Australian vegetable growers are always on the lookout for ways to improve efficiency and stay competitive in a challenging industry. With labour shortages and rising cost pressures, automation of harvesting operations is becoming an increasingly important area to address.

Through the one-year Hort Innovation vegetable levy-funded program, Evaluating mechanical harvest solutions in Australia (VG24006), Queensland Department of Primary Industries (DPI) and project collaborators Western Growers Association, based in California, continue to advance automated harvesting adoption in the United States and Australia.

In March, a small contingent of Australian vegetable growers got firsthand access to the future of automated vegetable harvesting for broccoli, lettuce and celery during a trip to California and Arizona. The study tour was coordinated by the DPI with access to farms provided by the Western Growers Association. The tour provided important insights into how these technologies are transforming farming practices and how they could be adapted for Australian farming systems.

“The harvester program previously facilitated a visit of global harvester manufacturers to Australia in October 2025 and the US trip was a follow-up, to see a range of technologies operating in the field,” said Ian Layden, DPI’s Director Vegetables, Supply Chains and Market Access.

Victorian grower Adam Schreurs with Yang Fang, CEO Beagle Tech.

The tour included field demonstrations of several developing and emerging technologies, including the Sami Robotics (formerly Sami Agtech) broccoli and cos (romaine) lettuce robotic harvester, the CYTHETM automated broccoli harvester, and the Beagle Technology celery harvester. The group also saw the Brimapack automated romaine harvester with an integrated packing line in action.

The itinerary included one-on-one discussions with US growers who are working with manufacturers in developing these technologies and validating them on-farm.

Seeing these machines operating in commercial farm settings and speaking with growers who have extensive experience in harvest automation provided the group with the valuable insights that will help benefit the Australian industry.

The Western Growers Association has been involved in the harvest automation area for some time. The collaboration with the DPI has established a framework for joint research, technology exchange.

“The partnership with DPI reflects the shared commitment to address labour access and cost challenges and improved efficiency through automation solutions,” said Ben Palone, Senior Director of Automation and Commercialisation at Western Growers Association.

“By working together to connect the Australian vegetable industry and individual growers with international automated harvesting manufacturers, we are fostering a two-way exchange of knowledge and experience – Australian growers provide unique insights from their diverse productions systems, environmental conditions and operational challenges so manufacturers can refine and adapt technologies for broader global applications. Simultaneously, Australian growers gain insights into developing technologies. Through partnerships like this, we are building a global network of growers, researchers, and technology providers working together to advance harvesting innovation”.

One of the Australian growers who participated in the US visit was Adam Schreurs of Schreurs & Sons.

“The partnership with Western Growers Association has been invaluable in connecting with harvester manufacturers not only for this trip but for the industry as a whole. The trip has opened my eyes to what’s emerging out there in terms of automated harvesting,” Adam said.

Yang Fang with Adam Schreurs and Greg Hall at Schreurs & Sons

An outcome from the US tour has been the establishment of ongoing technology development updates for key crops, and further connections between harvest manufacturers and Australian growers. Sami Robotics and DPI will coordinate a working group with Australian broccoli growers to ensure the technology fits the Australian market.

The CEO of Beagle Technology, Yang Fang visited Australia in June 2026 and met with Australian celery growers in south- east Queensland and Victoria. Discussions between Yang and Australian growers focused on critical aspects of optimising celery harvesting. Topics included crop configurations and plant spacing, cutting height and trim specifications, manual harvest throughput, maximising recovery rates, product flow and packing logistics and the capabilities of the Beagle celery harvester.

Schreurs & Sons was one of the farms that Yang visited while in Australia.

“Each Beagle Technologies cutting unit is currently capable of cutting 4,000 celery per day. The gap is the packing behind the cutting unit – there is still work to be done and will likely end up designed and customised by individual growers to suit their system,” Adam said.

The US trip also had strategic intent. Growers who participated reported directly to the Vegetable Industry Strategic Investment Advisory Panel (SIAP) on key learnings and next steps to advance automated harvester technologies in Australian vegetable systems.

The VG24006 harvester program aims to connect global mechanical harvesting manufacturers with the Australian market. These connections are facilitating better communication of the Australian vegetable industry’s needs for automated harvesting technologies, while also improving communication from manufacturers about technology capabilities and development progress.

FIND OUT MORE
To learn more about the mechanised harvester program please contact Julie O’Halloran at Julie.ohalloran@dpi.qld.gov.au

Queensland Department of Primary Industries would like to acknowledge the support from Ben Palone, Western Growers Association and the US growers for the farm access and information shared. Thanks also to the Australian growers for their time in meeting and hosting Beagle Technologies here in Australia.