Farm Equipment editors encounter a variety of articles, social media posts, podcasts and videos that offer a unique look at various aspects of our great farm machinery industry. Here is our favorite content from the past week from across the web:

May is Mental Health Awareness Month

Thanks to the reminder from Parallel Ag to check in on our farm customers and each other not just during Mental Health Awareness Month, but always.

Precision Startup Leverages Tech Used on Mars

TerraBlaster, a startup using technology first deployed on the Mars rover to determine levels of key nutrients in the soil, is targeting a late 2026 commercial launch for its cutting-edge soil testing product. Led by precision ag veteran Jorge Heraud, TerraBlaster uses laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy in rugged sensors that can be dragged by a tractor or ATV through the soil at a depth of around 6 inches to provide detailed maps outlining pH, NPK levels and more. Elaine Watson has more on the technology and TerraBlaster’s vision in this Ag Funder News feature.

TerraBlaster

Source: Ag Funder News

Study Your Competition

To sell into a crowded market, you must study your competition. All competition. Even those competitors who seem too distant to ever become a real threat.

Study Your Competition

Autonomous Tractor Software Creates “Farmville for Real”

This Farm Journal article explores how California-based autonomy startup Agtonomy is tapping into the gaming generation to solve the ag labor crisis. George Grote, a 30-year-old field engineer with Agtonomy, doesn’t have a farming background, but being able to process information on a screen while being fast with his hands is something he picked up from gaming. “I can tell you gaming 100% helped me, being able to toggle between different features in the app and being quick with technology,” he says. “If you can play a video game, then you’re more than capable of running 5, 6, 7 or 8 tractors at once while sitting in your truck and watching them run autonomously."

April Farmer Sentiment: What You Need to Know

In less than 5 minutes, this short video breaks down the April results, showing how rising input costs, tighter availability, and global uncertainty pressure the outlook with the Ag Economy Barometer down 6 points to 121. See the latest trends in current conditions, future expectations, financial risk and farmland sentiment —all in a quick, easy-to-watch overview.

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