Green Light for John Deere’s Full Acquisition of GUSS Automation

John Deere has announced the full acquisition of GUSS Automation, LLC, a leader in supervised high-value crop autonomy, headquartered in Kingsburg, CA. The acquisition builds on an existing joint venture established in 2022 and advances John Deere’s commitment to helping high-value crop growers address their biggest challenges around labor availability, input costs, and crop protection.

Founded by Dave Crinklaw in 2018, GUSS manufactures autonomous sprayers that can be remotely supervised by a single operator who can manage up to eight machines at once. Using GPS, LiDAR and proprietary software, GUSS machines navigate vineyards and orchards with precision to help reduce operator error, labor costs and material waste. To date, more than 250 GUSS machines have been deployed globally, accounting for 2.6 million acres sprayed over 500,000 autonomous hours.

“Fully integrating GUSS into the John Deere portfolio is a continuation of our dedication to serving high-value crop customers with advanced, scalable technologies to help them do more with less,” says Julien Le Vely, Director, Production Systems, High Value & Small Acre Crops, at John Deere. “GUSS brings a proven solution to a fast-growing segment of agriculture, and its team has a deep understanding of customer needs in orchards and vineyards. We’re excited to have them fully part of the John Deere team.”

GUSS sprayers will continue to be sold and serviced exclusively through John Deere dealers, as they are today. The business will retain its name, brand, employees, and manufacturing facility in Kingsburg.

For more information, visit deere.com.