Yamaha Agriculture expands autonomous orchard equipment lineup

Yamaha Agriculture introduced a new herbicide attachment for its Prospr autonomous hybrid vehicle platform, expanding the system’s capabilities for orchard and vineyard weed control. The attachment, developed and manufactured by Croplands Equipment for Prospr, will be showcased at Hort Connections 2026 in South Australia.

The herbicide attachment is designed to integrate with the Prospr platform, allowing growers to switch between tools and automate additional orchard and vineyard tasks. According to Yamaha Agriculture, the system is intended to support weed-control applications while improving operational efficiency.

Features of the attachment include automated spraying functions such as nozzle activation, tank agitation, liquid level sensing and rate adjustments tied to vehicle speed. The system also includes mechanical breakaway boom arms intended to help protect crops and equipment when operating around trees, vines and posts.

The attachment supports both direct tank mixing and inline dosing for chemical management. It also integrates with Yamaha Agriculture’s management and planning interface, including the company’s multi-vehicle remote (MVR) system, which allows operators to monitor multiple autonomous vehicles from a single interface.

The Prospr autonomous platform is currently used in orchard and vineyard operations in the United States, Australia and New Zealand. The platform supports tasks including crop spraying and herbicide applications.

Yamaha Agriculture said the Prospr platform was designed to support multiple tools and attachments from different manufacturers on a single vehicle. The company said the hybrid diesel-electric system can operate for up to 40 hours and is designed to reduce fuel consumption compared to conventional equipment.

Additional platform features include row-to-row turning capabilities, job planning and speed-controlled zones, remote diagnostics and over-the-air software updates. The system also includes electrically driven spraying fans with zone-level control and supports multi-vehicle operation supervised by one or two operators.

Yamaha Agriculture’s broader portfolio includes autonomous vehicle systems, farm management technology, AI-based yield prediction tools and automation technology for fruit packing operations.