Autonomous Harvester Market - By Product (Autonomous Combine Harvester, Autonomous Forage Harvester, Autonomous Fruit Harvester), By Level of Autonomy, By Technology, By Crop Type & Forecast, 2024 - 2032

Autonomous Harvester Market Size

Autonomous Harvester Market was valued at USD 1.5 billion in 2023 and is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 12% between 2024 and 2032. The growth of the market can be attributed to the significant shortage of skilled labor in the agricultural sector.
 

The growth in shortage of labor in the agriculture industry owing to the aging farming populations and the reluctance of younger generations to engage in manual agricultural work has fueled the demand for advanced agricultural equipment. According to the American Farm Bureau Federation estimates, there are around 2.5 million farm jobs that are needed to be filled in the U.S. annually. Autonomous harvesters help address this labor gap by ensuring timely and efficient harvesting, lowering the dependence on human labor.
 

Moreover, with the increasing global population, demand for food and agricultural products has grown in the last few years. According to the United Nations, the global human population reached 8.0 billion in mid-November 2022 from an estimated 2.5 billion in 1950. This increase in global population has placed high pressure on the agricultural sector to operate efficiently and produce more food. Autonomous harvesters enable farms to increase operations easily and work continuously without breaks. Additionally, these machines can handle larger fields and more crop varieties, leading to increased overall output. This is expected to drive the growth of the autonomous harvester market during the forecast period.
 

The upfront investment required to purchase and implement autonomous harvesters is high. Small and medium-sized farms having low budgets make it difficult for them to afford these advanced systems. The high costs include the purchase price of the machinery and expenses related to installation, setup, and integration with existing farm operations. Moreover, autonomous harvesters depend on advanced technologies such as AI, machine learning, sensors, and GPS, which need specialized knowledge to operate and maintain. This is further expected to hinder the growth of the market.
 

Autonomous Harvester Market Trends

The growing trend towards precision agriculture, which focuses on optimizing field-level management in crop farming, is driving the growth of the market. Furthermore, the increasing government and private sector initiatives to encourage smarter agriculture practices are major trends contributing to the growth of the market during the forecast period. For instance, in April 2024, FMC India, an agricultural sciences company partnered with FMC Corporation to launch the precision agriculture platform, arc farm intelligence in India to encourage smarter agricultural practices for farmers, advisers, and channel partners. The platform combines real-time data and predictive modeling to help farmers in monitoring field conditions and pest pressure. Autonomous harvesters, equipped with advanced sensors and data analytics capabilities, contribute to precision agriculture by enabling accurate and enhanced harvesting.
 

Furthermore, autonomous harvesters are being integrated with advanced data analytics and IoT technologies which allows farmers to make data-driven decisions to improve crop yields and resource usage, further enhancing the ability to meet rising food demand. The continuous improvement in autonomous technologies, majorly driven by increased demand and investment, ensures that these machines become more efficient and accessible over a period of time.
 

Autonomous Harvester Market Analysis

Based on the level of automation, the market is divided into fully autonomous, semi-autonomous, and remote-controlled. The semi-autonomous segment accounted for over 50% of the market share in 2023 and is expected to reach USD 1.8 billion by 2032. These harvesters are generally less expensive than fully autonomous harvesters making it more accessible to a wider range of farmers including small and medium-sized farms. Furthermore, semi-autonomous systems require fewer changes to existing farming practices and allow farmers to integrate semi-autonomous technology into their operations efficiently, getting benefits from automation without needing extensive infrastructure changes, thus driving its adoption in the market.
 

Based on crop type, the market is categorized into grains & cereals, fruits & vegetables, cotton, sugarcane, and others. The grains & cereals segment held around 44% share in 2023. Grains and cereals often grow in large, uniform fields, making them ideal for autonomous systems in control. Furthermore, these harvesters operate at higher speeds than traditional manually operated machines, particularly in favorable conditions is further expected to drive the segment growth.  Moreover, these harvesters can collect valuable data on yield, moisture content, and field conditions. This precise harvesting with autonomous systems can potentially minimize grain loss due to shattering during harvest, thus creating lucrative opportunities for the market.
 

