Everyone told me it would be unlike any event I’ve ever attended and much bigger than I could possibly imagine. But truly nothing could’ve prepared me for what I walked into in Hannover, Germany this week. You simply have to see Agritechnica with your own eyes to comprehend the size and the impact of this event.
With over half a million total attendees and nearly 3,000 exhibitors this year alone, it’s impossible to see everything the event has to offer in just a few days. But after walking more than 20,000 steps per day so far (roughly 10 miles per day by my estimates), I’ve certainly seen several products and had dozens of conversations that have stood out from the rest.
Here are my top 3 highlights from the Agritechnica 2025 so far…
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One of the first products that caught my eye was the FarmDroid FD20. I have seen a lot of interesting autonomous farm robots and implements at FIRA USA in California over the last few years, but this machine stands out as a true jack of all trades.
The FarmDroid FD20 is capable of weeding, seeding and spraying and is a completely autonomous, solar-powered robot. Branded as an “all-in-one solution that handles everything in plant production from harvest to harvest,” the machine is compatible with more than 50 different crop species.
And as an added bonus, it works for no-tillers because the machine is relatively lightweight in order to preserve soil structure and keep disturbance to a minimum. Check out some photos from the event or visit their website to learn more.
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One of my main goals at Agritechnica, as daunting of a task it may seem, is to find the absolute coolest and most unique product at the entire show. The RapidFire Startup Pitches led me directly to a product that certainly could be in the running once the week comes to an end.
In these sessions, 41 startups were given a very difficult task with tight limitations. All they had to do was convince the audience and judges that their startup idea is better than the rest. The catch? They each got 120 seconds and one PowerPoint slide. That’s all. But when I heard the pitch from Justus Lange, CEO of Rain2Soil, it was more than enough to make me visit their booth to learn more about the product they are showcasing this week — Rain Butler.
When I approached the booth, I was greeted by team member Julian Von Ilsemann and when I told him that I was in search of finding the absolute coolest things on display at Agritechnica this week, he looked at me, pointed at the Rain Butler and said “THIS right here is THE coolest thing at this show.”
Marketed as “the most precise rain cloud in the world,” the Rain Butler is a fully autonomous irrigation robot that combines the even water distribution of a rotary sprinkler system with the flexibility of a hose reel — all without altering the geometry of the field. The company says the Rain Butler saves 80 percent of working time, reduces water consumption by 25% and can increase crop yields by 10 percent.
While the machine hasn’t made its way to the U.S. yet, the CEO, Justus Lange confidently told me they will be in the U.S. as soon as possible.
To see the robot in action, check out this video.
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Well, we are in Germany so this blog wouldn’t be complete unless one of my top 3 takeaways had SOMETHING to do with beer. And while I promise this story has much more to do with agricultural technology and innovation than it does with booze, the story STARTS with a beer.
Several weeks ago, Saulius Sagatys, a technical support engineer for CHC Navigation was having a few beers with his co-workers. They were discussing how advanced drone technology has become, especially when it comes to surveillance and a drone’s capability to detect and differentiate things via camera. It was at this moment that the idea for the CHC Navigation VG100 Vision AI Guidance System was born.
What started as an idea over beers turned into an impressive display at Agritechnica only weeks later that drew a large crowd of curious attendees who wanted to learn more.
Primarily used to improve efficiency in weeding and spraying, the company describes the system as “an advanced, non-contact camera-based guidance solution powered by AI-driven crop recognition technology.”
Sagatys told me that the VG100 is built to identify and track live crop rows with high accuracy under varying field conditions.
“By guiding the implement or vehicle precisely between crop rows, the system ensures minimal crop disturbance and consistent treatment coverage,” Sagatys says. “It is particularly effective in complex field environments, where visual row detection can outperform GPS-only solutions.”
Check out the photo and video below to see the VG100 System on display at Agritechnica 2025.
Well there are still 3 more full days here and plenty more innovations to discover here at Agritechnica 2025. As always, I’ll try to be the ears and eyes on the ground here in Germany for those of you who can’t be here, so stay tuned for lots more content from here in Hannover.
Now, I think it’s time to go have a beer… maybe it will help me think of the next big ground-breaking innovation in agriculture. Or maybe not. Until next time, Auf Wiedersehen!
