Smart Harvest Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, and Forecast, Segmented By Site of Operation (On Field, Controlled Environment), By Crop Type (Grain Crops, Fruits and Vegetables, Others), By Product (Robotic Harvester, Smart Harvester, Harvest Dynamic Monitoring), By Region and Competition, 2021-2031F

Forecast Period	2027-2031
Market Size (2025)	USD 5.96 Billion
CAGR (2026-2031)	8.81%
Fastest Growing Segment	Fruits and Vegetables
Largest Market	North America
Market Size (2031)	USD 9.89 Billion

Market Overview

The Global Smart Harvest Market is expected to grow from USD 5.96 Billion in 2025 to USD 9.89 Billion by 2031 at a 8.81% CAGR. The Global Smart Harvest Market encompasses the integration of robotics, artificial intelligence, and precision sensors to automate the identification and collection of crops, thereby reducing human intervention in agricultural processes. The primary catalyst propelling this market is the critical global shortage of agricultural labor, which compels producers to adopt mechanized solutions to ensure timely harvesting and minimize spoilage. According to the International Federation of Robotics, in 2024, approximately 19,500 agricultural service robots were sold globally, reflecting the sector's tangible transition toward automated field operations to mitigate workforce volatility.

However, a significant impediment to broader market expansion is the technical complexity associated with replicating the dexterity of the human hand. Current robotic grippers often struggle to harvest soft, fragile produce such as berries and stone fruits without causing damage, which limits the commercial viability of these systems for the fresh produce sector and restricts their application primarily to hardier crops or bulk harvesting.

Key Market Drivers

The Escalating Global Shortage of Seasonal and Skilled Agricultural Labor, compounded by the Rising Costs of Manual Farm Wages, acts as the primary economic engine driving the Global Smart Harvest Market. As urbanization and demographic shifts reduce the available rural workforce, producers are facing an unsustainable financial burden from labor-intensive harvest operations. According to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, February 2025, in the 'Farm Labor' report update, the annual average gross wage rate for hired farmworkers reached $19.10 per hour in 2024, a figure that continues to outpace general inflation. This wage growth creates immediate pressure on farm profitability; according to Western Growers, November 2025, in a survey on specialty crop labor, California growers alone spent $16.3 billion on labor in 2023, with two-thirds of this expenditure specifically allocated to harvest activities. Consequently, the adoption of automated harvesting systems has shifted from a strategic advantage to a survival necessity for high-value crop producers.

Simultaneously, Rapid Advancements in Agricultural Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, and IoT are overcoming the historical technical limitations regarding dexterity and speed. Recent innovations in computer vision and soft robotics have enabled machines to identify and pick delicate produce with increasing reliability, directly addressing the efficiency gaps that previously hindered commercial scaling. A notable validation of this progress is found in the fresh fruit sector; according to the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission, January 2025, in the '2024 Final Report' for Advanced Farm Technologies, prototype robotic apple harvesters consistently achieved a harvest rate of one bin per hour, effectively matching the output standards required for commercial orchard operations. These technological milestones indicate that smart harvest solutions are rapidly maturing from experimental pilots to viable replacements for human crews, thereby accelerating market penetration.

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Key Market Challenges

The technical complexity required to replicate human dexterity in robotic gripping systems serves as a substantial obstruction to the expansion of the Global Smart Harvest Market. While mechanized solutions handle bulk crops effectively, the inability of current technology to gently manipulate soft produce—such as berries, stone fruits, and tomatoes—without inflicting damage severely restricts market penetration in the fresh produce sector. This technological gap forces producers to continue relying on manual labor for high-value crops, thereby negating the potential operational efficiency and cost reductions that drive automation investments.

Consequently, adoption rates for harvest-specific robotics have stagnated significantly compared to other agricultural automation sectors. According to the Western Growers Association, in 2024, while automation for non-harvest tasks such as weeding and thinning achieved an adoption rate of approximately 2 to 3 percent, harvest automation remained at virtually zero percent. This disparity highlights the industry's ongoing struggle to engineer grippers that match the sensitivity of the human hand. As long as this dexterity gap persists, the market will remain confined to lower-margin arable crops, preventing widespread scaling across the broader agricultural landscape.

Key Market Trends

The proliferation of smart harvesting solutions for high-value specialty crops is accelerating as major agricultural machinery manufacturers move from experimental partnerships to full acquisitions of robotic startups. This trend signals a maturing market where established OEMs are integrating proprietary picking technologies directly into their commercial fleets to address the complex logistics of orchard environments. A defining example of this consolidation occurred when CNH Industrial moved to secure its position in the autonomous fruit sector. According to The Robot Report, April 2025, in the 'CNH acquires intellectual property and assets of Advanced Farm' article, CNH Industrial fully acquired the assets of Advanced Farm Technologies following successful pilots in Washington state, aiming to scale their robotic apple picking system which utilizes six robotic arms for commercial deployment. This strategic absorption underscores the industry's shift toward scalable, OEM-backed harvest automation for delicate stone fruits.

