Key Takeaways
- GOFAR announced a strategic shift from an annual trade show model to a year-round ecosystem accelerator.
- The transition reflects increasing market maturity in agricultural robotics, with technologies now commercially deployed.
- The new strategy focuses on farmer adoption, commercial scaling, and startup growth.
- The GOFAR Tour 2026 will launch on February 5, 2026, in Toulouse.
- The initiative coincides with the 10th anniversary of FIRA, GOFAR’s flagship robotics event.
GOFAR Repositions to Accelerate Agricultural Robotics Adoption
After a decade of structuring the agricultural robotics landscape, GOFAR (Global Organization For Agricultural Robotics) has announced a major strategic shift. The organization will move beyond its role as an annual event organizer to become a year-round accelerator supporting the full agricultural robotics ecosystem.
The announcement was made during a press conference on Tuesday, where GOFAR unveiled the launch of the GOFAR Tour 2026, scheduled to begin on February 5, 2026, in Toulouse.
“The market has fundamentally changed over the past decade,” said Aymeric Barthes, President of GOFAR. “What were mere prototypes in 2016 are now commercially deployed in fields. Agricultural robotics has entered the age of maturity, and our role must evolve with it.”
Under the revised strategy, GOFAR aims to support ecosystem stakeholders continuously rather than concentrating activity around a single annual event.
Three Acceleration Priorities
GOFAR’s new positioning centers on accelerating adoption and growth across three core stakeholder groups. The organization plans to support farmers through field demonstrations and peer-to-peer feedback, help established companies scale commercial deployment by connecting them with distributors and end-users, and assist promising startups by facilitating access to markets and investors.
“We're aligning mature technologies with real field needs,” Barthes said. “Our role is to support both manufacturers in their commercial approach and farmers in their transition toward automation.”
GOFAR Tour 2026 Launches February 5 in Toulouse
The new strategy will take concrete form with the launch of the GOFAR Tour on February 5, 2026, at the Agrobiopôle site in Auzeville-Tolosane, near Toulouse. The inaugural event will also mark the 10th anniversary of FIRA, the international agricultural robotics forum founded by GOFAR.
The opening day will feature three parallel tracks focused on field crops and vegetables, arboriculture, and viticulture. A central feature of the program is that farmer-users themselves will present machines and share firsthand experience, including return on investment, operational benefits, and limitations.
Live field demonstrations and hands-on workshops will follow, with the day concluding in an anniversary celebration for FIRA.
Broad Industry Participation and Technical Lineup
The event will showcase a wide range of robotic equipment, including NH’s R4 robots, GUSS, Naïo’s Ted and Oz, KIOTI’s RT100, Sabi Agri’s SRBC, Agxeed’s AgBot, Pellenc’s RX-20, and the CYCLAIR robot, among others. The initiative is supported by partners such as FR CUMA Occitanie, Robagri, the Occitanie Chambers of Agriculture, and IRFEL.
Beyond the February launch, GOFAR plans to unveil additional tour stages and a service catalog that will be rolled out progressively throughout 2026, aimed at supporting long-term adoption and commercialization of agricultural robotics technologies across Europe and beyond.
