[Previewing KIEMSTA] AI farm machinery to fill labor gaps gathered in one place… International Agricultural Machinery & Materials Fair opens Nov. 4

According to the Korea Agricultural Machinery Industry Cooperative, daily wages during the garlic harvest season in Changnyeong, South Gyeongsang Province, rise to as much as 180,000 won for men. Even after the harvest season ends, they do not fall much below the 120,000~130,000 won range. Nam Gyu-cheol, head of the cooperative’s Export and Exhibition Team, said, “Without foreign workers, it is difficult to find labor, and with basic labor costs at this level, farms also want products that can reduce labor and leave some work to machines,” adding, “That is why many companies are moving toward mechanization of upland farming and the integration of smart farms with AI.”

The ‘2026 Korea International Exhibition of Machinery, Equipment, Science and Technology for Agriculture (KIEMSTA)’ where this trend can be seen in one place will be held for four days from Nov. 4 to 7 at the East and West halls (36,230㎡) of EXCO in Daegu. The event is hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and organized by Daegu Metropolitan City, the Korea Agricultural Machinery Industry Cooperative, and The Farmers Newspaper. Launched in 1992 and held every two years, this year marks the 17th edition, and it is the third time Daegu has hosted the event, following 2022 and 2024.
 

Applications from 434 companies in 25 countries… Large pavilions by major companies and a joint greenhouse horticulture pavilion

According to the booth status compiled by the agricultural machinery cooperative (excluding booths operated by the cooperative), applicants number 433 companies from 24 countries. There are 345 domestic companies and 88 overseas companies, with 38 of the overseas companies participating through domestic distributors and 50 participating directly. The scale is similar to the 2024 event (429 companies from 25 countries, 335 domestic and 94 overseas companies). Companies participating in the export consultation sessions and the Future Agriculture Hall have not yet been tallied, so the final scale is expected to grow further. Participating countries include agricultural machinery powerhouses such as Italy, the Netherlands, Japan, Germany, and the United States, as well as India, the Dominican Republic, and Bangladesh.

Major companies such as Daedong, LS Tractor, TYM, and Asia Technology will set up large-scale exhibition halls. The Greenhouse Horticulture Council will form a joint pavilion with 34 companies. Team head Nam said, “We expect many companies to showcase technologies needed in the field and new technologies.” Since the hydrogen tractor by Chungnam National University professor Kim Yong-joo’s team, which was introduced in 2024, will return as a more advanced model, Nam explained that it will be worth examining how tractors have changed over the past two years and what kinds of technological demand exist.
 

Future Agriculture Hall expanded to 44 booths… Autonomous driving demonstrations from scouting to harvesting robots

The biggest change this year is the Future Agriculture Hall in the West Hall. It has expanded by 12 booths, from 32 booths in 2024 to 44 booths. At the previous event, products developed by companies conducting R&D projects for the Rural Development Administration were gathered and exhibited, but there were difficulties in collecting products from each company and dispatching staff to the site. This year, the agricultural machinery cooperative will recruit through an open call companies participating in R&D projects of the Rural Development Administration and the Korea Planning and Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology in Food, Agriculture and Forestry, as well as the Korea Agriculture Technology Promotion Agency’s data-based smart agriculture diffusion support project, and operate the hall mainly through demonstrations.

The exhibition follows the sequence of farm work. It begins with a solution that predicts production using satellites and autonomous scouting robots, then proceeds through autonomous sprayers for greenhouses and orchards, autonomous weeding robots, and autonomous transport vehicles, and continues to a smart greenhouse equipped with AI-based environmental controllers, nutrient solution suppliers, and harvesting robots.

Visitors can watch demonstrations of autonomous agricultural machinery and experience wireless control themselves, and they can also view actual work footage on LED displays. Seven companies have been confirmed: GINT (autonomous driving for SS orchard sprayers), AGMO (autonomous driving kits), Saefarm (satellite-based production prediction), SN Solutions (weeding robots), The IMC and DasTech (AI-based environmental control), and Beyond (robot harvester demonstrations).

Jeon Jae-taek, head of SN Solutions, which will showcase a weeding robot in the Future Agriculture Hall, explained, “The weeding robot we will present at this exhibition is the SN-800 autonomous model, which can operate even on slopes of up to 50 degrees in orchards and similar environments.” The 800mm-wide blade can be adjusted in height between 20 and 150mm, enabling precise work over large areas, and covers have been installed at the front and rear to prevent stones from flying during operation. The engine is a Vanguard engine from the United States. Jeon said, “We hope visitors, especially farmers, will focus on how our product operates differently from other weeding robots.”

