Meet GUSS – an electric, autonomous sprayer from John Deere

Building on the success of the autonomous GUSS sprayer launched in 2023, this fully electric and autonomous sprayer co-developed with John Deere allows growers to manage multiple sprayers remotely.

The new Electric GUSS made its debut last week at the 2024 World Ag Expo in Tulare, California, where executives from Deere called it, “the world’s first and only fully electric autonomous herbicide orchard sprayer.”

GUSS’ new electric sprayer also features the new Smart Apply weed detection system that measures chlorophyll in the various plants it encounters, identifying weeds among the crops and and only sprays where weeds are detected. The sprayer’s makers claim their weed detection technology significantly cuts back in the number of chemicals being sprayed onto the crops – resulting in “up to 90% savings” in sprayed material (depending on weed pressure, natch).

That material savings leads to reduced material drift, increased sustainability, and contributes to enhanced employee safety. Combined with energy efficient electric drive, the Electric GUSS also helps farmers cut their fuel and maintenance costs, leading to quieter, more profitable farming.

“This launch with GUSS Automation reaffirms our commitment to helping high-value crop growers meet their needs through innovative solutions like electrification and autonomy,” said Sean Sundberg, John Deere business integration manager. “The all-new electric GUSS will provide farmers with reliable and powerful performance, with added benefits to help increase productivity and profitability.”

The Electric GUSS utilizes John Deere KREISEL batteries that enable to run and spray for a full day’s shift when fully charged. The sprayer uses a combination of GPS, LiDAR, and proprietary remote control technology to ensure accurate coverage, and enabling a single operator to control and monitor up to eight Electric GUSS from behind a single laptop computer or tablet, reducing the opportunity and liability of operator exposure.

“It’s the best of both worlds,” said Greg Christensen, John Deere go-to-market manager. “The labor optimization benefits of GUSS, now combined with the input optimization benefits of Smart Apply, will be available both as a factory installed option and as a Precision Upgrade for existing Orchard and mini GUSS machines.”

Electric GUSS will be available for ordering at select John Deere dealers across North America later this year.

Electrek’s Take

Population growth, while slowing, is still very much a thing – and fewer and fewer people seem to be willing to do the work of growing the food that more and more people need to eat and live. This autonomous tech multiplies the efforts of the farmers that do show up for work every day, and the fact that it’s more sustainable from both a fuel perspective and a chemical perspective makes the Electric GUSS a winner.