John Deere Enters Joint Venture with Autonomous Sprayer Company
On the heels of announcing a joint venture with SureFire Ag Systems, John Deere announces a joint venture with GUSS Autonomation.
GUSS is based in Kingsburg, California and has engineered a semi-autonomous orchard and vineyard sprayer. With its system, multiple GUSS sprayers can be supervised by a single operator. The software developed by GUSS provides for application rate control, sprayer speed, and terrain compensation.
“As demand for high-value crops grows, we see significant opportunities to help growers be more productive while addressing the challenges of increasing labor costs and finding skilled labor to operate equipment,” Chris Davison, Director, Small Tractor & HVC Production Systems, at John Deere said in the company’s announcement. “The GUSS team has a deep understanding of the high-value crop production system, as well as strong relationships with customers and a proven track record of deploying innovative technology.”
Through the joint venture, John Deere will provide sales and distribution through its channel and GUSS will lead product development.
According to the companies, the key benefits to the GUSS system is quicker spraying operations, consistent application, and lower labor requirements.
GUSS was founded four years ago in 2018 and has 35 full-time employees. 
