works, the types of fertilizer applications they support and how to choose between the two. Whether you’re upgrading your current planter or buying new, understanding the differences between ExactRate and ExactShot can h...
Jun 16, 2025•20 min
From full planter rebuilds to simple meter swaps, John Deere’s 2026 Precision Upgrades offer more ways than ever for farmers to bring the latest technology to the equipment they already own. In this episode of the Agriculture Technology Podcast, host Tony Kramer sits down with Taryn Fischels, Product Marketing Manager at John Deere, to explore the new Model Year 2026 Precision Upgrade Kits for planters and air seeders.These upgrades are designed with flexibility in mind — whether you’re running ...
Jun 03, 2025•23 min
The new John Deere HSD series is built for speed, reliability and the future of farming — allowing growers to prep their farms for autonomous tillage and cover 400 acres a day. In this episode of the Agriculture Technology Podcast, host Tony Kramer sits down with Kory Ross, Group Product Marketing Manager at John Deere, to discuss upgrades to the 2680H tillage tool. From stronger frames and improved residue flow to plug-and-play autonomy features, the HSD lineup delivers major advancements for l...
May 19, 2025•15 min
From spot spraying to navigating tough terrain, UAVs are proving to be extremely beneficial to the ag industry. Join host Tony Kramer in this episode of the Agriculture Technology Podcast as he sits down with Ross Florhaug, a UAV applicator from North Dakota. Ross shares his journey with UAVs, insights on the best UAVs for agriculture and the challenges and successes of using UAVs in farming. Curious about why customers would prefer UAV aerial applications over traditional methods? Ross discusse...
May 05, 2025•22 min
Join Tony Kramer, host of the Agriculture Technology Podcast, as he sits down with Jake L. and Derrick R. from RDO Equipment Co. to discuss the transformative power of John Deere Connected Support at RDO Equipment Co. Learn how telematics and proactive solutions are revolutionizing machine health and maintenance for operators and owners, reducing downtime and enhancing productivity for their farming and construction businesses. Hear first-hand about success stories, expert insights and the futur...
Apr 21, 2025•21 min
In this episode of the Agriculture Technology Podcast, John Deere's Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Jahmy Hindman, speaks live from the Grand Farm Innovation Campus. Jahmy shares his vision for the future of farming, discussing groundbreaking technologies like See & Spray and autonomous tractors. He dives into the challenges of feeding a growing global population, the evolution of agricultural technology, the role of connectivity and AI in modern farming and more! Join us...
Mar 31, 2025•29 min
Join host Tony Kramer in this special episode of the Agriculture Technology Podcast, recorded live at the Future of Farming event at the Grand Farm Innovation Campus. Dive deep into See & Spray technology with industry experts from John Deere, Blue River Technology, Mid-Kansas Co-op and RDO Equipment Co. Our panel of guests includes: Lee Johnson: See & Spray Architecture and Integration Lead at John Deere Emily Paris: Product Manager at Blue River Technology Nick Mazouch: Agronomy Manage...
Mar 17, 2025•54 min
Join host Tony Kramer on the Agriculture Technology Podcast as he sits down with Michael Porter, Go-to-Market Manager for Large Tractors and Tillage at John Deere, to explore John Deere's revolutionary autonomous tillage solution. In this episode, they discuss how this cutting-edge technology can enhance farming operations by increasing efficiency and productivity. Michael explains the benefits for farmers, from small operations to large-scale farms, including reallocating labor, optimizing time...
Mar 03, 2025•22 min
Join Agriculture Technology Podcast host Tony Kramer as he sits down with Andrew S. from RDO Australia to explore cutting-edge digital solutions transforming the agriculture industry. In this episode, Andrew shares his journey from farming to working with John Deere's Precision Ag team. He discusses advancements in cotton tracking technology, best management practices in cotton and sugarcane farming and collaboration with ag retailers to support growers and enhance data utilization. Learn about ...
