Once, we would assume that farmers valued their livestock or crops above all else, but today, you wouldn’t be berated for suggesting that the most profitable yield a farm can produce is, in fact, data. “There is a revolution going on,” says M. Brett McMickell, CTO at Kubota, from its stall at CES 2025 in […]
Once, we would assume that farmers valued their livestock or crops above all else, but today, you wouldn’t be berated for suggesting that the most profitable yield a farm can produce is, in fact, data.
“There is a revolution going on,” says M. Brett McMickell, CTO at Kubota, from its stall at CES 2025 in Las Vegas.
The revolution he speaks of has, unsurprisingly, been brought on by the advances and implementation of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
AI and robotics are revolutionising agriculture by making them more intelligent, sustainable, and efficient, McMickell explains.
This traditionally labour-intensive industry is embracing cutting-edge technologies to address acute challenges, from labour shortages to unpredictable weather conditions to sustainability demands.
According to McMickell, AgriTech is often overlooked but shouldn’t be. He explains: “There’s a lot of exciting technology being brought together for agriculture, and it’s serving an important need. People need to eat.”
The 135-year-old Japan-based machinery manufacturer won the Best of Innovation Award at CES 2025 in Las Vegas for its All-Terrain KATR as part of its commitment to providing various customer solutions in agriculture and construction work environments.
The challenges driving change
According to Gaurav Bansal, VP of engineering at Blue River, a subsidiary of John Deere, farmers face acute labour challenges. As Bansal explains from John Deere’s CES 2025 stall, the US alone faces a deficit of 2.4 million farm workers annually in agriculture.
“Farmers are often working gruelling 12–18-hour days during harvest,” he says.
Extreme weather, climate change, and the urgent need to reduce emissions are reshaping operational priorities.
Meanwhile, inefficiencies on job sites, such as locating equipment or managing downtime, increase costs and delay projects.
For businesses, these challenges are compounded by rising operational expenses. The cost of labour and resources, whether chemicals for crops or fuel for machines, adds significant strain.
McMickell explains: “Farmers are wasting money on inputs like chemicals sprayed inefficiently. With AI and precision tools, we’ve shown 20–40% reductions in chemical use, directly reducing their costs.”
These mounting pressures have left industry leaders searching for solutions — and AI is stepping up.
AI in agriculture
Kubota and John Deere, two big names in agricultural technology, are delivering AI-driven solutions to their customers.
Both companies showcased their innovations at CES 2025, presenting a vision of farms where machines take on repetitive tasks, freeing farmers to focus on high-level decision-making.
“AI is enabling us to build solutions that would allow tractors to do jobs for farmers so they can focus on other essential parts of their operations,” Bansal said.
Kubota is embracing what McMickell calls the “work loop” of assess, analyse, and act. The company’s US subsidiary acquired Bloomfield Robotics’ technology last year which has enabled it to use AI imaging to assess crop health, identify pest issues, and even estimate yields.
Kubota Smart Plant Imager, on display at CES 2025 in Las Vegas
“We can detect the number of berries on a blueberry bush or measure the ripeness of fruit,” McMickell claims. AI then analyses this data, providing actionable insights, such as which rows are ready for harvesting.
The final step is execution. Autonomous sprayers and mowers complete tasks with precision “like we’ve never had,” says McMickell.
“Traditionally, sprayers would cover everything, wasting chemicals and risking drift,” McMickell adds, “Now, they can spray exactly what’s needed, where it’s needed,” reducing chemical use by up to 40%.”
However, McMickell is keen to point out that data alone is not enough: “If a farmer is out in the field all day, they don’t want to return to their computer and become a data analyst. That’s not what they love to do.”
“They need us to transform that data into something they need,” he says.
John Deere’s autonomous revolution
Meanwhile, John Deere focuses on fully autonomous tractors, such as the 9RX, which is already in use on farms across the US Midwest.
“Farmers are asking one question: when can we get it?” says Bansal. These tractors operate 24/7 and can be monitored via smartphone apps, allowing farmers to oversee operations while attending to other tasks.
For orchard farmers like Russell Michael, attending CES 2025, autonomy is transformational. “To make the leap from a world before cell phones existed to being able to control the tractor from my phone is incredible,” he says.
His autonomous tractors allow him to work more efficiently and prepare for the future of farming.
John Deere 9RX autonomous tractor, on display at CES 2025 in Las Vegas
The farmer explains that the time the autonomous tractors afford him is invaluable, although he adds, “It isn’t possible to quantify the amount of cost savings yet.”
Michael acknowledged that recruiting more farmers is a constant struggle. “Young people don’t want to work on a farm!” he said.
But he believes the ability to maintain a farm from a cell phone without waking up at 5am or getting their hands dirty will attract a younger, tech-savvy group into the industry.
John Deere’s tractors also use LIDAR and cameras to navigate orchards, overcoming challenges like low GPS functionality under tree canopies.
“Autonomy will change everything,” Michael adds, “Once we see the efficacy of autonomous tractors, adoption will explode.”
IoT sensors collect real-time data for autonomous equipment, enabling machines to make decisions and adapt to their environments.
For example, John Deere tractors can detect obstacles and send data about them to the cloud for human review, ensuring safety and operational efficiency.
“Farmers need good connectivity to get all their data back into the John Deere Operation Center, which they can use later to see how the machine did — what was the yield per hour, are there certain sections of the field that would yield more compared to the others?” says Bansal.
Farming relies heavily on connectivity to unlock AI’s potential. But rural areas often face challenges.
Bansal notes that while 75% of US farms have good connectivity, only 30% of Brazil’s farms enjoy the same access.
Preparing for the future
The future of AI in these industries lies in further automation and scalability.
In agriculture, harvesting robots are the next frontier. “Harvesting is the most labour-intensive task, and we’re exploring drones to tackle it,” McMickell reveals, referencing Kubota’s four-year-old partnership with TEV, which uses drones to harvest apples.
Partnerships with other firms enable agritech companies like Kubota to offer their customers solutions that help them scale. To this end, Kubota is collaborating with Microsoft and Accenture on cloud-based data processing.
AI is reshaping agriculture by addressing labour shortages, improving efficiency, and enabling smarter, more sustainable operations.
From Kubota’s precision spraying to John Deere’s autonomous tractors, the sector is setting the stage for a future where machines handle the heavy lifting and humans focus on strategy.
