Remote Data Collection

Google’s Parent Company Alphabet Disperses Its Ag Tech Subsidiary

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 15:35:00 GMT

Announced earlier today, Mineral, Alphabet’s ag company, will wind down its operations.

“Mineral will no longer be an Alphabet company, and our technology will live on inside of leading agribusinesses where they can have maximum impact,” said Mineral CEO Elliott Grant in a blog post.

Mineral was founded in 2018 as part of X, the moonshot factory of Alphabet, and it had about 100 team members.

What did Mineral develop and build:

• an image database of more than 17 crops in every stage of growth in multiple environments.

• A four-wheeled semi-autonomous rover platform with multiple configurations and the core functionality as a data collection machine.

• in-field harvest analysis and post-harvest crop condition ratings for berry crops in partnership with Driscoll’s

• a geospatial analysis platform that has collected more than 450 million acres of farmland.

• Phenotyping databases and analysis

• And additional machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies.

Here’s a link to previous coverage about Mineral.

Driscoll’s has confirmed it will license the tech it partnered with Mineral to develop.

“Mineral had partnered closely with Driscoll’s - the world’s leading berry company - to develop AI tools to improve crop phenotyping, better forecast yields, optimize quality inspections, and reduce food waste in the supply chain. Some of the technologies we developed have now been transferred to Driscoll’s and will be integrated into their systems to help achieve their sustainability ambitions. Driscoll’s is the first agribusiness to receive Mineral technology, and is a first step towards ensuring that our breakthrough technologies achieve the greatest impact,” Grant said.

In closing he gave an analogy of the company’s name to the how it can be applied as a verb in the agricultural context:

“In soil science, mineralization is the process by which the nutrients in organic matter are released in a form that makes them available to the plants around them. I think this is a fitting metaphor for the new chapter of Mineral - as our technologies will be mobilized into the agriculture ecosystem, with the goal of making it more sustainable, and more resilient.”

3 hi-tech tools that are helping solve perplexing labor puzzles

Wed, 22 Feb 2023 18:55:12 GMT

While automation and artificial intelligence have taken many industries by storm in recent months, labor for the vast majority of specialty crop agriculture is still accomplished by human hands. Ask any farmer with dirt under their nails and they’ll confirm that growing food is exhausting, labor-intensive work.

Farm tasks such as planning the season, seeding, transplanting, cultivating, harvesting and transporting fresh produce — not to mention problem-solving challenges that come along the way — is over and above a full-time job for a farm manager. Completing these tasks efficiently and ensuring profit margins can perplex even the savviest entrepreneur.

Often, the most expensive investments a grower will make on their farm operation are in people, not fancy toys and tools. And while agtech has yet to crack the code on the produce industry equivalent of ChatGPT, several clever businesses are piloting new technologies that help growers hone labor efficiencies, improve clunky workflows, eliminate redundancies and level up communication across the supply chain.

Saving time by communicating in the cloud

The logistics of farming over many acres can create inherent communication hurdles. Jotting down notes with pen and paper, while helpful, doesn’t provide timely updates for your fellow farmer located 10 acres due west. While phones and walkie-talkies can be handy in a pinch to deliver need-to-know details, nothing compares to an app that is available and synced with up-to-date information sitting in the back pocket of everyone on the team, updating in real time.

What’s more, GPS tracking embedded into communication apps can share time-sensitive information that is site-specific, empowering farmers in the office and the field alike to make informed decisions about what’s happening and where it’s at in a moment’s notice.

Farm management software AgSquared is one of the farmer-focused apps helping growers track farm operations and labor in the cloud.

Not only does the app keep up with farmworker hours, breaks and location, but AgSquared can also track inputs like pesticides and fertilizers, mapping location and logging application times. The app can also analyze farm operations from a bird’s-eye view and calculate costs, said Kevin Hannigan, vice president of sales for AgSquared.

“The field guy just needs to click a few buttons and you can track costs fairly accurately and send notifications to the entire team,” Hannigan added.

