Smart Farming

Farmers Don’t Use AI for Answers — They Use It to Think Better

Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:10:21 GMT

What you should know:

To use artificial intelligence in your business for a competitive advantage — not just a gimmick:

Ask better questions than most people
Combine AI with real-world experience
Execute on the answers

For Rachael Sharp, dry weather hasn’t made planting go any easier in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. And when a planter went down, the first thing she did was pull up Chat GPT.

“I pulled up the part number, and I saw that I’d actually entered in there last year. So it told me the date I changed it, and that was helpful, because I was trying to figure out why is this wearing out so quickly?” she says. “We’re in desperate need of rain, and we’re pulling in some pretty hard non-irrigated land right now. I logged that we changed the bearing again, and so next time, knock on wood, it hopefully doesn’t go out again, but if it does I can look and see I changed it twice in the last year.”

That’s just one of many examples of how Sharp is using ChatGPT to manage equipment, her time, and the farm business. She and her father, Don, are featured in an OpenAI commercial, which premiered during the Super Bowl.

And she’s in good company with other farmers in how to use the artificial intelligence platforms.

Marc Arnusch, the 2025 Top Producer of the Year, says ChatGPT is the most used app on his phone.

Jeremy Jack, leader of Silent Shade Planting Company the 2023 Top Producer of the Year, uses AI as his daily management teammate from agronomy and business decisions.

Here are the four ways these farmers use AI every day on the farm.

(Photo: Yvonne Min)

1. Make better decisions faster

Colorado farmer Arnusch uses ChatGPT and Grok to narrow down his consideration set when making decisions.

“It helps on the strategic side of things, and when making a decision, I’ll let it give the top four or five things to choose from, which helps when there’s a million choices,” he says. “It really is like my funnel. I’ll set up my phone on my dashboard and just dictate to it. Then when I’m back at the farm office, my wife Jill is relieved because I’ve already processed out loud with the AI tool.”

While most farms collect data, Jack uses AI to make decisions, particularly agronomic.

“I uploaded multiple years of soil data across our farms,” he says. “And we’ve found ways to manage fertilizer better, for example with sulfur.”

The data interpretation has shifted his thinking by connecting the yield zones with as-applied fertility and return on investment.

Jack is also using the technology to double check every spray application — from rates, to tank mix, to nozzle selection, to pressure optimization.

Sharp has also found AI helpful in managing chemical applications. She can remember chemical boxes marked up with her father’s calculations by hand.

“I tell the prompt what I’m spraying, where I’m spraying, how many acres, tank size, and then I let it tell me what to order,” she says. “Over time, it’s learned which products are liquid and which are dry flowables. And it’s helped me keep track of the inventory we have so we don’t end up with pallets of odds and ends.”

(Photo: OpenAI)

2. Be more efficient

When it comes to where to start with AI, Sharp has one piece of advice.

“Think of the task that you don’t like to do at the end of the day. For me, I didn’t want to do paperwork at the end of the day,” she says. “So I threw it over to ChatGPT, and I said, hey, this is what I planted today, this is the date, and I left it at that. I started really, really simple.”

Now, she’ll record things directly in the field or in the truck. She says it has helped with FSA 578 forms. And in day-to-day operations, she’s found benefits for time management and accuracy in all record keeping.

“We have seed samples that require a handwritten seed form that I turn in along with the sample, but I spoke into my phone and said, hey, Chat GPT, I need you to log that I sent this variety, this lot number, on this date, to the lab. And so, that’s probably one of 15 entries that I’ve made over the course of a month. And at the end when we finally turn in our last sample to the lab, I’ll ask it for a spreadsheet with all that listed,” she says.

(Photo: Sarah Green Photography)

3. Think more clearly about complex problems

Jeremy Jack often asks ChatGPT “What does this mean for my farm?” with current events.

“With the war in Iran, global fertilizer supply chain concerns, and even things like USDA reports, it’s given helpful perspective in how to think about what’s happening off the farm but impacts the farm.”

And he’s found success in using the platform to specifically think about the business strategy for his farm with vendors, including lenders, landowners and more.

4. Manage more professionally

Jack has been active with an advisory board for their farm, but AI has become like a boardroom in his pocket.

“I bounce ideas—pressure test if you will—before it costs me real money,” he says. “This includes input purchases, land agreements, and equipment purchases.”

He’s also come to use it in his external communications about the farm including his regular social media posts on LinkedIn.

When it comes to team management, Arnusch has input culture index results for vendors and employees, then the AI compares their individual characteristics with the job they are being asked to do.

