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Robot model

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…

Manufacturer
John Deere
Form factor
agriculture
Maturity
commercial
Lifecycle
active
Deployments
3

Overview

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.

Verified vs. claimed

Maturity stage
commercial(Commercially deployed with revenue-generating operations.)
Verified deployments
3 deployments on file
Sources on file
7 sources, view all

Key facts

Acres covered

~5 million acres in 2025 (See & Spray)

Herbicide reduction

~50% average reduction

Acquisition price

Blue River Technology acquired 2017 for about $305 million

Acquisition price

Bear Flag Robotics acquired August 2021 for $250 million

Production target

Fully autonomous corn and soybean production system by 2030

Specs

Crop

corn and soybean

Notes

Verified (commercial): See & Spray (Select/Ultimate; vision-targeted herbicide, Blue River Technology lineage acquired 2017 for $305M) is Deere's most mature ag-robotics product: ~5 million acres covered in 2025 (~50% average herbicide reduction). The Autonomous 8R (revealed CES 2022) operates commercially for TILLAGE only. Bear Flag Robotics (autonomy retrofit) acquired Aug 2021 for $250M underpins the perception stack., Early/limited commercial: The CES 2025 second-gen machines (Autonomous 9RX large tractor, 5ML orchard tractor) moved toward orderable/retrofit status but Deere published no firm ship dates; treat as early/limited rollout. The 460 P-Tier autonomous dump truck is in PILOT/trials; the battery-electric mower is newly launching/pre-commercial., Verified-vs-claimed: Deere's stated goal is a fully autonomous corn/soybean production SYSTEM by 2030 (a demonstration/availability target, not fleet-scale deployment). The often-cited '1-2 million autonomous machines' figure could NOT be verified and appears to conflate a separate ~1.5M connected-machines-by-2026 connectivity goal; NOT asserted here. Headlines calling the 8R a general 'fully autonomous tractor' overstate scope (tillage only).

Runtime

24 h

Products

Autonomous 8R (tillage, since CES 2022) + CES-2025 second-gen autonomy: Autonomous 9RX, 5ML orchard tractor, 460 P-Tier dump truck (pilot), battery-electric mower; plus See & Spray targeted herbicide system (Blue River lineage)

Implement

See & Spray

Max speed

60 km/h

Form Factor

agriculture (large-tractor autonomy + targeted-spray robotics)

Data & sources

Press releases

2

News coverage

3

Web sources

2

7 sources backing this record.View all →

Availability and pricing

Availability
Not sold (internal use)
Price
$300K to $500K (analyst estimate)as of 2025-01-01
Units in field
Not disclosed
Sales model
Not disclosed
Lead time
Not disclosed

Pricing

One-time purchase

$300,000 - $500,000 USDanalyst estimateas of 2025-01-01

Source: John Deere 8R/8RX Autonomy (official)

Price status: actual-sale-price = real published price at time of sale; manufacturer-target = vendor target, not yet realized; analyst-estimate = third-party projection, not a vendor figure; not-announced = no price on record.

Prices verified as of Jan 1, 2025

Deployments (3)

John Deere autonomous tractor + See & Spray on the deployment map

Where John Deere autonomous tractor + See & Spray is verified operating. Explore the deployment map by place and type.

Recent activity

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

Full change history →

Deployment-verified media (2)

PRIMARY SOURCE
Courtesy of John Deere

John Deere footage of its autonomous 9RX/8R tractors. In-field autonomy is GPS- and vision-guided and operator-monitored (the farmer supervises and can intervene via app), not unsupervised.

From deployment: Sao Paulo, Brazil

PRIMARY SOURCE
Courtesy of John Deere

Official John Deere video showcasing the autonomous 8R tractor for large-scale production agriculture. Features TruSet-enabled chisel plow, StarFire GPS guidance, and six stereo camera pairs for 360-degree obstacle detection.

From deployment: Sao Paulo, Brazil

Supply chain (2)

Compute / semiconductor

  • NVIDIANVIDIA Jetson Orin -- AI compute for See & Spray weed detection and autonomous guidancesupplies

Sensors

  • Trimble Inc.Trimble GNSS guidance platform -- precision positioning integrated via John Deere acquisitionsupplies

Suppliers appear here when verified with at least two strong sources (maker-official / IR / regulatory / standards-body / verified tier-2). Sources are append-only; corrections add new sources rather than rewrite history.

Safety record

No incidents on record for John Deere autonomous tractor + See & Spray.

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

Sources (7)

  1. https://www.deere.com/en/news/all-news/autonomous-9RX/
  2. https://www.therobotreport.com/john-deere-harvests-the-seeds-of-large-vehicle-autonomy/
  3. https://www.globalagtechinitiative.com/in-field-technologies/robotics-automation/john-deere-customers-use-see-spray-technology-across-five-million-acres-in-2025/
  4. https://www.therobotreport.com/john-deere-acquiring-bear-flag-robotics-250m/
  5. https://agfundernews.com/breaking-exclusive-john-deere-acquires-see-spray-robotics-startup-blue-river-technology-305m
  6. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/01/how-deere-is-preparing-for-a-fully-autonomous-farm-by-2030.html
  7. https://www.deere.com/en-us/products-solutions/tractors/autonomous-tractor

Compare John Deere autonomous tractor + See & Spray

Common questions

What is 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.
How much does John Deere autonomous tractor + See & Spray cost?
John Deere autonomous tractor + See & Spray is listed at $300,000 to $500,000 on the DEPLOY registry. This is an analyst estimate, not an official price.
Is John Deere autonomous tractor + See & Spray actually deployed in the real world?
Yes. John Deere autonomous tractor + See & Spray is independently verified in real-world operation on the DEPLOY registry, confirmed at named deployment sites with primary sources: not a concept, render, or demo-only.
What are the specs of John Deere autonomous tractor + See & Spray?
John Deere autonomous tractor + See & Spray's recorded specifications on the DEPLOY registry: Runtime: 24 h; Max speed: 60 km/h. See the Specs section for the full sourced set.
Who makes John Deere autonomous tractor + See & Spray?
John Deere autonomous tractor + See & Spray is made by John Deere, based in Moline, Illinois, USA, founded in 1837.
Methodology: Verified · 7 sources (2 primary) · last reviewed 2026-07-15

Verification posture

Verified

High confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-07-15

Maturity + lifecycle

Maturity stage: commercial

Lifecycle: active

Architectural position

Cohort: agriculture

Sources by quality tier

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

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

Methodology surface for John Deere autonomous tractor + See & Spray.

Recent coverage

John Deere autonomous tractor + See & Spray in third-party press