Australia's $5 billion fruit and nut industry needs better in-row weed management. WeedBot Pro navigates between trees, targets weeds around trunks, and never damages roots or bark.
Weeding between trees is the most expensive, labour-intensive, and risky operation in orchard management.
Orchard weed management is fundamentally different from broadacre farming. In a wheat field, a boom sprayer covers the whole paddock in one pass. In an orchard, the critical weed zone is the strip directly under the tree canopy and around the trunk base—exactly where herbicides risk damaging bark, and where mechanical cultivators risk severing shallow feeder roots.
Fruit and nut trees are perennial investments. An almond tree takes 3-4 years to reach full bearing. A citrus tree lasts 20-30 years. Damage to the root system from aggressive weed control doesn't just hurt this season—it reduces yield potential for years to come.
Hand weeding is the safest option for the trees, but at $500 or more per hectare and with chronic labour shortages in regional horticulture, it's unsustainable at scale. Many growers resort to under-tree herbicide applications, accepting the trade-off of occasional phytotoxicity and bare soil for affordability.
WeedBot Pro offers a third path: robotic precision that matches hand-weeding care at a fraction of the labour cost.
WeedBot Pro is configured for the specific challenges of each tree crop.
Regions: Shepparton (VIC), Batlow (NSW), Huon Valley (TAS), Adelaide Hills (SA)
High-density trellis systems at 3.5m row spacing. WeedBot navigates between posts and wires, targeting weeds around trunk bases. Compatible with reflective mulch and bird netting infrastructure.
Regions: Riverland (SA), Mildura/Sunraysia (VIC), Gayndah (QLD), Griffith (NSW)
Wider row spacing (5-6m) gives WeedBot ample room. The challenge is under-canopy weeds competing for water in drip-irrigated systems. The robot targets the wetted zone around emitters where weed pressure is highest.
Regions: Murray Valley (VIC/SA), Riverina (NSW)
Australia's booming almond industry plants 350+ trees per hectare in uniform rows. WeedBot's GPS-guided navigation is ideal for the consistent geometry. Clean orchard floors are essential for mechanical harvest—weeds interfere with sweeper collection.
Regions: Northern Rivers (NSW), Bundaberg (QLD), Glass House Mountains (QLD)
Macadamias require clean ground for nut collection. Subtropical weeds grow aggressively. WeedBot provides year-round control in the high-rainfall conditions where herbicide wash-off is a constant concern.
Regions: Bundaberg (QLD), Atherton Tablelands (QLD), Pemberton (WA), Renmark (SA)
Avocados have extremely shallow root systems—80% of feeder roots are in the top 15cm. Any soil disturbance risks Phytophthora infection. WeedBot's zero-soil-contact method eliminates this risk while keeping the root zone weed-free.
Regions: Shepparton (VIC), Swan Hill (VIC), Renmark (SA), Stanthorpe (QLD)
Peaches, nectarines, cherries, and table grapes all require clean under-vine and under-tree management. WeedBot adapts to both trellis-trained vines and open-vase tree forms with configurable navigation profiles.
The hardest square metre to weed in any orchard is the one surrounding the trunk. WeedBot was built for exactly this.
Ultrasonic and LiDAR sensors detect trunk position, diameter, and any in-row obstacles (stakes, guards, drip emitters) in real time. The robot maintains a configurable clearance zone—typically 50mm from bark—to prevent any contact.
The weed removal head orbits around each trunk on a robotic arm, treating weeds in a 360-degree pattern. This reaches weeds that would require a worker to crouch and reach behind the tree—the most back-breaking part of hand weeding.
On its first pass, WeedBot creates a digital twin of the orchard: every tree position, every drip line, every post and wire. Subsequent passes reference this map for faster, more precise navigation. New obstacles are detected and added automatically.
Works alongside woodchip mulch, straw mulch, woven ground covers, and bare soil systems. The AI distinguishes weeds growing through mulch from the mulch itself, avoiding unnecessary surface disturbance.
Per-hectare economics across different orchard weed management approaches.
| Method | Cost/ha/Year | Tree Damage Risk | Labour Needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hand weeding (4 passes) | $2,000–$3,000 | Very low | 40–60 hrs/ha/yr |
| Under-tree herbicide spray | $300–$600 | Moderate (phytotoxicity) | 2–4 hrs/ha/yr |
| Mechanical under-tree cultivator | $400–$800 | High (root pruning) | 3–5 hrs/ha/yr |
| WeedBot Pro (autonomous) | $500–$900 | Zero | <1 hr/ha/yr (monitoring) |
"We were spending $2,400 per hectare on hand weeding and still getting phytophthora in our avocados from the one herbicide pass we couldn't avoid. The robot costs less than half that and we haven't had a phytophthora case in the weeded blocks since."
— Bundaberg avocado growerNo. WeedBot Pro uses above-ground weed removal only. Laser ablation and precision cutting operate at the soil surface without penetrating below ground. Proximity sensors maintain a safe clearance zone around each trunk. Shallow feeder roots, which are often within centimetres of the surface in orchard trees, are completely unaffected.
Yes. The LiDAR and camera system detects drip lines, micro-sprinklers, and in-line emitters. WeedBot maps irrigation infrastructure on its first pass and navigates around it on subsequent runs. It can also work around trunk guards, tree stakes, and other in-row obstacles common in young orchards.
WeedBot Pro requires a minimum inter-row clearance of 2.5 metres, which covers most commercial orchard plantings. High-density apple systems at 3.5m x 1.0m spacing, standard citrus at 6m x 3m, and almond plantations at 7m x 5m are all compatible. Very tight hedgerow systems under 2.5m may require the compact WeedBot variant.