WEEDING IS THE MOST AUTOMATED ACTIVITY ACROSS ALL CROP TYPES, AND HARDWARE THE MOST POPULAR INVESTMENT METHOD
Activities being automated [% share of respondents]
Method of investing in automation [average]
10%
Internal Employees
33%
Planting Weeding
45%
Pre-harvest
20%
Service
Thinning
27%
Other Crop Care
27%
Pre-harvest
Harvest
35%
Harvest Platforms Autonomous Ground Vehicles Other (e.g., imagery, irrigation)
70%
33%
Hardware
Harvest Assist
18%
27%
Source: Grower survey, Western Growers, Roland Berger
Figure 34: Automation activities [percentage share of survey respondents], and method of investing in automation [percentage share of survey respondents]
When it came to investment method, the majority of growers’ automation investments were in equipment purchases (on average 70% of investments among those who made investments), and the least (10%) on internal employees. Despite the relatively low figure, automation invest- ments in internal employees have been on the rise. In 2022, 50% of growers responded that they had in- ternal employees who dedicated the majority of their time to the integration of automation investments. Around 25% of growers had 1-2 employees, 20% had 3-5 employees, and 5% had 5+ employees dedicated
to the task. This trend is driven by the upskilling of labor that results from automation equipment. As re- petitive and manual tasks are increasingly performed by robots, human laborers are able to take on more skilled positions concerned with the integration and management of these technologies. This trend will likely continue as automation investments continue to rise. While this data provides an understanding of overall investment in automation, the following section will provide of more nuanced view of how automation is impacting specific crops and specific activities.
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