A high-throughput phenotyping tool enables the study of rice traits during the growth period and after harvest. Yang et al. combined imaging techniques with a yield traits scorer to automatically screen for 15 agronomic traits, including two newly defined traits — plant compactness and grain-projected area — that cannot be identified by manual measurement. Together with genome-wide association studies, this tool has the potential to dissect the genetic architecture of complex traits, thus providing insights into crop breeding.