Harvesting tech shows up down on the farm as Brexit labor shortage looms

Published: Feb. 3, 2020, 11:30 a.m.

As it turns out, there are jobs where a human touch is — or has been — irreplaceable, like fruit picking. Soft, delicate fruits must be assessed for ripeness and then gently plucked without smooshing. But in Britain, one looming effect of Brexit is a shortage of cheap human labor, which has spawned a new flurry of interest in robots that can do the job.