Team head Nam explained, “Last time, we showed related technologies centered on the hydrogen tractor, but this time we will show not only open-field machines to which autonomous driving AI has been applied, such as tractors and weeding robots, but also greenhouse horticulture,” adding, “We plan to set up a greenhouse and present a smart farm greenhouse where harvesting robots and other equipment move on their own.” He added, “As with machines that automatically spray and harvest in a greenhouse once a person makes the settings, visitors will be able to see many machines with AI applied, going beyond the level of simply making them a little more convenient for people to use.”

At an open stage with about 40 seats, programs will include the Rural Development Administration’s introduction of the launch and operation of agricultural and forestry satellites and the national agricultural AX (AI transformation) platform, presentations by winners of the Smart Agriculture AI Competition, an NH NongHyup Bank investment attraction briefing session, and a special lecture on venture startups.

However, there is still a gap between technology and rural sites. Nam pointed out, “Electrification of SS sprayers is actively moving toward unmanned operation, and follower-type transport vehicles have also been developed, but for commercialization they need to be sold in the market, and that process is slow,” adding, “Advanced technology is convenient, but there is a disconnect with the field for reasons such as price.” He said, “The Future Agriculture Hall shows future technologies, but the center of the fair is agricultural machinery,” and added, “Please pay attention to products that raise convenience and added value by incorporating, one by one, technologies that resonate with the realities of rural communities.” 

West Hall for upland crops and fruit trees, East Hall for harvesting, processing and overseas pavilions

The exhibition halls are divided by item. The West Hall will house the Future Agriculture Hall, a joint pavilion for smart farm equipment and materials, intelligent mobility agricultural work equipment, precision agriculture rice transplanters and seeders, and machinery for fruit trees, cultivation and forestry. The East Hall will feature harvesting and agricultural product processing, advanced agricultural work solutions combining software and hardware, smart livestock farming, major components such as hydraulic equipment, engines and pumps, and overseas and national pavilions from Italy, the Netherlands, Taiwan, China and other countries. Equipment that needs demonstrations and is bulky, such as feed mixers and rice milling systems, will be displayed outdoors at the East and West halls. Team head Nam recommended comparing products and technologies from other countries as well, noting that many overseas companies will be concentrated in the East Hall.
 

Lounges increased to three and docent tour advance reservations offered for the first time

Visitor convenience has also been improved. In 2024, there were complaints that parts of the viewing route were forced and inconvenient, and with only one lounge there was not enough space to eat and drink, meet with companies or rest. This year, visitors can move freely, while routes have been designed with emergency evacuation in mind. Leading companies have been placed as “anchors,” with related companies arranged nearby so that visitors can look around in the order of the industry value chain. Lounges have been increased to two in the West Hall and one in the East Hall, and their size has also been expanded. Team head Nam said, “We have prepared rest areas (lounges) where customers can talk comfortably with one another or with companies, rest and spend more time looking around.” A wayfinding function that allows visitors to find desired companies on their mobile phones and a stamp tour offering gifts will also be operated.

The docent tour, in which visitors tour the exhibition halls with a professional guide, will be publicly operated with advance reservations for the first time this year. The West Hall course (about 40 minutes·540m) will guide visitors through the Future Agriculture Hall, major domestic comprehensive agricultural machinery, and upland crop and fruit tree machinery in the West Hall and the West Hall outdoor area, while the East Hall course (about 40 minutes·600m) will tour power and transport-related machinery and major exhibition booths in the East Hall and the East Hall outdoor area. After a trial operation on Nov. 4 (full course of about 90 minutes·30 people), from the 5th to the 7th it will operate in 12 time slots and 24 courses (up to 720 people). Foreigners can also participate. The docent tours, each lasting 40 minutes, will begin on the 5th and 6th at 9:30 a.m. and 10:40 a.m., and at 1:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.; on the 7th they will begin at 9:30 a.m. and 10:40 a.m.

Export consultations extended to two days… Foreign media invited for the first time, targeting Latin America

Side events have increased from 7 in 2024 to 11. New programs include invitations to overseas media outlets, job information sessions, a special lecture on venture startups, and export consulting. The export consultation session, previously held for one day, has been expanded to two days (4~5, organized by the Korea Rural Community Corporation), connecting 55 domestic agricultural machinery and materials companies with 20 overseas buyers and also signing B2B business agreements. For the first time, the agricultural machinery cooperative has invited media outlets from four countries—Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Türkiye, and Australia—providing airfare and accommodation support, and it is newly organizing a group of embassies in Korea, seeking attendance from around 10 countries.