“This has been a breakthrough,” he says. “It’s shown me that at no fault of their own, why some people fail at what they are being asked to do. It wasn’t because they weren’t working hard or doing the job. It was stretching them beyond what they can do.”

He gives the example of a farm foreman position on the farm, and how he used this process to match the candidate with the role.

(Sarah Green Photography)

‘Farmville for Real:’ How Autonomous Tech is Rebranding Tractor Drivers as Digital Operators

Fri, 10 Apr 2026 21:18:38 GMT

For George Grote, a typical day doesn’t involve a steering wheel or a dusty cab; instead, it looks like he’s glued to his phone or tablet. From the climate-controlled comfort of a pickup or while strolling between the crop rows, Grote monitors a fleet of autonomous tractors as they navigate with precision. It’s a scene that Agtonomy CEO Tim Bucher calls “Farmville for real,” where gripping the steering wheel is being replaced by the quick-twitch reflexes of the gaming generation.

As the agricultural industry grapples with a deepening labor crisis and an aging workforce, companies such as Agtonomy are betting that high-tech autonomy is the key to recruiting Gen Z. By rebranding traditional tractor driving as “digital operation,” the California-based startup is leveraging app-based interfaces to transform farming into a tech career.

Raised on a dairy farm, Bucher coupled his love of agriculture and machinery with a career in the tech field to create the prototype that would become the company’s first autonomous tractor. Today, as a farm owner and father of three, Bucher says it’s not likely his children will return to the farm. With this technology, he hopes to attract the next generation to his farm and the industry.

“The younger generation doesn’t want to be in the dirt and the dust because there are other opportunities for them,” he says.

(Photo provided by George Grote)

The Gaming Advantage: Why “Fast Hands” Matter in the Field

Grote, a 30-year-old field engineer with Agtonomy, does not have a farming background, but he always knew he wanted to work outdoors. He graduated from California Polytechnic State University with a degree in crop and fruit science and now works alongside Agtonomy customers. He says being able to process information on a screen while being fast with his hands is something he picked up from gaming.

“I can tell you [gaming] 100% helped me, being able to toggle between different features in the app and being quick with technology,” Grote says. “If you can play a video game, then you’re more than capable of running five, six, seven or eight tractors at once while sitting in your truck and watching them run autonomously.”

8.14.25_agtonomy-102

(Agtonomy)

Marc Di Pietra, regional service maintenance manager for Treasury Wine Estates , says the cutting-edge technology can help bridge the labor gap, provide upskilling opportunities and reduce physical demands.

“New technologies are making it incredibly dynamic and attractive for younger generations,” Di Pietra says. “With a younger workforce, I expect that evolution to accelerate. There’s a natural comfort with technology, and a willingness to challenge legacy processes, which is critical.”

Adding this technology has been game changing in the wine business, De Pietra says, and it can shape the rest of the agricultural industry as well.

“These technologies allow us to be more precise with our farming, winemaking techniques and sustainability efforts, effectively creating safer environments for our employees, reducing our emissions and producing better quality wines,” he explains.

Agtonomy_George Grote

(Agtonomy)

How Agtonomy Works

At this point, Agtonomy is being used on fruit and nut tree, grapevine, avocado and citrus operations. The company works with Bobcat , specifically the Doosan Bobcat CT 4045, for more versatile utility and maintenance tasks, and Kubota to automate narrow-track diesel tractors, such as the Kubota M5N series.

Agtonomy’s software is embedded into a tractor’s OEM control system at the factory. Outfitted with the technology, the machine can autonomously handle repetitive tasks, such as mowing, spraying and seeding. Using cameras and sensors, tractors can “see” their surroundings, allowing them to navigate rows and avoid obstacles. Sensors and data links also ensure that sprayers or mowers are working at the correct intensity and height. When an issue occurs, a notification is sent to a smartphone and/or tablet, complete with details to help the tractor decide what to do when it deviates from the original instructions.

Inside The Tax Return of Your Farm's Future

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 14:31:52 GMT

The traditional process of preparing agricultural tax returns has long been defined by manual data entry and the complex reconciliation of income. However, the integration of artificial intelligence into financial systems is ushering in a more sophisticated era of tax management. For the modern farm, the future of filing lies in a seamless pipeline where software handles the heavy lifting of data organization, leaving the high-level strategy to human experts.

Comprehensive Data Integration

The foundation of a modern tax return is the accounting system. Platforms like QuickBooks, Xero or specialized farm management software are becoming increasingly autonomous. In the near future, these AI agents will do more than simply record expenses; they will analyze them in real-time.

