Two years of work. More than 400 companies. Fifteen different task segments. And an agricultural robotics industry that continues to change rapidly.

Last week, I was fortunate to participate in a panel discussion hosted by Sarah Masterson with the California AgTech Alliance focused on the 2026 Crop Robotics Landscape, developed by Chris Taylor and Michael Rose of The Mixing Bowl and Better Food Ventures.

For those of us working directly with growers and agricultural technology companies, this landscape is much more than a collection of logos. I use it regularly and discuss many of the companies represented on it with growers weekly, if not multiple times a week. It has become an incredibly valuable resource for understanding where technology development is occurring, where investment is flowing and where gaps remain.

The numbers behind the 2026 landscape illustrate just how dynamic the sector is.

More than 400 companies are represented across 15 task segments, and collectively, companies on the landscape have raised more than $600 million over the last two years. The number of companies represented is up nearly 25% compared to 2024.

But growth does not tell the entire story.

Approximately 20% of the companies included in the 2024 landscape are gone, while 36% of those represented in 2026 are new entrants. That turnover reinforces something growers and those of us working in agricultural innovation see regularly: developing promising technology is one challenge. Building a durable company, proving the technology commercially and creating enough value to drive grower adoption is another.

The geographic distribution is also notable. Approximately half of the companies represented are based in Europe. The United States accounts for 18%, and more than 40% of those U.S. companies are based in California.

During the webinar, I joined Danny Bernstein from RESERVOIR and Sebastian Sanchez from LWDA to discuss what these trends mean on the ground. We covered current adoption trends, what growers still need, how technologies move from promising demonstrations to dependable commercial tools and how our organizations can work together to prepare agriculture’s workforce for increased automation.

For Western Growers Innovation, that last piece is important. Our role is to help growers understand emerging technologies, connect them with credible companies, create opportunities for real-world validation and provide information that helps support better on-farm decisions.

There is also an important legacy behind this work.

Our friend and the late Rob Trice, founder of The Mixing Bowl, was passionate about bringing people together to accelerate innovation across food and agriculture. His passion for collaboration and building a stronger agricultural technology ecosystem lives on through the Crop Robotics Landscape and the people continuing this important work.

Thank you to Sarah, Chris, Michael, Danny and Sebastian for the discussion, and to everyone who joined us, including Jason Giannelli. Go Bulldogs.

Link to the landscape here.