John Deere strengthens agrobotics portfolio with GUSS acquisition

John Deere has acquired GUSS Automation, a developer of crop autonomy primarily based in Kingsburg, Calif. Monetary particulars of the acquisition weren’t disclosed. The businesses established a three way partnership in 2022 and are actually taking that dedication a step additional. 

John Deere is an unique supplier of GUSS sprayers, and that can proceed to be the case after the acquisition. The enterprise will retain its title, model, workers, and manufacturing facility in Kingsburg. This facility will develop John Deere’s U.S. manufacturing footprint to the guts of the nation’s high-value crop manufacturing market. Excessive-value crops, corresponding to orchards and vineyards, generate considerably greater worth per acre than grains or oilseeds. 

“Totally integrating GUSS into the John Deere portfolio is a continuation of our dedication to serving high-value crop prospects with superior, scalable applied sciences to assist them do extra with much less,” stated Julien Le Vely, the director of manufacturing programs for prime worth & small acre crops at John Deere. “GUSS brings a confirmed answer to a fast-growing section of agriculture, and its crew has a deep understanding of buyer wants in orchards and vineyards. We’re excited to have them totally a part of the John Deere crew.”

John Deere stated it should help GUSS in increasing its international attain and accelerating innovation, together with continued integration with different John Deere precision agriculture applied sciences, corresponding to Good Apply. GUSS sprayers will proceed to make use of John Deere Energy Methods engines, first built-in in 2024.

GUSS Automation brings 2.6 million acres of expertise
Based by Dave Crinklaw in 2018, GUSS manufactures autonomous sprayers that may be remotely supervised. A single operator can handle as much as eight machines without delay. Utilizing GPS, lidar, and proprietary software program, the firm stated its machines navigate vineyards and orchards with precision to assist cut back operator error, labor prices, and materials waste.
Thus far, greater than 250 GUSS machines have been deployed globally. These machines account for two.6 million acres sprayed over 500,000 autonomous hours, the corporate claimed. 
“Becoming a member of John Deere allows us to faucet into their unmatched progressive capabilities in precision agriculture applied sciences to carry our options to extra growers all over the world,” stated Gary Thompson, chief operations officer at GUSS. “Our crew is keen about serving to high-value crop growers improve their effectivity and productiveness of their operations, and along with John Deere, we can have the power to have an excellent higher impression.”


John Deere continues to spend money on autonomy for agriculture
That is the newest in plenty of robotics firms John Deere has acquired over time. It acquired Blue River Know-how in 2017 for $305 million, Bear Flag Robotics in 2021 for $250 million, and SparkAI in 2023 for an undisclosed quantity. Blue River and Bear Flag helped John Deere develop its autonomy capabilities, whereas SparkAI enhanced human-in-the-loop capabilities.
Earlier this yr, at CES 2025, John Deere added full autonomy to the 9 Collection tractors. These are the biggest and strongest tractors within the John Deere portfolio. The firm asserted that this transfer demonstrates its dedication to delivering autonomy throughout its complete product vary. John Deere introduced the autonomous 8 Collection tractor at CES 2022, and it stated it has now accomplished integration of full autonomy for the highest of its tractor line.
The corporate additionally launched a totally autonomous sprayer for orchards, introduced pilot testing of an autonomous articulating dump truck (ADT) for mining operations, and launched an all-electric, totally autonomous industrial mower that shall be launched later this yr.
Be taught in regards to the newest advances in agricultural robotics at RoboBusiness
This yr’s RoboBusiness, which shall be on Oct. 15 and 16 in Santa Clara, Calif., will function a Discipline Robotics observe. Talks on this observe will all give attention to the varied methods robots are being deployed outside, whether or not or not it’s in agriculture, building, or extra.
This yr’s Discipline Robotics observe will function talks from MassRobotics, e-con Methods, ABB Robotics, Autonomous Options Inc., Polymath Robotics, SKA Robotics, and ForceN.
RoboBusiness is the premier occasion for builders and suppliers of business robots. The occasion is produced by WTWH Media, which additionally produces The Robotic Report, Automated Warehouse, and the Robotics Summit & Expo.
This yr’s convention will embody greater than 60 audio system, a startup workshop, the annual Pitchfire competitors, and quite a few networking alternatives. Over 100 exhibitors on the present ground will showcase their newest enabling applied sciences, merchandise, and companies to assist resolve your robotics growth challenges.
Registration is now open for RoboBusiness 2025.