Moves aimed at the Latin American market are also notable. The agricultural machinery cooperative participated with 10 domestic companies in the Feria Agropecuaria Nacional in the Dominican Republic last March to promote KIEMSTA, and this time the Dominican Republic’s minister of agriculture will personally visit Daegu. The Philippine Department of Agriculture will also visit, and on the 4th an invited briefing session by the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech) will be held.

Team head Nam said, “When we participated in overseas exhibitions, we promoted the fair through embassies, and the Dominican Ministry of Agriculture viewed it positively,” adding, “We hope that as buyers watch the machinery operate in person, export channels will open for domestic companies.”

Academic and educational events include the Korean Society for Agricultural Machinery’s International Academic Symposium on the 4th, the Rural Development Administration’s on-site technical training by agricultural machinery safety specialists (for 300 people) and the International Symposium on the Field Diffusion of Smart Agricultural Machinery Technology on the 5th, and the Agricultural Robot Competition and AI Competition, as well as a meeting of companies participating in the Korea Agriculture Technology Promotion Agency’s data-based smart agriculture diffusion support project, on the 6th.

Viewing hours, shuttle buses and parking information

Viewing hours are from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. from the 4th to the 6th (admission closes at 4 p.m.), and on the final day, the 7th, from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. (admission closes at 2 p.m.). Shuttle buses will run from the 4th to the 7th between Dongdaegu Station Exit 6 and EXCO at 25-minute intervals, and on the Sangyeok Riverside Parking Lot~Electronics Hall~EXCO route at 20-minute intervals. Sangyeok Riverside Parking Lot is free, and parking at the Electronics Hall is free for the first 2 hours (then 500 won per 30 minutes). The East and West Hall parking lots at EXCO cost 450 won per 10 minutes (maximum 12,000 won per day). Inquiries: Korea Agricultural Machinery Industry Cooperative Export and Exhibition Team (041-411-2133~7).
 

[Mini Interview] Nam Gyu-cheol, Head of the Export and Exhibition Team, Korea Agricultural Machinery Industry Cooperative

“Exhibitions are a composite art… If factories cannot maintain minimum operation, the industrial infrastructure collapses”

 -How does the agricultural machinery industry feel about the domestic market situation?
“Domestic tractor sales fell below 10,000 units to about 7,000 units last year. I thought we had to maintain 10,000 units. The market share of Japanese agricultural machinery is high, and Chinese products continue to come in. Since buying is cheaper than developing, profitability is deteriorating. If factories cannot maintain minimum operation, the industrial infrastructure collapses along with them. This is why we talk about overseas exports.”
 

-Are there any issues you want to address at the fair?
“There are concerns that Chinese products may be imported and displayed indiscriminately. At the seminar, we need to discuss how to protect domestic agricultural machinery, policy demand and realistic alternatives. We cannot block overseas products that come in according to demand, but in projects where public funds are invested, institutional mechanisms are needed to protect domestic products.”
 

-Why invite overseas embassies?
“The aim is for them to see our technology and, after returning to their countries, request agricultural machinery-related demand through our Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Few countries have achieved agricultural mechanization like we have. We want to share this experience. If ODA ends with only equipment being provided, even the failure of a small part cannot be handled. We need to go out as a package combining showrooms, assembly plants and after-sales service. Korean companies should operate it for a certain period, creating a virtuous cycle of sales and after-sales service, then transfer it to that country after passing on operating know-how.”
 

-How far has mechanization of upland farming come?
“Companies such as HADA Co., Ltd. and Bulls are taking the lead in accumulating data such as seeding amounts and yields, and data for entire fields is gradually being captured. R&D that the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has carried out focusing on representative crops such as garlic and onions has also begun to produce results.”
 

-What do you hope to achieve through this event?
“Exhibitions are a composite art. They are not only about displaying machines and promoting new products, but also a venue for public discussion of the industry as a whole. Large overseas fairs have many networking venues, but we are still weak in that area. I hope this will become an opportunity to create a virtuous cycle in which it is an event centered on visitors while business between companies also operates together, and for the agricultural machinery industry to strengthen its competitiveness without shrinking.”