OEM Kubota and agriculture technology provider Agtonomy are working with Kubota dealers to prepare them for the growing autonomous equipment market.
The OEM has a dedicated team focused on supporting dealers with technology sales and financing, and ensuring they have the resources they need, Kubota Chief Technology Officer Brett McMickell told Equipment Finance News.
As the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show approaches in January, the company plans to announce new technologies nearing commercialization that it has developed with its dealers.
We are “making sure that the dealers have a say in what’s going on, making sure that we’re supporting the dealers,” McMickell said.
Agtonomy continues to work with Kubota and its large dealer network to roll out its tech-enabled units of the M5N series tractor, Kubota’s most popular orchard and vineyard platform, Chief Executive Tim Bucher told EFN. Kubota and Agtonomy are going to spend the next few years getting dealers ready for autonomous equipment, but initial consumer units should be available this year.
The tractor is “autonomy-enabled and there are a few of them in pilot [programs] right now with real customers,” he said.
Driving dealer buy-in
Securing dealer buy-in is critical for Kubota to drive farmer adoption of new autonomous technologies, McMickell said. To support this, the company is providing dealer training, tools and technical support to ensure successful implementation and management of risks.
Kubota is taking into account the risks that growers and dealers deal with and coming up with a model that balances that risk and benefits all the parties involved, he said.
“We’re working on that and … understanding the differences in the life cycle of a technology package versus a power system,” he said.
Agtonomy, Bobcat partnership
Agtonomy also continues to navigate its partnership with Bobcat and preparing Bobcat’s dealer network to work with autonomous products, Bucher said.
“We’ve now achieved commercialization with Bobcat on a diesel platform that they are manufacturing in their own facilities,” he said. “That’s still being managed by Bobcat corporate and Agtonomy while the dealers are being brought up to speed over the next year and a half.”
The tech company continues to work with OEMs to help meet the technology needs of the farmers, Bucher said.
“We want to help the incumbents, because ultimately, we want to help the growers, and growers depend upon that dealer network, their parts and their service,” he said. “This equipment is for people’s livelihoods, whether you’re a big, multimillion dollar grower or a small farmer. This equipment is important to get the work done, and to make the business work.”
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