Kubota made waves at CES 2026 in Las Vegas this week by announcing something specialty crop farmers have been waiting for: a commercially available autonomous tractor. Its M5 Narrow tractor, equipped with a smart autonomous system developed with partner Agtonomy, brings self-driving farm equipment from concept to reality for vineyard and orchard operations.
- Kubota announced the commercialization of an autonomous solution built into its 105.7 horsepower diesel M5 Narrow tractor platform at CES 2026.
- Treasury Wine Estates has already deployed the M5 Narrow tractor for mowing and under-vine cultivation, reporting that autonomous operation reduced rework and improved efficiency.
- This autonomous solution features advanced sensing and artificial intelligence specifically designed for the specialty crop market.
Real-World Testing in California Vineyards
This announcement comes with actual field experience backing it up. Treasury Wine Estates has been working with autonomy for several years, operating four units from Kubota this year in the North Napa Valley. Marc Di Pietra, regional service maintenance manager for Treasury Wine Estates, shared their hands-on experience at the CES event.
Treasury uses autonomous tractors mostly for under-vine work, including mowing, under-vine cultivation, moving fruit bins during harvest, and autonomous spraying. Di Pietra explained that autonomous spraying coverage increased by five times over the last two years.
But it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. Vineyards and orchards weren’t built with automation or autonomy in mind, creating challenges with headland spacing, row spacing and obstacles. Anyone looking to invest in autonomous farming equipment through their Kubota dealer should consider these infrastructure requirements before making the jump.
Physical AI Changes the Game
Brett McMickell, chief technology officer for Kubota North America, called physical AI a key inflection point for the industry, noting that decision-making, obstacle detection and voice recognition capabilities mean AI insights will now inform tasking, labor assignments, and efficiency improvements.
Kubota fully integrated the autonomous system into its 105.7-horsepower M5 Narrow diesel tractor. Advanced sensing and artificial intelligence work together to support efficient field operations. This technology gives farmers better data about what’s happening in their fields and how to use their time more effectively.
Di Pietra put it this way: “Now I need that data. So, not only what the operator can use, but data the vineyard manager can use. How do we use finance with this data? How do we build financial plans to be more accurate and more concise?”
The ‘Transformer’ Robot Makes Its Debut
Kubota didn’t stop with the autonomous tractor alone. It also introduced a concept versatile platform “transformer” robot (KVPR) that expands, contracts and moves along every axis to perform a wide variety of tasks with various mounted tools such as scoops and forks. KVPR connects and disconnects from its tool set autonomously.
This autonomous robot features adjustable height and width with interchangeable attachments for diverse applications such as farming and civil engineering. Daily presentation shows highlighted KVPR’s unique features, including automatic attachment changes, body transformation, turning, and lateral and diagonal movement.
What This Means for Specialty Crop Growers
Early applications include work in vineyards, orchards and mowing. M5 Narrow was already designed to navigate tight rows and restricted spaces where specialty crops grow, making it a natural fit for autonomous operation.
Labor shortages remain a persistent problem in agriculture. When asked if autonomy helps solve labor issues, Di Pietra gave a realistic answer: “It helps. But the labor problem is much bigger than autonomy. We can’t find enough people. That’s always the challenge. Always will be.”
Autonomous tractors free up skilled workers to focus on tasks that require human judgment and experience. M5 Narrow handles routine passes with autonomy and sensing across every row and block, which reduces rework, increases efficiency, and gives teams more time to focus on what matters most.
At the heart of Kubota’s vision sits a mission to solve pressing global challenges such as skilled labor shortages, an aging farming population, and the need to feed a growing world. Commercializing this autonomous tractor represents a practical step toward addressing those challenges with equipment farmers can actually buy and use today.
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