Yamaha Opens U.S. Unit for Precision Agriculture

IWATA, Japan - Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd., a mobility manufacturer, agreement to acquire Robotics Plus Ltd., a provider of agricultural automation solutions. Yamaha also acquired assets from The Yield., an Australian digital agriculture startup, and transferred them to a new subsidiary, Yamaha Agriculture Australia Pvt Ltd. These subsidiaries will be managed by a newly established U.S.-based company, Yamaha Agriculture, Inc. Through these strategic initiatives, Yamaha aims to advance automation and digital solutions for precision agriculture, promoting sustainable and profitable farming practices.

Robotics Plus specializes in agricultural automation, utilizing expertise in robotics, automation, sensing, and data analytics. The company has developed Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) for spraying and weed control, as well as automated fruit packing machines and robotic systems for log measurement. Yamaha Motor has been investing in Robotics Plus to accelerate agricultural automation and strengthen its presence in the agtech sector.

The Yield is a company that uses advanced data analytics and AI to enhance both on-farm and off-farm operations, offering solutions such as yield prediction and optimizing critical decisions like harvest and spray timing. In 2021, Yamaha Motor entered into a joint development agreement with The Yield to advance smart agriculture. Their collaborative efforts have centered on combining data collection and utilization with robotics to drive innovations in smart farming.

Yamaha Agriculture will integrate robotic solutions with advanced data analytics to support growers of wine grapes, apples, and other specialty crops in North America, Australia, and New Zealand. These technologies aim to help producers reduce costs, optimize resources, and improve productivity and sustainability.

Yamaha Motor's Long-Term Vision for 2030, titled ART for Human Possibilities, aims to "Advance the use of Robotics, Rethink Solutions, and Transform Mobility." As part of this vision, Yamaha has identified agriculture as a key strategic business area and is strengthening its operations to make it a core future business, focusing on driving growth through demand creation. The acquisitions of two companies and the launch of a new one are essential steps toward realizing this goal.