North America led the global autonomous harvester market with a share of over 35% in 2023. The region is a hub for technological innovation, especially in robotics, AI, and IoT. Companies invest heavily in R&D to develop cutting-edge autonomous farming equipment. The availability and continuous improvement of advanced technologies facilitate the adoption of autonomous harvesters, offering farmers optimized productivity and reduced operational costs. This is expected to drive the growth of the market in the region during the forecast period. Additionally, the U.S. agricultural sector features large-scale farms that benefit significantly from automation as it helps in increasing cost efficiency.  Further, autonomous harvesters are advantageous for large farms, as they can cover vast areas efficiently, leading to higher adoption rates in the U.S.
 

Europe has stringent environmental regulations that encourage sustainable farming practices. Autonomous harvesters optimize resource use, reduce waste, and reduce environmental impact. These regulations drive farmers to adopt autonomous harvesters to comply with laws, enhance sustainability, and benefit from incentives and subsidies for using eco-friendly technologies.
 

The Chinese government promotes the modernization of agriculture through various policies including the Made in China 2025 and funding aimed at increasing the adoption of advanced farming technologies. Additionally, high investments and subsidies for autonomous harvesters encourage farmers to adopt these technologies, driving market growth in the country.
 

Autonomous Harvester Market Share

CNH Industrial and Deere & Company hold a market share of around 15% in 2023 in the autonomous harvester industry. CNH Industrial focuses on collaborations and joint ventures with technology companies and research institutions to optimize their autonomous technology capabilities. These partnerships enable the company to leverage external expertise and speed up the development of autonomous farming solutions, keeping them competitive in the market.
 

Deere & Company places a strong emphasis on technological innovation and invests heavily in research and development to create cutting-edge autonomous and precision agriculture technologies. By continually enhancing their product offerings with advanced features such as ML, AI, and IoT, the company ensures they remain at the forefront of the market.

Autonomous Harvester Market Companies

Major players operating in the market are:

• AGCO Corporation
• CLAAS KGaA mbH
• CNH Industrial
• Deere & Company
• Deutz-Fahr (SDF Group)
• Harvest CROO Robotics
• Kubota Corporation
• Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.
• Raven Industries
• Yanmar Co. Ltd.
   

Autonomous Harvester Industry News

• In April 2024, Autopickr developed Gus, a robotic precision agriculture and harvesting platform that specializes in cutting and collecting asparagus spears. The new battery powered platform weighs around 45 kg and can pick complete harvestable arparagus autonomously in eight-to-10-hour shift.
   
• In November 2022, Yanmar S.P. Company Limited and Yanmar Agribusiness Corporation Limited, joined in a project to adopt high-precision positioning technology for agricultural machinery in Thailand. This pilot project is aimed at boosting productivity and solving labor shortages in the agricultural sector. It is supported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Thailand-Japan cooperation committee, and it includes a demonstration of the operation of autonomous agricultural machinery equipped with GNSS technology.
   

The autonomous harvester market research report includes in-depth coverage of the industry with estimates & forecast in terms of revenue (USD million) and Shipment (Units) from 2021 to 2032 for the following segments:

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Market, By Product

• Autonomous combine harvesters
• Autonomous forage harvesters
• Autonomous fruit harvesters
• Others

Market, By Level of Autonomy

• Fully-autonomous
• Semi-autonomous
• Remote-controlled

Market, By Technology

• GPS guidance
• Computer vision
• Sensor technologies
• AI and machine learning
• Robotics & automation

Market, By Crop Type

• Grains & cereals
• Fruits and vegetables
• Cotton
• Sugarcane
• Others

The above information is provided for the following regions and countries:

• North America
  • U.S.
  • Canada
• Europe
  • UK
  • Germany
  • France
  • Italy
  • Spain
  • Russia
  • Nordics
  • Rest of Europe
• Asia Pacific
  • China
  • India
  • Japan
  • South Korea
  • ANZ
  • Southeast Asia
  • Rest of Asia Pacific 
• Latin America
  • Brazil
  • Mexico
  • Argentina
  • Rest of Latin America
• MEA
  • South Africa
  • UAE
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Rest of MEA