Simultaneously, the expansion of robotic harvesting into Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) is driving vertical integration, where indoor farming operators are purchasing robotics firms to customize automation for high-density production. Unlike outdoor operations, CEA allows for structured environments that maximize the efficiency of autonomous harvesting fleets, prompting growers to bring technology development in-house to secure a competitive advantage. This trajectory was highlighted when a leading vertical farming company absorbed a major robotics provider to optimize its berry production. According to The Packer, March 2025, in the 'Oishii acquires robotics company Tortuga AgTech, extends harvesting capabilities' article, Oishii acquired the intellectual property and engineering team of Tortuga AgTech, projecting that the integration of these autonomous robots would reduce their harvesting expenses by 50% while surpassing human accuracy. This move illustrates how indoor growers are leveraging purpose-built robotics to achieve unit economics that manual labor cannot match.

Segmental Insights

The Fruits and Vegetables segment represents the fastest-growing category in the Global Smart Harvest Market, driven by the intensifying global shortage of seasonal agricultural labor. Unlike durable grain crops, fresh produce requires delicate handling to prevent physical damage, necessitating advanced automation that can effectively replicate human dexterity. Consequently, producers of high-value crops are rapidly adopting sensor-enabled robotic systems to ensure timely picking and reduce the significant economic losses caused by spoilage. This trend aligns with broader food security goals monitored by the Food and Agriculture Organization, as automated harvesting ensures consistent supply chains amidst fluctuating workforce availability.

Regional Insights

North America dominates the Global Smart Harvest Market, primarily driven by the extensive adoption of automated agricultural technologies across the United States. This regional leadership is largely attributed to critical labor shortages and rising wage costs, which compel producers to invest in robotic harvesting and autonomous machinery to maintain operational efficiency. Furthermore, the prevalence of large-scale commercial farms allows for significant capital investment in these technologies. The U.S. Department of Agriculture actively accelerates this market expansion through specific grants and loan programs designed to modernize infrastructure, thereby fostering a highly favorable environment for smart harvesting solutions.

Recent Developments

• In April 2025, CNH Industrial completed the acquisition of the assets and intellectual property of Advanced Farm Technologies, a startup specializing in robotic apple and strawberry picking. The transaction followed successful field trials of the startup's apple-harvesting system conducted during the 2024 season in Washington state, which demonstrated the technology's effectiveness in real-world conditions. The industrial machinery company stated that integrating the startup’s computer vision and robotic arm technologies would accelerate the commercialization of its automated harvesting solutions. This acquisition reinforced the company's commitment to addressing labor challenges in the fruit production industry through advanced robotics and automation.
• In March 2025, the vertical farming company Oishii acquired the intellectual property and assets of Tortuga AgTech, a prominent developer of robotic harvesting systems for controlled environments. This strategic acquisition involved the integration of the robotics firm’s engineering team and its proprietary artificial intelligence models, which are specialized in harvesting strawberries and table grapes. The vertical farming company noted that incorporating these advanced technologies would significantly bolster its automated harvesting capabilities and reduce operational expenses. This move highlighted the growing trend of consolidation within the Global Smart Harvest Market as companies seek to internalize critical automation technologies to optimize production.
• In November 2024, Fieldwork Robotics entered into a collaborative agreement with a manufacturer of autonomous mobile robot platforms to enhance the interoperability of its harvesting systems. The partnership focused on developing a base-agnostic payload that allows the Fieldworker 1 robotic arms to operate seamlessly on the partner’s widely used mobile bases. The company stated that this integration would provide farmers with a more flexible and cost-effective harvesting solution by leveraging existing autonomous infrastructure. This collaboration underscored the industry's shift towards modular and interoperable technologies to facilitate the broader adoption of robotic harvesting in the soft fruit sector.
• In August 2024, Fieldwork Robotics launched its latest autonomous harvesting model, the Fieldworker 1, aimed at revolutionizing the berry picking industry. The company announced that this new robot utilizes advanced artificial intelligence and spectral frequency analysis to accurately detect berry ripeness and harvest raspberries at speeds comparable to human workers. Alongside the product launch, the firm revealed a strategic alliance with a major fresh produce grower to conduct extensive field trials in Australia. This development represented a significant advancement in the Global Smart Harvest Market, offering growers a scalable solution to address persistent labor shortages and improve harvesting efficiency.

Key Market Players

• John Deere & Company
• AG Leader Technology, Inc.
• Trimble Inc.
• Raven Industries, Inc.
• Hexagon AB
• CNH Industrial N.V.
• Bosch Engineering GmbH
• Kubota Corporation
• AgJunction, Inc.
• Topcon Corporation

By Site of Operation	By Crop Type	By Product	By Region
On Field Controlled Environment	Grain Crops Fruits and Vegetables Others	Robotic Harvester Smart Harvester Harvest Dynamic Monitoring	North America Europe Asia Pacific South America Middle East & Africa

Report Scope:

In this report, the Global Smart Harvest Market has been segmented into the following categories, in addition to the industry trends which have also been detailed below:

• Smart Harvest Market, By Site of Operation:

• On Field
• Controlled Environment

• Smart Harvest Market, By Crop Type:

• Grain Crops
• Fruits and Vegetables
• Others

• Smart Harvest Market, By Product:

• Robotic Harvester
• Smart Harvester
• Harvest Dynamic Monitoring

• Smart Harvest Market, By Region:

• North America
• United States
• Canada
• Mexico
• Europe
• France
• United Kingdom
• Italy
• Germany
• Spain
• Asia Pacific
• China
• India
• Japan
• Australia
• South Korea
• South America
• Brazil
• Argentina
• Colombia
• Middle East & Africa
• South Africa
• Saudi Arabia
• UAE