Feb 20, 2025•19 min
In this episode of the Agriculture Technology Podcast, host Tony Kramer sits down with Joel Kaczynski, a Technology Solutions Manager at RDO Equipment Co., to dive into John Deere's new license model for technology. With over 20 years of experience at RDO, Joel explains John Deere’s transition from traditional activations and subscriptions to the new license model, which includes permanent, time-based and use-based licenses. This new model aims to provide more flexibility and better align costs ...
Feb 06, 2025•34 min
Join host Tony Kramer in this episode of the Agriculture Technology Podcast as he sits down with Stephen Frahm, Business Development Manager Crop Care at RDO Equipment Australia. They dive into the unique planting and seeding solutions in Australian agriculture, discussing everything from moisture conservation techniques to the importance of controlled traffic farming. Stephen shares insights on custom equipment builds, the integration of Monosem solutions, and the latest John Deere technologies...
Jan 16, 2025•23 min
In this episode of the Agriculture Technology Podcast, host Tony Kramer sits down with Scott Schumacher, General Manager of Construction Technology at RDO Equipment Co. in Grand Forks, ND, to discuss the groundbreaking John Deere Path technology, Deere’s newest precision mapping solution for snow removal operators.
Jan 04, 2025•22 min
Join RDO Equipment Co.’s Agronomist and Podcast Host, Tony Kramer, as he reviews the top 5 episodes of the Ag Tech Podcast from 2024. In this episode, Tony recaps expert insights from the Millennial Farmer and RDO’s founder Ron Offutt, along with the latest John Deere product launches and technologies, including Precision Upgrade Kits and the John Deere Operations Center. Watch to see how these insights, product launches and new technologies have shaped the ag tech landscape this year.
Dec 10, 2024•25 min
This year, the Ag Tech Podcast has covered John Deere precision upgrade kits (PUKs) for planters, sprayers and combines. To round out our year on precision upgrades, Tony sits down with Clint Chaffer, Product Marketing Lead for Precision Upgrades at John Deere, to talk about the origin of PUKs. Starting with planters, the technology footprint of precision upgrades broadened across each season. Chaffer gives us insight into how growers can retrofit older equipment with PUKs, allowing farmers to s...
Nov 17, 2024•36 min
Tony Kramer is joined by Bill Edmondson, RDO’s UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) Product Manager to discuss drone solutions. He shares how early on, the team worked diligently to understand the capabilities of UAV products, ensuring that whether you’re working with crops in the field or on a construction job site, there are a variety of solutions these products can provide. But that’s not all — RDOai offers a variety of additional advantages to help customers achieve the best results, which are high...
Oct 17, 2024•27 min
Getting more done in less time — it's something we all dream of, especially in the field. Lucky for us, John Deere had the same goal in mind when creating and redesigning some of their latest tillage tools. In this episode of the Agriculture Technology podcast, Tyler Z., tillage technology product manager at RDO, joins Tony to introduce Deere's first coulter chisel tillage implement, the CC Series, as well as the redesigned Minimum Tillage (MT) series. Tyler walks us through the highlights, diff...
Sep 19, 2024•13 min
Harvest has kicked off in many places of the country, which means it’s only fitting for today’s Agriculture Technology podcast topic: precision upgrades for your combine. In this episode, host Tony Kramer is joined by Wyatt Johnson, Precision Ag Product Specialist out of the RDO store in Webster, SD. They give a detailed description of how these upgrades could help your farm.
Aug 15, 2024•23 min
Precision upgrade kits (PUKs) take your sprayer to the next level. How? Mike L., one of RDO Equipment Co.’s Precision Ag Product Specialists has the answers.
Jul 18, 2024•21 min
Welcome to the milestone 200th episode of the Agriculture Technology podcast. Today, Ron Offutt, founder of RDO Equipment Co. joins host Tony Kramer to reflect on the past 60 years of agriculture and look to the future.
Jun 20, 2024•12 min
Ready to choose your planting adventure? Colin Artz, a 20-plus-year ag industry veteran, discusses John Deere's planter Precision Upgrade Kits (PUKs) with Podcast Host and Planting Technology Product Manager Tony Kramer. Artz explains that farmers can select the improvements they’d like — planter speed, seed planting quality or input savings with ExactShot technology. Listen to learn how farmers can customize their PUKs to fit their current planter.
