Company

John Deere

Deere & Company (NYSE: DE), known as John Deere, is the world's largest agricultural equipment manufacturer.

Track John Deere

Founded: 1837
HQ: Moline, Illinois, USA
Status: public (NYSE:DE)

The verified answer

As of Aug 2026, DEPLOY verifies John Deere: 1 model, 4 deployments across 4 regions. 12 sources back the record.

PublicNYSE: DE

CategoryAgricultural robots

Models

Deployments

Patents

Overview

Deere & Company (NYSE: DE), known as John Deere, is the world's largest agricultural equipment manufacturer. Developing autonomous tractors (8R autonomous), See & Spray AI weed detection, and precision agriculture systems. Acquired Bear Flag Robotics for autonomous tractor development. Makes strategic investments via John Deere Ventures.

Verified record

Verified deployments: 4 deployments on file
Active incidents: None on file

Key facts

Commercial product

See & Spray targeted herbicide (Blue River lineage): ~5M acres in 2025.

Autonomy

Autonomous 8R (tillage, commercial) + CES-2025 9RX/5ML (early rollout); Bear Flag Robotics ($250M, 2021) + Blue River ($305M, 2017) acquisitions.

Legal name

Deere & Company

Stock listing

NYSE:DE

Industry

Major agricultural-equipment maker

Stocksee public companies →

NYSE: DE

Autonomous tech

8R autonomous tractor, See & Spray AI weed detection

Acquisition

Bear Flag Robotics — autonomous tractor retrofit

Precision ag

GPS-guided precision agriculture, JDLink telemetry

Data & sources

Press releases

News coverage

Patent documents

Web sources

12 sources backing this record.View all →

Models (1)

View all models →

Current platform

John Deere autonomous tractor + See & Spray

John Deere (Deere & Company; Moline, Illinois; NYSE:DE; founded 1837) runs one of the most advanced autonomous-agriculture programs among the major equipment makers. Its most mature robotics product is See & Spray, a computer-vision targeted-herbicide system descended from Blue River Technology (acquired in 2017 for about $305 million), which covered roughly 5 million acres in 2025 at around a 50 percent average herbicide reduction. Deere's Autonomous 8R tractor, revealed at CES 2022, operates commercially but only for tillage, and its perception stack draws on Bear Flag Robotics (acquired in August 2021 for $250 million). At CES 2025 Deere revealed a second generation of autonomy: the Autonomous 9RX large tractor, a 5ML orchard tractor, a 460 P-Tier articulated dump truck, and a battery-electric mower, though Deere published no firm ship dates, so these are treated as early or limited rollout, with the dump truck in pilot trials and the mower pre-commercial. Deere's stated goal is to deliver a fully autonomous corn and soybean production system by 2030, a demonstration and availability target rather than a fleet-scale deployment promise. The frequently cited figure of 1 to 2 million autonomous machines could not be verified and appears to conflate a separate connected-machines connectivity goal, so it is not asserted here.

agricultureView model →

John Deere on the deployment map

View the global map

4 verified deployments across 4 regions, newest verified Apr 2025. Explore where John Deere's robots are operating, by place and type.

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View the full John Deere deployment record →

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Relationships

UUS SugarDeployerCCarbon RoboticsTechnology partner TTimbermaticsTechnology partner JJohn DeereCustomer

Explainers

Plain-language answers to the questions people ask about John Deere, from DEPLOY’s explainer library. Each is written in the language of the question and cross-checked against this registry.

What is an agricultural robot?

An agricultural robot is a robot that performs farming tasks (autonomous tractor operations, weed identification, planting, harvesting, dairy automation) in field or barn environments. DEPLOY tracks 8 verified agricultural entities; 3 of the 8 are distressed, defunct, or restructured (Monarch acquired by Caterpillar April 2026 + Naïo judicial recovery + Iron Ox defunct via Inevitable Tech). The verified-vs-claimed gap is wider in farm robotics than in any other category DEPLOY covers. Surface that transparently when evaluating agricultural robotics commercialization.Read the full explainer →

What is John Deere Autonomous?