The software is sold as an all-in-one farm management software subscription package that empowers more transparent, productive and profitable farms.

After the fresh produce has left the farm gate, the communication shifts from the harvest crew to the logistics and farm operation team.

Tive , a tech company that specializes in tracking produce shipments, offers produce-tracking software products like the Tive Tag and Tive Solo 5G tractors that give visibility into shipments as they are happening and sends alerts if there’s an issue.

“At Tive, we believe that the biggest challenge facing producers and retailers is visibility — because you can’t fix what you can’t see. When you can track your perishable shipments in real-time, you can see where they are and what condition they’re in, and you can take immediate action to reduce spoilage, minimize waste and improve customer satisfaction,” said Lauren Seigel, senior marketing programs manager for Tive. “With never-ending supply chain disruptions, visibility is the key to success.”

Another tech company catering to produce shipping and logistics, Procurant recently partnered with Uber Freight to digitize truck brokering, offering a software product called Procurant Ship. What was once smoke and mirrors, through a collaboration with Uber Freight, now grower-shippers can get a quick view of transparent cost profiles and real-time shipping via a digital dashboard.

Procurant Ship allows grower-shippers to see Uber Freight’s transportation rates and to secure load shipments, all while responding to an active purchase order.

“This partnership is a game-changer for grocery retailers and their produce suppliers, and it will bring much-needed relief to an industry struggling with rising transportation costs and truck availability. With this partnership, we move one step closer to a more cost-effective and streamlined fresh food supply chain,” said Procurant CEO Eric Peters.

A robotic technology that zeros in on automated solutions

Once the farm has dialed in communication, robotics technologies like automated harvesters, timed fertilization and irrigation, and drone monitoring can significantly reduce the amount of time spent inspecting, monitoring and cultivating crops.

Carbon Robotics , an AI-powered robotics agriculture tool company, just released a fully automated laser that can precisely target weeds. The tool, coined LazerWeeder, targets thinning and weeding for over 40 varieties of crops, according to a news release.

“LaserThinning is a breakthrough approach and delivers benefits that are an order of magnitude better than existing solutions,” Matt McGuire, general manager at JV Farms, said in the release. “This technology is revolutionizing how we handle weeding and thinning, bringing dependability, speed and accuracy to our farming practices.”

Juan Calderon, director of farming operations at Duncan Family Farms, agreed that the machine creates on-farm efficiencies.

“The LaserWeeder is a consistent solution that enables us to effectively manage weeds so we can put our focus, labor and resources toward other important operational tasks,” said Calderon.

This technology, helpful for direct-seeded crops, like leafy greens, and cole crops such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collards, kale and kohlrabi, can reduce dependency on hand labor or herbicides.

“With our pace of innovation, we offer a software extensible tool that addresses farming’s most pressing challenge — weeding — and expands to tackle other problems such as thinning,” Paul Mikesell, CEO and founder of Carbon Robotics, said in the release. “The LaserWeeder enables farmers to accurately execute crop thinning and weeding without disturbing crops or soil, helping to improve crop yields and soil health.”

Revol Greens adds artificial intelligence technology to lettuce greenhouses

Thu, 01 Dec 2022 17:31:35 GMT

Austin, Texas-based greenhouse lettuce grower Revol Greens is working with Dutch growing specialist Blue Radix to add artificial intelligence technology to all Revol’s U.S.-based greenhouses, including climate control, irrigation and energy management services.

“We are excited to use Blue Radix’s artificial intelligence tools to support our growers and optimize energy and climate control throughout our expanding network of greenhouse facilities” Mohammed Oufattole, Revol Greens chief technology officer, said in a news release. “With Blue Radix’s Crop Controller, we are continuously collecting and processing live data and using it for decision automation in ways far more efficient than humanly possible, giving growers the tools they need to maximize crop productivity while controlling energy costs.”

Revol Greens anticipates that adding artificial intelligence technology will help increase crop yield and reduce energy costs, ultimately furthering the company mission to grow lettuce and greens in a more sustainable way that is better for people and the planet.