May 16, 2024•23 min
From Precision Agriculture Essentials Kits and new C-Series Air Carts to the highly anticipated S7 and X9 combines, Podcast Host and Planting Technology Manager Tony Kramer gets the scoop on the latest equipment and technology solutions from John Deere Go-to-Market Managers. during this year’s Commodity Classic. Discover key features of these John Deere products, their development and how they will work in the field.
Apr 18, 2024•27 min
Zach Johnson, the Millennial Farmer creator on YouTube, returns to the podcast to discuss farming technology adoption and its effect on efficiency and profitability with Podcast Host and Planting Technology Product Manager Tony Kramer. As a 5th generation farmer, Johnson first spoke with Kramer during episode 86 when he started to promote agriculture and share his day-to-day experiences. Johnson and Kramer talk about precision upgrade kits on planters, including ExactRate™ Liquid Fertilizer Syst...
Mar 21, 2024•20 min
Planting Technology Product Manager and Podcast Host Tony Kramer discuss John Deere Operations Center™ and its applications for small grains growers with John Deere’s Go-to-Market Manager, Ryan Stien. John Deere’s recent partnership announcement with SpaceX increases service to rural areas, and Stien, who focuses on digital products, says increased connectivity will revolutionize accurate data collection. Stein and Kramer emphasize field boundaries as a foundational step to automate data collect...
Feb 15, 2024•33 min
Product Manager of Planting Technology and Podcast Host Tony Kramer sits down with turf and utility professionals, RDO Account Manager Alex Mitchell and Josh West, Owner of JT Lawn Services & Landscaping. West has over a quarter of a century of experience in lawn care, landscaping and snow removal. He has grown his business from one machine to multiple machines equipped with technology, all powered by an expert team. Mitchell shares West’s growth through optimizing his operation with John De...
Jan 18, 2024•33 min
RDO Equipment Co.’s Agronomist and Podcast Host, Tony Kramer, sits down with RDO’s Technology Solutions Manager, Joel Kaczynski, to review the 2023 growing seasons. With decades of precision ag technology experience, Kramer and Kaczynski highlight equipment, like ExactShot™, and software tools, like Data Sync, that benefited growers in 2023. Hear what they’ve learned, and how these tools work, and how growers discern insights from their year-end review. Listen to this episode to reflect on the l...
Dec 21, 2023•43 min
RDO Agronomist and Podcast Host Tony Kramer sits down with Precision Ag Technology Product Specialist Jesse Santillan to take a closer look at John Deere’s Large Square Baler’s evolution. They discuss the technological advancements that help farmers to make bales of precise weights and sizes. Listen to this episode to learn how Large Square Baler's integrated machine control and monitoring technology helps farmers unlock potential through data-driven decisions.
Nov 16, 2023•30 min
In this episode, Tony discusses everything about John Deere’s Self-Propelled Forage Harvesters with Product Manager Jason Artz. Discover how these machines have become more user-friendly and improved harvesting through sensors and data collection.
Oct 19, 2023•24 min
In this special episode recorded at Field Technology Days this Fall, Tony speaks with Jared Roelofs, Product Specialist at RDO Equipment Co., about the latest precision ag capabilities for guidance displays. They dive deep into guidance displays' history, G5 Displays' updated features and their effect on any operation. Still hungry for Agriculture Technology Podcast Episodes? Check out an in-the-cab video of this episode on RDO’s YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/SNzQgns1nMk Get caught up o...
Sep 21, 2023•22 min
Data Sync eliminates time spent creating and transferring setup files between John Deere Operations Center™ and the latest John Deere Displays. Your data can automatically sync to your in cab display or mobile device. In this episode, Tony talks to Jakson Lane, Product Specialist in Precision Ag Technology, on what type of data you can sync, the hardware requirements, and how Data Sync can benefit your operation.
Aug 17, 2023•25 min
