Mechanization and Technology

CNH expands high-tech harvesting stake with investment in Advanced Farm Technologies

04 October 2023, Basildon: CNH continues to support the acceleration of smart harvesting technologies with a minority investment in the California-based start-up Advanced Farm Technologies, which specializes in the robotic harvesting of apples, strawberries and other fruits. The two businesses will partner to drive industry and ecosystem innovation by collaborating across R&D and commercialization.

Shifting to robotic picking has great potential to significantly improve fruit farmers’ productivity by harvesting high value crops up to five times more efficiently. In the United States, 46% of the production cost of apples comes from handpicking labor, 70% in the case of strawberries. These high labor costs are exacerbated by a continued downward trend in handpicking workforce availability.

Advanced Farm Technologies’ system uses computer vision and a machine learning tech stack to pick the best fruit, either during the day or at night, while gently handling it to avoid bruising and damage. Their system’s robotic arms with gentle grippers, a serial-hybrid drive system, autonomous navigation and automated bin handling are among the key features. This automated platform eliminates the need to carry a ladder from tree to tree – vastly reducing the strain of a repetitive and arduous task.

CNH is in a technology growth mode, committed to customer-inspired innovation. This latest investment is part of our broader strategy to bring cutting-edge solutions to our portfolio. We are especially focused on automated, autonomous, and sustainable farming innovations that solve important and complex challenges for our customers.

Forward-looking statements

All statements other than statements of historical fact contained in this press release, including competitive strengths; business strategy; future financial position or operating results; budgets; projections with respect to revenue, income, earnings (or loss) per share, capital expenditures, dividends, liquidity, capital structure or other financial items; costs; and plans and objectives of management regarding operations and products, are forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements also include statements regarding the future performance of CNH Industrial and its subsidiaries on a standalone basis. These statements may include terminology such as “may”, “will”, “expect”, “could”, “should”, “intend”, “estimate”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “outlook”, “continue”, “remain”, “on track”, “design”, “target”, “objective”, “goal”, “forecast”, “projection”, “prospects”, “plan”, or similar terminology. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Rather, they are based on current views and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside our control and are difficult to predict. If any of these risks and uncertainties materialize (or they occur with a degree of severity that the Company is unable to predict) or other assumptions underlying any of the forward-looking statements prove to be incorrect, including any assumptions regarding strategic plans, the actual results or developments may differ materially from any future results or developments expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Factors, risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements include, among others: economic conditions in each of our markets, including the significant uncertainty caused by the war in the Ukraine; the duration and economic, operational and financial impacts of the global COVID-19 pandemic; production and supply chain disruptions, including industry capacity constraints, material availability, and global logistics delays and constraints; the many interrelated factors that affect consumer confidence and worldwide demand for capital goods and capital goods-related products; changes in government policies regarding banking, monetary and fiscal policy; legislation, particularly pertaining to capital goods-related issues such as agriculture, the environment, debt relief and subsidy program policies, trade and commerce and infrastructure development; government policies on international trade and investment, including sanctions, import quotas, capital controls and tariffs; volatility in international trade caused by the imposition of tariffs, sanctions, embargoes, and trade wars; actions of competitors in the various industries in which we compete; development and use of new technologies and technological difficulties; the interpretation of, or adoption of new, compliance requirements with respect to engine emissions, safety or other aspects of our products; labor relations; interest rates and currency exchange rates; inflation and deflation; energy prices; prices for agricultural commodities and material price increases; housing starts and other construction activity; our ability to obtain financing or to refinance existing debt; price pressure on new and used equipment; the resolution of pending litigation and investigations on a wide range of topics, including dealer and supplier litigation, intellectual property rights disputes, product warranty and defective product claims, and emissions and/or fuel economy regulatory and contractual issues; security breaches, cybersecurity attacks, technology failures, and other disruptions to the information technology infrastructure of CNH Industrial and its suppliers and dealers; security breaches with respect to our products; our pension plans and other post-employment obligations; political and civil unrest; volatility and deterioration of capital and financial markets, including pandemics, terrorist attacks in Europe and elsewhere; our ability to realize the anticipated benefits from our business initiatives as part of our strategic plan; our failure to realize, or a delay in realizing, all of the anticipated benefits of our acquisitions, joint ventures, strategic alliances or divestitures and other similar risks and uncertainties, and our success in managing the risks involved in the foregoing.

Forward-looking statements are based upon assumptions relating to the factors described in this press release, which are sometimes based upon estimates and data received from third parties. Such estimates and data are often revised. Actual results may differ materially from the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside CNH Industrial’s control. CNH Industrial expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to provide, update or revise any forward-looking statements in this announcement to reflect any change in expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which these forward-looking statements are based. Further information concerning CNH Industrial, including factors that potentially could materially affect CNH Industrial’s financial results, is included in CNH Industrial’s reports and filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), the Autoriteit Financiële Markten (“AFM”) and Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (“CONSOB”).

All future written and oral forward-looking statements by CNH Industrial or persons acting on the behalf of CNH Industrial are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained herein or referred to above.

Also Read: Global Conference on Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization: Efficiency, Inclusiveness and Resilience

(For Latest Agriculture News & Updates, follow Krishak Jagat on Google News)