There’s a striking red autonomous tractor at the Case IH display at Ohio State’s Farm Science Review that’s missing a cab. It looks like a Batmobile for the rural superhero.

The concept drew a lot of eyeballs, and farmers stopped to watch a video about the high-tech machine, but few said they think that they will be in the market for such a device anytime soon. Times are tough this year because of soft demand for wheat and falling prices for corn and soybeans.

“It’s probably the future,” said John Grilliot, a corn and soybean farmer in Darke County, as he eyed the autonomous machine, which is not yet in production. “But we can’t afford it. I’m not interested in buying anything right now.”

Equipment maker New Holland showed off its autonomous tractor, this one with a cab just in case a farmer wants to drive it.

The Farm Science Review, put on by Ohio State University near London, Ohio, is one of the country’s largest farm shows, drawing 140,000 visitors from around the country and participation by every major company selling to the farm industry.

“I like seeing it,” said Luke Osterloh, another Darke County farmer, of the tractors and combines. “But I don’t think there’s going to be crazy demand for it right now.”

One reason is the low crop prices: Farm profitability is nil, according to estimates from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and many agriculture experts. A second reason is that many farmers have what they need, having upgraded their fleets in the past six or seven years when profits were high.

“It’s a real balancing act,” Mr. Grilliot said. “You can’t go too many years without buying because [equipment] wears out, but for a lot of people right now, there’s no way.”

Case’s and New Holland’s machines use technology much like that tested in autonomous cars. The farm- machinery manufacturers say these represent the next step in wringing more efficiency from the farm.

Leo Bose, a marketing manager for Case, said the idea of the autonomous tractor is to allow a farmer to do more than one job at a time or to do it at times when people can’t. New Holland boasted that its autonomous tractor can operate 24 hours a day. A robot operating via GPS signals and sophisticated programming doesn’t need light or sleep.

First Published September 23, 2016, 4:00 a.m.