FarmWise, an artificial intelligence and computer vision weeding technology company in the robotic precision weeding technology space is restructuring its business, CEO Tjarko Leifer told The Packer on March 14. The Salinas, Calif.-based company, which employs a staff of 50, is best known for its Vulcan next-generation, intra-row weeder and precision cultivator that launched in 2023.
“The need for solutions like Vulcan has grown as growers face mounting pressure from labor shortages, rising input costs and operational complexities, said Leifer. “The technology has proven its ability to deliver meaningful efficiency gains and cost savings in the field. But even with growing demand and a product that works, achieving sustainable, profitable growth remains a significant challenge in today’s market.”
Vulcan is really a three-in-one implement that does precision weeding, cultivation and thinning, says Leifer.
On the specialty crop side, the company’s Vulcan technology is employed primarily by growers of lettuce and brassicas in the coastal California and Arizona vegetable crop markets. More recently, FarmWise entered the processing tomato market in California’s Central Valley, a new segment that Leifer says is nearly as big as the leafy green and brassicas market on an acreage basis.
Leifer points to one customer — a 10,000-acre vegetable grower with farms in Yuma, Ariz. and Salinas — who saw significant savings and a reduction in labor costs.
“Implementing the FarmWise Vulcan has transformed how we approach weeding on our operation,” the vegetable grower said. “Over just one season, we reduced weeding costs by nearly $550,000 and eliminated the need for cultivator passes on 64% of the acres covered. The AI-powered technology has allowed us to scale operations more efficiently, reduce labor costs, and improve precision in ways that traditional methods couldn’t match. This technology has set the foundation for even greater growth and profitability in the future.”
The grower also reported its per-acre weeding costs dropped 38% in romaine and 15% in broccoli. Additionally, 64% of its acreage no longer needed cultivator passes, cutting fuel use and field wear. And machines achieved up to 100 acres weeded per week, with 1-3 acres per hour efficiency and no compromise on weed removal quality.
With such notable results, why was FarmWise unable to scale?
“The short version is that we haven’t — with the resources that we’ve been able to raise — been able to reach profitability,” said Leifer. “And that’s such a critical threshold to get to for any business.
“We’ve had some great milestones we’ve achieved in terms of a product that really works for farmers, that drives a return on investment, that has a payback period of less than two years, and that’s deployed commercially and reliable day-in and day-out,” he continued.
But the company has also faced challenges.
FarmWise says the time horizons have been challenging for the company, because while it sees demand for the technology, it needs a longer runway to prove itself and drive adoption.
Leifer says broader macroeconomic headwinds have also impacted ag equipment investment overall — from rising interest rates and policy uncertainty to challenges around labor and immigration.
“Agriculture is a business that rightfully values caution and real-world proof,” Leifer said. “Growers want to see new technology work on the ground before fully adopting it — and we respect that approach.” Next-gen tech isn’t alone in feeling these headwinds.
The CEO also said these headwinds aren’t unique to startups. Large equipment manufacturers have seen sales drop 30% to 50%, making it a particularly tough moment for capital-intensive innovations, he said.
“If you’re a 120-year-old company, it’s a cyclical downturn,” he said. “If you’re a startup, it’s a much steeper hill to climb with limited resources.”
Agtech is in need of fellow visionaries to succeed, and Leifer sees this as a moment for the industry to rally around innovation, while recognizing the path from early adoption to scale is never linear.
“Building a great product is only half the challenge,” he said. “The next chapter is building the distribution and support infrastructure to bring it to scale. That’s where partnerships become critical.”
Labor considerations
While agriculture, like many industries, is in a labor crisis, in some cases it’s been slow to adopt technology that would alleviate that challenge.
“Labor cost inflation, especially coming out of COVID, and also changes in laws around how ag overtime is treated in California, are pressing issues, but with the new administration’s approach to labor and immigration, people really don’t know if labor will become plentiful or if it’s going to be much harder to hire people,” said Leifer. “So, there’s a lot of things changing right now, and a bit of a wait-and-see attitude.
“It’s an existential question for many segments of farming, in particular vegetable farming segments where there’s a lot of labor costs per acre,” Leifer continued. “Those costs are going up. It’s getting harder to find people, and farmers are very interested in technology and solutions that help them address that.”
Leifer says even if growers aren’t looking to reduce labor, they’re still looking for solutions that allow them to farm on a larger scale with the skilled labor they already have.
“How can you upskill the needs you have so you can do more with the good people you have? It’s how do we keep agriculture profitable and healthy in the United States and competitive? We need to find ways to be more productive,” said Leifer.
With AI and computer vision robotics, there are efficiencies that can be delivered today that couldn’t before, he said.
Robotics addresses inputs
In addition to the labor side of the story, there’s also the chemical side.
“There’s a lot of talk about some of the herbicides that are used in broccoli being removed from the market,” said Leifer. “And as you broaden out to row crops, there’s the whole herbicide-resistance story in a lot of those cropping systems, which ultimately mean farmers are going to need new technologies. We’ve always thought that AI and robotics can play a really important role there.”
Robotic machinery allows growers to see and understand the crop in the field, differentiate between the crop and weeds, and then control in real time how the machine is behaving as it goes through the field. As such, robotics also offers the potential to reduce the use of chemistry, drive crop fertility and automate tasks that are still done manually, says Leifer.
“There’s natural herbicide resistance that’s gaining and farmers are going to need new solutions in a broad range of cropping systems,” he said. “The market is working on providing innovations for them and we believe one of those — a big one — has to do with robotics and agriculture.”
The road to adoption
FarmWise says its flagship three-bed, 80-inch unit had an MSRP of $645,000. The annual service and support package is an additional $45,000. Leifer says the savings driven by the unit pays for itself in under two years.
“It’s a very attractive proposition,” said Leifer. “If the machine works and it saves people money, people should be ripping this out of your hands and off the lot to put into their fields.”
But employing AI-driven tech is not as simple as flipping a switch or screwing in a light bulb.
“It takes someone who believes in it and sees their success in the organization tied to the success of making the program work,” he said. “It takes an ownership group that wants to empower somebody like that. So, there ends up being a lot of nuances to how an organization can successfully adopt technology.”
What’s next for FarmWise?
While the current FarmWise team is preparing to wind down operations by April 1, the company says it is actively pursuing strategic opportunities — including acquisition, partnership and technology transfer — to ensure the Vulcan platform continues to thrive.
“We’re proud to have proven that advanced robotics can deliver real value in one of the most complex environments — agriculture,” Leifer said. “This is just the start of what’s possible with this kind of technology.
“We’re in active discussions with potential partners and investors,” he added. “There’s a path forward here, and I’m hopeful the technology we’ve built will continue to scale and serve more growers in the future.”
FarmWise says it remains committed to supporting its current customers and ensuring continuity during the transition period — including access to service and spare parts.
“We know growers depend on this technology, and we’re doing everything we can to provide stability and a strong handoff,” Leifer said.
