https://techcrunch.com/2022/01/04/john-deeres-self-driving-tractor-arrives-later-this-fall/

The 8R tractor has been in select customers’ hands for “a few seasons” now, according to John Deere. After all, like any kind of autonomous machinery, a self-driving tractor isn’t the kind of thing you just unleash on the world without extensive testing. Prototypes have been piloted in fields since fall 2019. Come fall 2022, however, the company will finally be opening sales on the system.

In spite of the company’s recent acquisition of Bear Flag Robotics, it says that none of the startup’s autonomy technology went into this system, which has been in the works for several years. Future Bear Flag-driven offerings will provide farmers an opportunity to retrofit their existing tractors with self-driving tech, but for the time being, John Deere is focused on the self-contained solution that is the 8R.