Harvesting specialty crops has long been labor-dependent, but increasing challenges around labor availability, cost, and reliability are pushing growers into an increasingly uncertain position. Across leafy greens, tree fruit, berries, and vegetables, harvest labor accounts for nearly two-thirds of total production costs. For growers operating on tight margins, this concentration of cost in a single production phase increases financial and operational risk. Labor availability fluctuates, regulatory pressure continues to evolve, and the pool of skilled workers willing to perform physically demanding harvest work keeps shrinking.
At the same time, agri-food technology companies face funding constraints. Venture capital investment in the sector has fallen by around 68% since 2022, reducing capital available for early-stage automation. The underlying issue is a structural mismatch. Specialty crops require tailored, field-specific solutions that can handle biological variability, short harvest windows, and complex growing environments. These requirements do not align well with traditional venture capital models that favor scale, uniformity, and rapid growth across markets.
This gap leaves growers with limited options. Many automation concepts fail to progress beyond early prototypes once funding becomes scarce, or they move away from agriculture altogether. As a result, growers are left without long-term partners or scalable tools, particularly for harvest operations. While progress is being made in non-harvest activities such as weeding, planting, thinning, spraying, and harvest assist, Western Growers estimates that only 2 to 3% of these activities are automated. Together, they represent about one-third of total farm labor hours. Harvesting accounts for the remaining two-thirds, where automation remains limited.
Western Growers is working to address this gap through a grower-focused approach. Two weeks ago, Rhishi Pethe and Ben Palone travelled to Yuma to begin outlining a new path for harvest automation, focused on iceberg lettuce. The visit included meetings with growers, farm workers, and agtech automation experts, with the aim of developing a Product Requirements Document for a harvest automation solution.
The pressure is already visible in labor costs. In California, around 10% of farm workers are H-2A workers from international locations, with total costs estimated at US$28 to US$30 per hour when housing, transport, and food are included. These costs continue to influence production decisions, with acreage increasingly shifting outside California. Export growth in countries such as Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Ecuador for crops including avocados, blueberries, and table grapes underlines this trend.
Since the Yuma visit, a first draft of the Product Requirements Document for iceberg lettuce harvest automation has been completed. The next phase will examine whether a grower-funded research and development model, without venture capital and based on open access, can support progress in harvest automation.
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Western Growers
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