The global agricultural robot market reached US$8.13 billion in 2025 and is forecast to grow at 19.2% p.a. from US$9.2 billion in 2026 to US$37.41 billion by 2034. Agricultural robotics has the potential to transform farming through automation, AI‑driven decision‑making, and precision operations.
These growth expectations contrast sharply with recent setbacks in the industry. Despite this increased interest and discussion on robotics, the UK-based Small Robot Company went into liquidation in 2024. According to the company at the time:
Our technology delivered value at a profit, with customers waiting, but we could not secure the required investment to scale. We had a signed term sheet, but unfortunately, the investment did not land before our runway ended.
Should this example deter further investment in farm robotics? Investment in Robotics has fallen in recent years. According to Agfunder, total funding for Ag robotics fell from US$905 million in 2021 to US$774 million in 2024. At the same time, the number of deals fell from 146 to 104. Investment in farm robots has fallen but this is also true for total investment in Agtech, which in 2024 was less than a third of the total investment in 2021.
So will growth continue within the farm robotics sector? Where will we see robots on farms? and what are the benefits and barriers to using robots on farms?
How do you define a farm robot?
A robot is a machine capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically, especially one programmable by a computer. Thus, a programmable washing machine would be considered a robot under this definition. In this context, we can define farm robots as autonomous or semi‑autonomous systems that perform agricultural tasks using sensors, AI, and mechanised components.
Where could robots be used on farms?
The National Robotarium in Edinburgh has identified a range of different “Species” of robots that could be deployed on Scottish farms:
- Autonomous field workers could undertake repetitive, time-critical field tasks such as seeding, weeding and spraying. These would be particularly valuable for short weather windows and reducing labour pressure.
- Robotic drones and field sensors can extend what farmers can see, measure, and predict. Used for crop health monitoring, pest detection, and yield forecasting. These allow earlier, more informed decisions.
- Livestock co-workers support daily animal care and welfare rather than replacing stock people for milking, feeding, health and behaviour monitoring. These would solve issues relating to an ageing or scarce workforce and welfare assurance.
- Harvest and pack house robots would reduce the dependence on seasonal labour and improve consistency on tasks such as picking, grading and quality control. These would help to address shortages and value lost through inconsistent grading.
- Yard and infrastructure helpers operating in controlled farm environments for tasks such as cleaning, inspection, material handling, and maintenance. This represents a low-risk entry point that delivers immediate safety, hygiene, and productivity benefits.
- Fleets and swarms of multiple small robots working together rather than one large machine (e.g. spraying, mowing, monitoring, inspection. These would provide a lighter footprint, resilience, lower costs for smaller farms, and flexibility for difficult terrain.
What are the barriers and challenges?
In 2024 the UK government invested £12.5 million in robotics and automation to boost sustainable farming however adoption in the agri-food sector remains limited. So why is this?
A recent UK study on perceived barriers to adopting robots in farming participants stated that the biggest barriers were:
- Financial cost (85.5%);
- Efficacy (59.5%);
- A lack of suitable infrastructure (47.4%);
- The robots being too complex to understand (33.5%).
The Western Growers Association in the US has stated that labour accounts for over 50-70% of high-value crop production costs, yet less than 2% of the work is automated. They claim the biggest challenge is often whether robots can do the job economically.
Robots could contribute to reducing costs in the long term. Automation and robotics could potentially mitigate labour shortages and reduce crop costs by up to 25%. However, the initial capital costs pose a significant barrier, for example, $500,000 per autonomous tractor. This is hindering the demand for autonomous agricultural machines. In addition, there are regulatory hurdles to field safety that limit widespread adoption, particularly for small-scale farmers.
Using robots in challenging environmental conditions raises concerns about potential damage from factors such as dirt, dust, and extreme weather. Managing farm robots needs trained professionals, including operators and engineers. Additionally, the availability of an ample workforce in developing countries may impede the widespread adoption of robots in certain regions.
A Farmers Club study suggests that better communication of the benefits of robots and automation to farmers, along with education and training, could overcome some of these barriers.
Are there already tangible benefits from using robots on farms?
A new USDA report indicates that US dairy farmers who have adopted robotic milking systems and other precision farming tech since 2000 have increased returns of up to 13%.
Milking Robots
Milking robots are forecast to become a widespread practice in industrialised countries for medium and larger dairy herds (i.e. >50 cows). The transition will take time because of the infrastructure replacement cycle for milking facilities. In France, only 10% of dairy farms used robot milking in 2018, but 70% of farms expected to install robots when they replaced milking facilities.
Spraying
John Deere’s “See and Spray” uses computer vision and machine learning to target spray weeds on corn, soybeans and cotton. This leads to lower herbicide use per acre. In 2024, over 1 million acres were treated with See & Spray. Early adopters report reaching ROI faster than they expected through chemical savings and increased yields. It delivered a 3-4 bushel per acre yield increase because the crops were less stressed chemically. Farmers achieved an average 59% reduction in herbicide usage across corn, soybean, and cotton operations.
Weeding organic crops
FarmDroid FD20 is a solar-powered field robot that seeds and weeds. By using high-precision GPS, the it marks the position of each plant at seeding. This allows it to perform both inter-row weeding between rows and intra-row weeding between plants. The Danish company claims over 500 units already operating across Europe, North America and Australia. One of those farmers Philippe Vieville who produces organic vegetables in the Ainse region of France, claims to have saved around 50 hours of manual work per hectare on spinach. This equates to roughly EUR 10,000 per year. On onions, the effect is even more pronounced. Compared to typical organic systems requiring 300–500 hours of manual weeding per hectare, Philippe is now down to under 100 hours. That difference adds up to at least 200 hours saved per hectare, or roughly EUR 40,000 per year.
With a 50% subsidy, the FarmDroid will be profitable by the second year. Overall, I estimate around EUR 50,000 saved per year just on labour, and I’m not even counting fuel savings.
Philippe Vieville
These cases illustrate both labour‑saving and input‑reducing benefits across livestock, arable, and horticulture.
Does robotics have a long-term future within agriculture?
So are agricultural robots still a good investment? Despite short‑term funding volatility and high profile company failures, the long‑term outlook and momentum for farm robotics remains strong. The industry is moving from development to practical deployment and commercialisation.
Adoption will be uneven. The fastest growth areas will be in high‑value crops, labour‑intensive systems, and large or tech‑forward farms. Growth in robotic milking system will continue to grow as older milking parlours are replaced. However, robots won’t replace farmers—but farmers who use robots will start to outcompete those who don’t.