In the spring of 2025, Niigata Kawase Rice Farm Co., Ltd., which cultivates about 40 hectares of paddy rice in Shibata City, Niigata Prefecture, introduced two FJD AT2 auto steer systems for their agricultural machinery. 

We spoke with Yusuke Kawase, the Chairman of the Niigata Prefecture Agricultural Association, about the current state of smart agriculture in Niigata and his experience using FJD autosteering technology.

Image credits: (Niigata Kawase Rice Farm Co., Ltd.)

Autosteering in Niigata: "Increasing Steadily" but Not Yet "Essential"

Regarding the spread of smart agriculture in Niigata, Kawase says that while it has "increased quite a bit over the last few years," the adoption rate is still in its early stages. 

In many parts of the prefecture, land consolidation (improving field layouts) is still insufficient, and the straight-line distance of many rice paddies is not very long. "The atmosphere hasn't reached the point where autosteering is essential. Even with regard to error accuracy (within ±2.5cm), I think many people still feel they don't need that level of precision." Nevertheless, the introduction of autosteering equipment is steadily increasing. 

In Niigata, a famous rice-producing region, rice prices were originally relatively high, and many farmers were able to continue farming even at an advanced age. However, in the last few years, retirements have become more noticeable. In Shibata City, the number of farmers leaving the industry is increasing, and as a result, Kawase Farm's managed acreage is gradually expanding to take over that land.

Additionally, land consolidation is progressing slowly but surely across the prefecture, and large-scale fields are increasing. "For example, there are places where the longitudinal length of the paddy used to be 50 meters but is now becoming 200 or 300 meters. It is difficult to keep your focus while holding the steering wheel for that long, so autosteering will definitely become a necessity."

Skipping Rows During Tilling Like a Veteran

According to Mr. Yusuke, "Our managed area has grown so large that, starting this year, I’ve asked a fellow farmer to help as an operator. That person usually drives a smaller tractor on their own farm, but this year they came to work for us and drive our tractors. The tractors they are used to are different, and they aren't familiar with our rotary widths or spacing. That’s why I decided to introduce autosteering—to help them work." 

Kawase Farm's tractors are semi-crawler models. The crawler tracks are expensive consumables, and repeated sharp turns accelerate their wear. "Since it's a crawler, I wanted them to drive one straight line and then skip a row rather than turning sharply into the adjacent row to minimize damage. When I taught them how to use the autosteering, they learned it perfectly and were able to skip rows beautifully. I realized that by using autosteering, even a first-timer can achieve high reproducibility and work just like a veteran." 

In "row-skipping" work, if focus slips, untilled patches can appear, or sections can overlap too much. By introducing autosteering, anxiety about uneven work or the final finish has decreased significantly. It has created an environment where anyone can achieve the same results.

"In the future, I want to hire younger employees. In those cases, the idea of 'skills that only a veteran can do' is outdated. Doing work that is reproducible and yields the same results regardless of who is driving is something that will absolutely be necessary for rice farming from now on."

Autosteering: The "Best Solution" Against Rising Costs"

In this era of rising material costs, I believe autosteering is the best countermeasure. In the future, rice prices may go up or down. In that context, being able to simply swap out the steering wheel of an existing tractor for an investment of less than one million yen makes it very easy to adopt."

By utilizing existing tractors while reducing losses in fuel and labor time, the AT2 has become an investment for Kawase Farm that serves both "offense" (growth) and "defense" (cost-cutting).

Reducing Fertilizer Costs for a "Green Farming Strategy"

"In Niigata, the use of sewage sludge fertilizer has spread quite a bit over the last few years. It has a high nitrogen content, so if the fertilizer overlaps too much when spreading with a large broadcaster, it naturally leads to lodging (crops falling over)."

Autosteering is effective in preventing this "overlapping". "If we can precisely control the spraying width with automatic steering, it will also lead to reduced fertilizer costs, and I think it would be in line with the Green Food System Strategy (Green Strategy)."

By saving money on fuel and fertilizer while keeping the work quality high, Kawase Farm is showing others the way. Their success proves how autosteering can help the future of rice farming in Niigata.