Revol Greens and Blue Radix first started working together in April 2022, according to the release. The partnership will allow Revol Greens to control production more precisely across multiple farm locations in Minnesota, California, Georgia and Texas.

Related news: Revol Greens to double romaine production with new 20-acre Texas greenhouse

“We are very proud to be working with Revol Greens, one of the most forward-thinking lettuce companies in the US,” Ronald Hoek, CEO of Blue Radix, said in the release. “We’re excited to see our Crop Controller algorithms in action to help them get the most out of each greenhouse and continue to scale their local greenhouses across the US.”

“Lettuce and greens are more complex to grow indoors than most appreciate, especially when operating in different geographies where each variety may require unique settings depending on the local outside weather conditions,” Oufattole said in the release. “Using Crop Controller we’re able to automate the climate decisions according to each lettuce variety and based on the facility’s local climate profile, allowing our expert growers to make production forecasts with more precision and deliver high quality, more consistent crops.”

Blue Radix’s advanced AI technology will calculate the optimal greenhouse climate every five minutes using plant and climate sensors based on historical data and multiday weather forecasts, giving Revol Greens more control over temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide and required light levels in all its greenhouses, according to the release.

“By partnering with Blue Radix to adopt autonomous growing we predict the ability to significantly increase our production output while keeping our energy use and costs down,” Revol Greens CEO Michael Wainscott said in the release. “Revol Green’s ultimate goal is to make safe, sustainably grown greens accessible to all consumers. One of the ways we’ll achieve this is by adopting the most advanced greenhouse technology and growing methods in the industry.”

Blue Radix’s technology is currently employed in Revol Greens’ facility in Owatonna, Minn., and is on track for roll out in Tehachapi, Calif., Athens, Ga. and in its new facility in Temple, Texas.

AI-based apple grading technology wins big with Northwest apple grower

Fri, 13 Jan 2023 19:35:50 GMT

Sometimes all it takes is fresh eyes to see clearly what has been in front of you all along.

In mid-December, Yakima, Wash.-based grower Apple King updated the Ellips apple grader used to categorize its fruit to a new Ellips “deep learning” sorting model called TrueAI. According to Kyle Mills, Apple King’s operations manager, his team has already seen outstanding results.

“We have always felt that our Ellips grading technology provided us with a competitive advantage based on its overall performance, including the ability to accurately detect both external and internal defects,” Mills said in a news release. “With the TrueAI upgrade, we have significantly enhanced our grading capabilities. We are now able to detect even the most difficult defects, such as stem bowl cracks, at a very high level of accuracy with minimal false positives. During the first three days of operation, we ran Honeycrisps and galas, both of which exhibited a fair amount of stem bowl cracks, and our results were truly impressive.”

Related news: Shorter Washington apple crop brings challenges to marketers

Three years in the making, Ellips’ TrueAI model delivers high-level grading accuracy by detecting complex defects and produce characteristics, according to the release. In 2022, TrueAI was implemented across multiple commodities such as dates, pomegranates, apples and most recently, onions.

New categories that the TrueAI system will incorporate include blueberries, cherries, kiwis and other fresh fruits and vegetables, according to the release. What’s more, as grading performance moves towards 100% detection accuracy and becomes more automated, grading and sorting tasks can be done with less staff.

“From day one, the improvements were immediate and visually apparent. Even apples with difficult-to-detect defects that previously might have ended up in the packing area were correctly sorted,” Ray Keller, owner of Apple King, said in the release. “This improved performance will help in our continual quest to improve productivity while delivering the most consistent pack to our customers. Additionally, we can now more effectively incorporate automated packing technology at the various packing exits since manual intervention can be virtually eliminated.”

The deep learning AI technology can be added to new or existing systems and requires little system operator training or effort, and TrueAI updates, based on targeted defects or specific needs, can be incorporated into the existing system, according to the release.

2024 AgTech Predictions: 5 Trends To Watch

Tue, 09 Jan 2024 16:51:10 GMT

In 2023 the agricultural industry faced challenges from extreme weather to supply chain issues.

