LAS VEGAS (DTN) -- Seven years after John Deere brought a combine to the CES (formerly the Consumer Electronics Show) to declare itself a technology company, Aaron Wetzel can point to proof: The company's latest machine delivers 20% to 30% productivity gains and essentially drives itself, though someone still must sit in the seat.

DTN/Progressive Farmer caught up with Wetzel, vice president of production and precision ag production systems at John Deere, at Deere's technology display here at the 2026 CES this week. The show is among the largest new technology reveals in the world.

Deere first came to CES in 2019, displaying its 20-ton S770 combine. The company is back this year with its highly upgraded combine, the X9. Lines of trade show attendees were waiting to climb into the cab.

Here is DTN/Progressive Farmer's conversation with Wetzel. It has been edited for clarity.

DTN/Progressive Farmer: John Deere first came to the CES in 2019 displaying a S770 combine, announcing with it that Deere intended to be a true technology provider -- and leader. This year, CES 2026, Deere is back with its X9 -- generations more advanced technologically, wearing stereo cameras, guided by GNSS receivers and satellite technology. Its Predictive Ground Speed Automation anticipates what's coming in the harvest and automatically adjusts speed. Harvest Settings Automation monitors crop conditions like moisture levels and adjusts processing parameters in real-time to improve grain quality and minimize losses. Would you explain the transformation?

Aaron Wetzel: Our first foray into the CES was to begin to position Deere as a technology company. And what's exciting to see is the amount of technology-capable machines we've been able to bring to market since that time, culminating with this X9 combine. Our model year '25 (includes) cameras, (artificial intelligence), high-speed computing, our Starlink connection, all the ways we're providing productive solutions for our customers by integrating the technology.

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DTN/Progressive Farmer: What's been the productivity gain?

Wetzel: This combine right here, with its tech stack, we're seeing in the field, around the world, 20% to 30% productivity improvement because of the technology.

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DTN/Progressive Farmer: People attending the CES and seeing this combine really dominating the space must wonder about cost. Depending on the setup, it is seven figures.

Wetzel: Deere prices it for the value that they contribute. And, like I said, 20% to 30% productivity improvement -- that's dollars in the pocket of our customers, right? And (Deere) wants to get a share of that productivity that we're bringing to the table. So yeah, if you look at the price tag, the machine itself from a person that's buying a car or a house, they're like, oh, yeah. But if I'm a farmer farming 5,000, 6,000 acres, it's an investment for me to be more productive. It helps me get the crop out in a very critical time. It helps me maximize the yield off the field, because I don't have any losses off the back of the combine. It's a good investment.

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DTN/Progressive Farmer: Deere has an autonomous tractor doing tillage, for example. When does this combine become autonomous? When will there be an autonomous option for planting?

Wetzel: We're still focused on a (full season) autonomous solution in the future. And you know, if you were to be in this machine here, it is essentially autonomous. You just need to sit in the seat. It turns itself at the end of the rows; it guides itself through the field. It's controlling the unloading system with the press of a button. I sit in a combine once a year for about three days. And when I can, I can be pretty productive in a very short period of time. We have high levels of automation that makes it very easy for us to ultimately get to autonomous solutions. If we look at planting, we're just changing the implement (on the tractor) to a planter. Is it planting at the right depth? Is it the right spacing, the right population? We already have that information available (from the planter). We can tell that today. It may not be fully autonomous, because we still need some folks in the cab, but we're very much on the path to get there.

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DTN/Progressive Farmer: What is the demand for autonomous systems?

Wetzel: Every customer is different in their technology journey. We've got the early adopters who want the latest and greatest and are willing to adopt it and use it. We've got other guys that are more conservative; it's going to take a little bit longer time for them to get into the technology. And that's where I go back to (Deere's) base-level technologies -- the global positioning capabilities, the auto track, the auto turn automation, auto path -- those fundamental pieces of our technology stack. There are still many customers that need to get into that and see the value it brings.

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DTN/Progressive Farmer: If you look around the CES, you see all sorts of autonomy and AI, on and on and on, up and down every aisle. How does Deere stack up to all that?

Wetzel: As I think about here, we're in the kind of automotive section, or machinery section of the show. Deere is positioned as clearly a leader across the industry ... the things that we're doing to integrate technology into our machines to help growers and our customers be more productive. If you look at the automotive space, there's still a big focus on autonomous driving. You got Waymo here, you've got Hyundai, all of those companies. It's going to come for them, but there's still a lot of work that needs to be done. I think it's going to be easier to do it in agriculture, because you're operating at lower speeds, you don't have as many obstacles (such as moving cars). You're in a field that's kind of self-contained. You don't have people walking around. But more importantly, Deere technology is driving productivity improvement. It's addressing a key problem our customers face around labor availability. You're getting value out of it. And that's different, I think, from me getting into a car and going from my house to the movie theater. Our value proposition is compelling.

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

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