CNH have announced that they have continued to support the acceleration of smart harvesting technologies with a minority investment in the California-based start-up Advanced Farm Technologies, which specialises in the robotic harvesting of apples, strawberries and other fruits.

The two businesses say they will partner to drive industry and ecosystem innovation by collaborating across R&D and commercialisation.

CNH say shifting to robotic picking has great potential to significantly improve fruit farmers’ productivity by harvesting high value crops up to five times more efficiently. In the United States, 46% of the production cost of apples comes from handpicking labour, 70% in the case of strawberries. These high labour costs are exacerbated by a continued downward trend in handpicking workforce availability. 

Advanced Farm Technologies’ system uses computer vision and a machine learning tech stack to pick the best fruit, either during the day or at night, while gently handling it to avoid bruising and damage. Their system’s robotic arms with gentle grippers, a serial-hybrid drive system, autonomous navigation and automated bin handling are among the key features. This automated platform eliminates the need to carry a ladder from tree to tree - vastly reducing the strain of a repetitive and arduous task.

CNH say they are in a technology growth mode, especially focused on automated, autonomous, and sustainable farming innovations.