Ron Baruchi, CEO of Agmatix, outlines the key trends he anticipates impacting the agricultural industry over the coming year:

#1 - Generative Artificial Intelligence in AgTech

Of all the 2024 trends in digital agriculture, the role played by Gen AI, or generative AI, is likely to be one of the most significant. The potential of Gen AI on the global economy is already being calculated in trillions of dollars. There is a historic opportunity to optimize processes, cut costs, and importantly, fuel innovations through improved modeling to fuel decision-making. Companies are already using Gen AI through Digital Crop Advisors, allowing agronomists to distill agronomic data into actionable recommendations for farmers.

These tools enhance crop management by analyzing big agronomic data, providing AI-supported insights to optimize production practices. This helps farmers understand patterns affecting the performance of crop varieties and production on their specific farms, and tracks climate trends to help farmers become more resilient to the changing climate.

#2 - Using Digital Twins to Optimize Field Trials

An interesting 2024 trend is increased integration of digital twins into field tests and field test planning. A digital twin is a digital model or a virtual representation of an actual physical product, system, or process. These allow researchers and designers to experiment as though they were handling its physical counterpart, reducing the need for expensive and time-consuming field trials.

Generating real-world data is a costly and time-consuming process, averaging more than 150 studies and over 11 years to register a new active ingredient. From 2010-14, developing a new crop protection product cost around $286 million, of which, $47 million (approximately 16%) was budgeted for field trials.

Synthetic data can enhance the performance of digital twins. Based on real-world data, synthetic data can supplement data gaps, significantly reducing the time, cost, and effort in bringing new agricultural products to market. These tools provide a competitive edge for agricultural input suppliers seeking regulatory approval, or seed companies that rely heavily on experimentation to improve their seed genetics.

#3 - Technical Innovation in Regenerative Agriculture

Greater technical innovation and research into regenerative agriculture will continue over the coming year. Essentially mimicking natural process and biodiversity on agricultural land, the ultimate aim of regenerative agriculture is to improve soil health in order to boost yield.

To address the challenges of climate change and feed a global population of over 8 billion, regenerative agriculture is vital. Digital tools use accurate, up-to-date data to create tailored regenerative agriculture solutions. These consider soil conditions, weather conditions, microclimates, and current crop growth or land use, as well as individual budgets and local regulations.

Platforms offering site specific data will likely reign supreme in 2024. A view of sustainability that extends beyond simple carbon metrics and one-size-fits-all solutions is necessary and will enable the establishment of realistic, actionable objectives for growers, promoting sustainability and formulating strategies tailored to local environments.

#4 - Managing Data with Advanced Cloud Solutions

Innovation in agriculture is often data-dependent and the cloud gives researchers the ability to collate, manage, and extrapolate information from data in a way that was previously unimaginable. Anticipated exponential growth in farm data emphasizes the transformative impact - IDC has estimated that by 2036 the amount of data collected on the farm will increase by more than 800-percent. Cloud tools enabling real-time access to field trial data reduces trial duration and cost, and the volume and scope of trials can be increased.

Cloud applications span every aspect of agriculture, optimizing crop management, soil insights, multi-season crop monitoring and analysis, and leveraging local knowledge for decision-making. Cloud-based solutions foster collaboration between researchers, agronomists, and farmers, providing R&D companies with an efficient, cost-effective and scalable solution.

#5 - Innovation Across the Agricultural Spectrum

Agriculture’s innovative history is turning towards sustainability and environmental protection, marking a transformative era. The new year will see progress in climate-resilient crop development.

At the farm level, digital technologies empower farmers to process and use the data they collect. AgTech solutions can help farmers and agronomists measure and demonstrate the return on investment of agricultural technologies. Amidst global challenges, stakeholders using AI and machine learning will drive unprecedented innovation in food production.

About the Author - Ron Baruchi, President & CEO, Agmatix

With over 20 years of experience in the technology sphere, Ron is passionate about using data to solve complex problems. He has used his expertise in technology and AI with Agmatix to improve crop yields and quality while limiting environmental impact.