In our last episode we shared details from the OEM panel during the Precision Farming Dealer Summit on what CNH, Kubota and AGCO are looking forward to as it relates to autonomy in the ag equipment business. 

While much of PFDS focused on technology for row crops like corn and soybeans, there was some focus on high value crops. One attendee asked the panel: “A lot of people in this room and a lot of the OEMs cater to more of the Midwestern U.S. and the corn, soybean markets. And we've seen panels here today or presentations about high value crops and the focus and the data and the precision they need and the amount of revenue those crops generate that we as dealers could capitalize on. What are each of you doing in that area to focus on helping us get that business?”

 Nathan Greuel, North American Product Marketing Manager for CNH, said entry level telematics is a good entry point into high value crops, being able to connect the machines and getting data back into the FieldOps ecosystem.

“We do specifically work with a lot of high value crop farmers and producers that are out there,” he said. “We've got some things that are in the works, especially around, we'll call it Sense & Act that leads more toward that autonomy space. But you’ve got to be really good at automating tasks before you get to autonomy. But I would say for sure, things like entry level telematics is something that we focused on with connectivity in this specific high value crop area.”

Joe Michaels, senior director of Kubota North America product portfolios,  noted Kubota's investments over the last 5 or 6 years and at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this month that for the third year in a row the OEM’s focus was on specialty crops, which he noted as an opportunity for Kubota and an area of focus. 

“That's why we have invested in it. I think you've seen the acquisition a little over a year ago for Bloomfield Robotics, which has the sensing devices for vineyards, orchards,

Kubota also recently announced it will be working with another startup, Agronomy, to put a fleet of fully autonomous Kubota M5 narrow vineyard tractors into the field in the first half of 2026.  

Jake Ridenour, channel sales management with AGCO/PTx Trimble,  echoed much of what Michaels and Greuel said, adding that AGCO is taking parts of what it currently has and delivering it as a strategy into that specialty crop market. 

“I cover the Western U.S. and Western Canada, so I've been pushing a lot of that over the last year,” he said. “The autonomy project that AGCO OutRun is also entering into that space as we will start working toward the specialty crop and orchard market with autonomy. And then specifically to the question, it would be spot spray technology as well as path planning in order to have a semi-autonomous solution in those locations.”

Look for additional coverage from this panel and other sessions on PrecisionFarmingDealer.com. 

Watch the full version of this episode of On The Record