Seneca, Kansas — History was made this week in rural Kansas with the launch of the Rural Autonomous Mobility Program (RAMP), a pioneering public-private initiative to bring autonomous agricultural equipment onto public roads for the first time in the United States—and likely the world.
The announcement took place at the 2nd Annual Kelly Hills Field Day, where hundreds of farmers, technologists, and industry leaders gathered from 36 states and 12 countries to witness a live demonstration of an autonomous Sabanto tractor seamlessly operating a seeding mission, it worked in tandem with autonomous drones, showcasing the power of integrated, next-generation ag logistics. This very same Sabanto technology will be used in RAMP’s initial pilot program.
“I think the biggest improvement to operations using this technology will be their bottom line,” said Craig Rupp, CEO of Sabanto, during his address to the crowd.
“After a few decades away from the farm, upon return I was most shocked by the cost of the equipment it took to operate a farm. The financing system around traditional agricultural equipment is broken, so we are showing users how to do the same amount of work with 1/3 of the capital expense.”
What is RAMP?
RAMP, or the Rural Autonomous Mobility Program, was born from the vision of Lukas Koch at Kelly Hills Unmanned Systems and was made possible by the Kansas Department of Transportation’s (KDOT) ‘Innovative Technology Program’. RAMP’s mission is to enable autonomous tractors and farm machinery to safely and legally operate on rural public roads, solving logistical bottlenecks and revitalizing rural economies.
“As far as we know, this is the very first time that autonomous tractors will be traversing on roads anywhere in the U.S., and likely in the whole world,” said Lukas Koch, founder of Kelly Hills. “We are thrilled to take the lead on this and help bring back a quality way of life to very rural areas of the U.S. Rural populations have been declining since the 1800s, and right now it’s very difficult to find the right people to move back west and run family farms. Automating tedious tasks in large farming operations will bring back a better standard of living to those areas and driving tractors autonomously on roads will unlock an entirely new level of efficiency. We cannot wait to partner with Sabanto and scale these types of autonomous ag machines.”
Program Partners
Initial RAMP collaborators include:
- Kelly Hills Unmanned Systems (Program Manager)
- Sabanto (Autonomous Tractor Manufacturer)
- Nemaha County, KS (Local Partner)
- Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT)
- Kansas Department of Agriculture (KDA)
- Kansas State University (K-State)
Together, these partners aim to develop policy, infrastructure, and safety protocols that will allow fully autonomous tractors to move between fields and operational bases without human drivers, solving critical rural workforce shortages and boosting regional productivity.
Why It Matters:
Traditional agricultural operations rely heavily on manual labor to move equipment between fields and haul material across miles of rural roads. But with labor shortages growing and capital costs soaring, the ability to operate autonomous, road-legal farm equipment is being hailed as a breakthrough.
RAMP sets the stage for a new era of rural logistics, where tractors can drive themselves from the farmstead to the field, unlocking 24/7 autonomous farming operations while improving safety, labor efficiency, and economic outcomes for rural communities.
What’s Next:
RAMP will continue its pilot phase in Kansas through 2026, collecting data on autonomous road operations, engaging with rural communities, and working with regulators to build a scalable model for other states and agricultural regions.
Contact:
Lukas Koch
(785) 498-3719
lkoch@kellyhills.us