John Deere Autonomous is John Deere's autonomous-equipment program operating verified commercial farm deployment at meaningful scale. See & Spray (computer-vision-targeted herbicide application) deploys across approximately 5 million verified acres per Deere investor materials. The 8R autonomous tractor operates tillage-only (not full-task autonomy); the 9RX and 5ML announced at CES 2025 are in early rollout, not at-scale shipping. Foundational acquisitions: Blue River Technology (2017, ~$305M; See & Spray foundation) and Bear Flag Robotics (2021, ~$250M; autonomy stack). Deere is the largest verified commercial deployer in DEPLOY's agricultural cohort, the verified-at-scale exemplar contrasting with Monarch's collapse and Iron Ox's defunction.Read the full explainer →

Current leadership (6)

Jahmy Hindman SVP & Chief Technology OfficerIR-verified
Willy Pell VP Autonomy / CEO Blue River Technologysecondary-verified
Joe Liefer Senior Product Manager, Autonomyreported, not verified
Sarah Schinckel Director, Emerging Technologiesreported, not verified
John C. May Chairman & CEO, ceosecondary-verified
Josh Jepsen executivesince 2020-01-01SEC-verified

Board (1)

John C. May chair

Former / Previously (1)

Jorge Heraud VP Automation & Autonomy (former)secondary-verified

Safety record

No incidents on record for John Deere.

Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.

Full safety record: incidents, sourcing, and exposure data →

Operator customers (1)

John Deere4 deployments

Recent coverage

John Deere in third-party press

AgriFood Signals: Chipotle’s next agrifood cohort, John Deere settlement, fruit-harvesting robots

Jul 9, 2026

The FTC Settlement With John Deere Is a Huge Win for the Right-to-Repair Movement

Jul 8, 2026

From GPS to Physical AI: The Next Revolution in Agriculture

Jul 7, 2026

Peer companies

DJI7 models
Naio Technologies4 models
WORX Landroid4 models
Carbon Robotics3 models
Solinftec3 models
GreenField Robotics2 models

Supplied by (2)

Compute / semiconductor

NVIDIAvia John Deere autonomous tractor + See & SprayNVIDIA Jetson Orin -- AI compute for See & Spray weed detection and autonomous guidancesupplies

Sensors

Trimble Inc.via John Deere autonomous tractor + See & SprayTrimble GNSS guidance platform -- precision positioning integrated via John Deere acquisitionsupplies

Inbound supply edges feeding this company directly or via the models it owns. Same source bar as the outbound view (verified against at least two strong sources).

Financial state

Reporting basis: aggregator_estimate
Lifecycle stage: mature
Counterparty risk class: low

Each numeric field carries its own basis marker. Aggregators report a number; this surface preserves the source class so verification depth travels with the value.

Partnerships (3)

US Sugar x John Deere x ASI Autonomous Tractor Fleet with US Sugardeployment
Carbon Robotics x John Deere with Carbon Roboticstechnologyreported, not operationally verified
John Deere x Timbermatics precision forestry platform with Timbermaticstechnology

Acquisitions (3)

acquired GUSS Automationfull acquisition2023-06-01
acquired Bear Flag Roboticsfull acquisition2021-08-05
acquired Blue River Technologyfull acquisition2017-09-06

Patent estate (8)

US8381501B2usptograntedgranted 2012-12-25assignee
US9392743B2usptograntedgranted 2016-07-19assignee
US9382003B2usptograntedgranted 2016-07-05assignee
AU2019248779A1wipopendingassignee
US7765780B2usptograntedgranted 2010-08-03assignee
US20210132608A1usptopendingassignee
US20170372137A1usptopendingassignee
WO2021055485A1wipopendingassignee

Recent activity

Every change to this record is dated, sourced, and independently verified where marked.

Verified media addedVerifiedJun 8, 2026
Autonomous 8R Tractor | John Deere Precision Ag
Verified media addedVerifiedJun 4, 2026
John Deere autonomous tractors
Record createdJun 3, 2026
Added to the verified registry
Deployment verifiedVerifiedApr 1, 2025
John Deere autonomous tractor + See & Spray at Mosinee, Wisconsin
Deployment verifiedVerifiedJan 1, 2022
John Deere autonomous tractor + See & Spray at Des Moines

Full change history →

Sources (4)

Common questions

What is John Deere?

