The week of January 5 to 13, 2026, brought major news about how artificial intelligence and smart robots are changing farming all around the world. This wasn't just regular farm news—this was about real, working machines that can think for themselves and make decisions, which is called agentic AI.

The biggest event was the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas (United States), which happened from January 6 to 9. This is where companies show off their newest inventions. At this show, Kubota North America, a company that makes farm equipment, showed off an exciting autonomous tractor that can drive itself through fields without a person sitting in it. But they didn't stop there. They also revealed a special robot called KVPR that is like a shape-shifter—it can expand, shrink, and move in every direction to handle different types of farm work in different seasons. The robot even has a system that watches what it's doing in real-time and collects information about how it's working.

Another big equipment company, John Deere (United States), showed an autonomous harvester that people could try out using a computer game. When visitors tried to drive the harvester manually on the screen, they found it was really hard to get all the crops without missing spots. But when they switched to autonomous mode, meaning the machine drove itself, it worked perfectly and collected crops much more efficiently. The company shared amazing news: their autonomous harvester can pick crops 20 to 30 percent better than a person driving it by hand. This is important because it means the machine doesn't waste crops and wastes less time.

Padma AgRobotics, a smaller company in the United States, has been working on different farm robots to help with specific problems farmers face. The company started with a simple idea: a weed-pulling robot that could remove unwanted plants from crops. But farmers told the company about other problems they had, so the team started building more robots. One robot can now harvest and wrap cilantro, which is a plant many people use in cooking. Another project involves building a machine that can spray crops automatically without a person having to walk through the fields in the hot sun. One of the coolest ideas came from a farmer who needed someone to scare birds away all day long. The company created an AI scarecrow using a moving inflatable tube that walks up and down between crops, keeping birds away without getting tired. This AI scarecrow was developed over six months to make sure it was safe to use around farms.

Why is all this robot activity happening so fast? The answer is that farms around the world don't have enough workers. In the United States, the average farmer is now 58 years old, and young people often don't want to do farm work because it's hard, hot, and not always well-paid. Farm equipment companies are responding to this problem by building AI robots that can do the work without getting tired or complaining. These smart machines use cameras and sensors to see what they're doing, and they can make quick decisions about their work.

Beyond the farm equipment companies, scientists are also using artificial intelligence to help farmers think more carefully about their work. Researchers at NC State University in North Carolina (United States) are building an AI computer system called the REFRAME project that helps farmers and companies figure out creative uses for farm leftovers. When farmers harvest crops, sometimes parts of the plant are thrown away. This AI platform can quickly analyze whether these leftover plants could be turned into something useful, like fuel or other products, and where collection facilities should be built. This kind of AI thinking helps farmers make more money from crops they're already growing.

Not everyone is completely sure that AI farming is entirely good news. At a big farming conference in Oxford, England, farmers and experts had a debate about whether artificial intelligence would make farming easier or harder for people. Some experts said farming could become a one-day-a-week job because AI would do most of the work automatically, and they said that would be wonderful. Other farmers and experts worried that removing people from farming could be dangerous—they said farmers have special knowledge that AI robots can never copy, and they worried that AI farming might lead to unhealthy food choices.

Overall, the week showed that artificial intelligence and intelligent robots are becoming important partners in modern agriculture. From autonomous tractors that drive themselves to AI scarecrows that never get tired, these new technologies are helping solve real problems on farms. As AI gets smarter and better at making decisions on its own, we can expect to see even more smart farm machines helping farmers grow food for the world.