With the development of technology, the use of robots in agriculture is becoming increasingly specialized, and the future of agriculture is set to feature ever-increasing automation. With labor shortages and rising costs severely affecting the productivity of agricultural operations, farmers are increasingly adopting agricultural robots to meet demand, avoid waste, and keep supermarket shelves stocked with fresh produce. Agricultural robots range from simple picking and packing robots to high-tech machines that can be programmed to monitor crops and perform complex farming tasks.
- What are agricultural robots?
Agricultural robots are automated machines or robotic systems that have the ability to perform tasks on farms or in agricultural environments. They vary in design and can be programmed to perform specific tasks or, increasingly, designed to respond and interact with the unique environment around them.
- What robots are used in agriculture?
There is a wide range of different robots commonly used in agriculture. 
The most common robots are designed for harvesting, often aimed at picking fruit or vegetables from fields or greenhouses, or designed to pack produce in warehouses. Other exciting technologies include the use of drones, which can be used to provide surveillance and can be programmed to seed large tracts of farmland from the air. The most common types of agricultural robots in use today include:
- Harvesting robots
- Implanting robots
- Picking and packing robots
- Palletizing robots
- Fumigation robots
- Monitor and control bots
- Cattle robots
- How are robots used in agriculture?
Agricultural robots have a large number of uses on farms. It is especially popular on large industrial farms where they can maintain large tracts of farmland or process industrial quantities of crops. The range of tasks for which agricultural robots can be used is astounding. With the development of technology and programming, the number of these tasks only increases. 
Robots are commonly used to harvest crops, plant seeds and provide irrigation, for example. Any task that requires manual and repetitive labor can be completed by an agricultural robot, while robots also complete specialized and increasingly complex tasks. Robots are commonly used in harvesting fruits and vegetables, but they are also used in livestock farms to mow sheep or milk cows. Examples of agricultural work currently being carried out by robots include:
- Grow crops
Industrial-sized farms contain hundreds, sometimes thousands of acres of fields for planting throughout the year, a time-consuming and repetitive task. Crops are often grown by machinery, although this often requires a driver to operate and supervise the process. Automation is changing this, and robots and self-driving tractors now offer farmers a way to sow seeds quickly, efficiently and accurately, with little to no human intervention required.
- Harvest crops
Crop harvesting is the main function of agricultural robots currently used on farms. Crop harvest has traditionally relied on a large workforce and is often seasonal. 
Although it requires exceptional levels of skill and experience, it is still a low-paying, arduous and undesirable job, and farmers struggle to fill roles when they need crops, especially at short notice. This is where automation is very important because agricultural robots have the ability to ensure that crops do not rot in the fields and that farmers can select products when needed.
- Packaging Products
Traditionally, human workers are required to process and pack fruits and vegetables once they have been harvested from the fields. This is another repetitive farming task, but it is an essential step in transporting food from the farm to the supermarkets. It is also a task that requires an incredible amount of skill and experience, and also, depending on the fruit or vegetable, dexterity. The function of the stacker varies from one type of product to another. For example, potatoes can be sorted into burlap bags, while strawberries need to be placed in individual baskets. 
Parts of this process may already be automated through the use of conveyor belts, where robotic arms can also be used to perform picking and packing tasks.
- Products on pallets
Once the product has been picked and packed, it often needs to be moved to pallets before it can be shipped to its next destination. This is a job that can be done with a forklift and a trained forklift operator. However, it is also a task that can be easily automated using specialized palletizing robots or adapted robotic arms. In this sense, automation ensures that the palletizing process is carried out quickly and efficiently, which means that more products can be prepared for shipment in a shorter period of time. This prevents any waste once the product is excavated. Importantly, automated pallets also help create safer working environments on farms and can reduce injuries from workplace accidents or repetitive stress. 
- Crop maintenance
Robotic arms are incredibly versatile and can be programmed to perform a wide range of maintenance tasks as well as picking and packing. This includes pruning plants to ensure fruit growth and removing weeds from farmland. Other agricultural robots are designed to spray pesticides or spray water and nutrients and provide irrigation. Agricultural robots are also used to monitor soil pH or nutrient levels and to monitor crops and farms in general.
- Livestock applications
Agricultural robots can be used on livestock farms as well as crop farms. In the same way, they are commonly used to perform repetitive tasks and to improve safety and efficiency. Examples of livestock applications include using automation to milk cows, spread forage, or monitor large areas of farmland where animals are located.