What does John Deere make?

John Deere has 1 robot model on the DEPLOY registry: John Deere autonomous tractor + See & Spray (John Deere builds both physical robots and the AI that runs them).

Is John Deere publicly traded?

Yes. John Deere is publicly traded on public markets, per the DEPLOY registry.

Who competes with John Deere?

On the DEPLOY registry, peer companies to John Deere building in the same form factors include DJI, Naio Technologies, WORX Landroid, Carbon Robotics.

Who is the CEO of John Deere?

John C. May is the ceo of John Deere, per the DEPLOY registry.

How can I invest in John Deere?

John Deere is publicly traded (public markets), so its shares can be bought through any broker.

Where is John Deere headquartered?

John Deere is headquartered in Moline, Illinois, USA.

Who owns John Deere?

John Deere is publicly held by its shareholders.

Where does John Deere operate robots?

John Deere operates 4 verified deployments, including at Florida, Mosinee, Wisconsin, Sao Paulo, Brazil.

How many robots has John Deere deployed?

DEPLOY has 4 verified John Deere deployments on record at sites including Florida, Mosinee, Wisconsin, Sao Paulo, Brazil. That is a count of distinct field deployments each backed by sourced evidence, not a manufacturer's claimed unit total; it updates as new sites are verified.

Is John Deere a top robotics company?

On DEPLOY's intelligence score, which blends verified deployments, funding, hiring, media, safety, and IP signals, John Deere ranks in roughly the top 25% of companies tracked by the registry.

When was John Deere founded?

John Deere was founded in 1837.

Is John Deere safe?

John Deere has no incidents on record in the DEPLOY registry. This does not constitute a safety guarantee; it reflects the incidents DEPLOY has tracked and verified to date.

Methodology: Verified · 4 sources (1 primary) · last reviewed 2026-08-05

Verification posture

Verified

High confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-08-05

Sources by quality tier

2: secondary-trade-publication; Trade publication
1: primary-company-ir; Company IR disclosure
1: unclassified; Unclassified source

The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.

Peer companies

DJI7 models
Naio Technologies4 models
WORX Landroid4 models
Carbon Robotics3 models
Solinftec3 models
GreenField Robotics2 models

John Deere

Overview

Key facts

Data & sources

Models (1)

John Deere autonomous tractor + See & Spray

John Deere on the deployment map

Relationships

Explainers

Current leadership (6)

Board (1)

Former / Previously (1)

Safety record

Operator customers (1)

Recent coverage

Peer companies

Supplied by (2)

Compute / semiconductor

Sensors

Financial state

Partnerships (3)

Acquisitions (3)

Patent estate (8)

Recent activity

Sources (4)

Common questions

Peer companies

In the press

AgriFood Signals: Chipotle’s next agrifood cohort, John Deere settlement, fruit-harvesting robots

The FTC Settlement With John Deere Is a Huge Win for the Right-to-Repair Movement

From GPS to Physical AI: The Next Revolution in Agriculture

John Deere adds autonomous-ready tech to 8 Series tractors - MSN

US Sugar deploys fleet of autonomous John Deere tractors in Florida

US Sugar Deploys Fleet of Autonomous John Deere Tractors in Florida

US Sugar Deploys Fleet of Autonomous John Deere Tractors

Autonomous Tractors Market Size, Share | Industry Report [2034] - Fortune Business Insights

US Sugar deploys fleet of autonomous John Deere tractors in Florida - The Fence Post

U.S. Sugar deploys autonomous John Deere tractor fleet across 255,000 acres - Future Farming

TorqueAGI Announces Collaborations with NVIDIA, John Deere, and Dexterity to Advance Physical AI for Enterprise-Grade Robots - PRWeb

Q&A: John Deere shares update on autonomous mower for commercial landscaping - Landscape Management

Machine-readable surfaces

Peer companies

Video