Ag automation solutions on display at FIRA USA

An automomous machine from SwarmFarm Robotics shown at FIRA USA 2024. (Photo: FIRA USA)

The FIRA USA event will return to Woodland, Calif., from October 21 to 23, 2025, at the Yolo County Fair Grounds to bring together the needs of farmers with robotic and autonomous solutions. The event is organized by GoFar, a global non-profit organization for ag robotics technology, along with Western Growers and the University of California.

U.S. farmers are grappling with 2.4 million unfilled jobs this year, rising labor costs, and a projected 17.4% drop in net farm income, intensifying pressure to cut expenses, said GoFar, and in response North American growers are adopting of ag robotics, driving the $15.8 billion global market. The fourth annual FIRA USA event is expected to showcase the sector’s rapid growth with an unprecedented level exhibitor participation and live demos.

This year’s edition is expected to gain additional momentum following the public reveal of John Deere’s autonomous 5ML orchard tractor coupled with an air-blast sprayer at CES 2025 in Las Vegas, while New Holland highlights its full suite of guidance technologies — moves the organization said are strong signals that ag automation is no longer a concept, but a present-day reality.

The demonstration areas have been significantly improved for 2025. In addition to the existing vegetable, orchard, and vineyard plots, this year’s edition will include cotton and tomato fields, offering an even broader representation of specialty crops. Participants will be able to observe robots at all stages of development, with live demonstrations on real crops.

Among the demos featured:

In orchards: John Deere 5ML autonomous orchard tractor; retrofit kits from Bluewhite, Kingman AG and Agtonomy. Mowing and spraying robots by Bonsai, Burro, Boson Motors, GUSS, LJ Tech AG and MQ Autonomous Agritech, and precision spraying add-on with Smart Apply

In vineyards: Mowing and spraying with Agtonomy, Bonsai, Burro and MQ Autonomous Agritech

In vegetables: Autonomous spraying implement with Ecorobotix, Verdant and Niqo Robotics; spraying robots with Solinftec and Bonsai Robotics. Mechanical weeding with Stout on vegetables, and Aigen on tomatoes and cotton plus weeding technology using heated vegetable oil from Tensorfield Agriculture.

In open fields: Targeted weed control with See & Spray technology by John Deere

During FIRA USA 2025, the organizers said several major additions that enhance its relevance for the entire agricultural sector:

John Deere is a gold sponsor of FIRA USA 2025 and will unveil a brand-new machine alongside GUSS Automation and Smart Apply each which operate as wholly-owned subsidiaries of John Deere.

New Holland will highlight its full suite of guidance technologies, including the precision fan sprayer for the T4.120F specialty tractor and its complete tech offering in a dedicated “Tech Trailer” for 1-1 demonstrations.

This year’s event is expeted to feature several exclusive global debuts including Bonsai Robotics, which following its acquisition of Farm-NG has expanded beyond orchard robotics to broaden its automation offerings. China’s FJDynamics is expected to show an autosteer kit and sprayer controller.

Further information on the program is available here: https://fira-usa.com/