There was plenty of technology on display at the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wis., a few weeks ago. Farm Equipment editor Mike Lessiter caught up with Monarch Tractor’s John Issacson and got his take on the top 5 applications in autonomy right now. His top 5, in order, are: dairy industry, open area mowing, vineyards, specialty crops and orchards.

“Number 1 is definitely the dairy industry. The dairy industry has kind of caught us off guard but is about 5 times larger than we were told it’s going to be. It’s a promising industry. Part of that drive is because it’s a 24/7 business. If you’re using something 24/7, it’s very easy to send out that ROI. If you’re having energy efficiency or savings, and savings on labor, that’s easy to calculate out. Dairy is almost a perfect scenario for autonomy because it’s a pretty controlled environment.”

“Number 2, I would say open area mowing in southern states. If you get down to parts of Florida, you’re talking about 11 months of mowing grass. Southeast Texas, they’re mowing grass 10-12 months out of the year.”

Catch our full interview with John on PrecisionFarmingDealer.com.

Watch the full version of this episode of On The Record