With the advancement of information and control theory, automatic control technology has been extensively applied in the realm of agricultural machinery. This has significantly enhanced the intelligence, modernization, and scalability of agricultural production. The two central components of intelligent agricultural machinery's automatic control technology are motion control and operation control. These elements ensure safe navigation and precise operation of unmanned agricultural machinery in complex environments. The research progress in speed control and steering control of intelligent agricultural machinery was discussed, which formed the foundation of its motion control. Additionally, navigation tracking control was highlighted as a crucial aspect of intelligent agricultural machinery's motion control. A comprehensive summary of automatic navigation tracking motion control methods was also provided based on geometric models, kinematics models, and model-independent methods. The control mechanisms of intelligent agricultural machinery during various stages such as cultivation, planting, management, and harvesting were further analyzed. It particularly focused on the multi-machine cooperative operation control method. In conclusion, it was suggested that future developments in the automatic control technology of intelligent agricultural machinery should focus on constructing more precise mathematical models of agricultural machinery, researching advanced chassis motion control technology for complex scenarios, developing agricultural machinery control technology that deeply integrates AI and control theory, and enhancing multi-machine collaborative control technology that combines agricultural machinery and agronomy.