With direct links to bank feeds and digital invoices, AI can categorize expenditures with precision. It can distinguish between capital investments, such as machinery or land improvements, and standard operating costs like seed and fuel. This continuous synchronization means by the end of the fiscal year, the financial records are already in a format that mirrors the requirements of a tax return.

Automated Document Reconciliation

A significant portion of tax preparation involves matching — ensuring the farm’s internal records align with the documents issued by third parties. A preparer of a farm tax return may spend more time making sure all of the income is in the right box then planning to optimize the income tax level.

AI is uniquely suited to handle this high-volume verification. The system can automatically ingest Form 1099-PATR (cooperative distributions), 1099-G (government subsidies) and other Form 1099s and W-2s and verify them against recorded deposits.

If a document is missing or a figure does not match the ledger, AI identifies the specific discrepancy immediately, allowing for a targeted correction rather than a manual search through months of records.

The Role of Human Oversight

While AI provides the technical framework for the return, the final stage remains firmly in human hands. Once the software has mapped the data to the appropriate tax schedules, it produces a comprehensive draft for professional review.

This allows the farmer or a tax consultant to transition from a data entry role to a strategic advisory role. Instead of spending hours verifying line items, the human reviewer can focus on critical tax planning decisions including accelerated depreciation choices or income averaging that require professional judgment and an understanding of the farm’s long-term goals.

The result is a more accurate, defensible and efficient tax filing process. By automating the clerical aspects of the return, AI allows agricultural producers to maintain focus on their operations while ensuring full compliance with the evolving tax laws.

Why One California Farmer is Betting Big on Algae for Fertility

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 14:44:35 GMT

Rows of citrus trees stretch across the landscape under the California sun, their canopies forming neat green corridors between irrigation lines and tractor paths. Some trees are newly trimmed, others older and thicker from years of growth. It’s the kind of orchard scene that has long defined agriculture in this part of the state, where permanent crops dominate the landscape and generations of farmers have worked to coax productivity from difficult soils and an increasingly unpredictable water supply.

For fifth-generation farmer Justin Wylie , these groves are more than just another orchard to manage. They represent an opportunity to rethink how soil works on his farm and whether biology — specifically algae — can play a larger role in the future of California agriculture.

Wylie and his family farm roughly 4,000 acres across California’s Central Valley. Some of that land has been in the family for generations, while other acres are leased. Like many farms in the region, the operation produces permanent crops such as pistachios and citrus, commodities that require long-term planning and careful soil management.

“This is a long-term lease with an investment company partner,” Wylie says. “And we just entered into that lease last year. It’s a 15-year lease with a five-year extension.”

One of the ranches he’s currently working to improve came through a recent leasing agreement that gives the family time to invest in the land and experiment with new approaches. That time horizon matters. With permanent crops like oranges, orchard decisions can affect productivity for decades. The trees must be pruned, fertilized and irrigated carefully year after year, and the soil beneath them has to remain functional through increasingly hot and dry growing seasons.

When Wylie’s team first took over the ranch, some improvements were necessary before any new ideas could be tested.

“We were really lucky on this ranch,” Wylie says. “The previous guys, they did let some of the trees get overgrown, so we did have to come in and push a hedge and top and resize those trees.”

While the orchard needed structural work above ground, Wylie says the bigger opportunity lies beneath the surface. The ranch is now part of a broader effort on the farm to transition a portion of the acres toward organic and regenerative systems.

“For the majority of the ranch, as far as fertility, the soils, the condition of the ranch,” he says, “I think the big thing with this ranch is transitioning from a conventional model to an organic regenerative, which is part of our commitment in the lease. It’s part of the model of the lease here — that we transition the ranch from conventional to certified organic and regenerative.”

The transition is happening gradually. Wylie says roughly 25% of the farm’s acres are currently part of that shift, allowing the family to experiment with new soil-building practices without risking the entire operation.

But the push to explore regenerative systems didn’t begin with markets or policy. It started with a deeply personal experience.

A Personal Connection to Soil Health

Wylie says his interest in soil biology and regenerative farming took shape nearly a decade ago, around 2015 or 2016. At the time, his family was dealing with a serious health challenge involving his young son.

The experience pushed him to start researching nutrition, gut health and the human microbiome — topics that would eventually reshape how he thought about farming.

“[My son] was sick as a kid, and so we were doing everything we could to heal him,” Wylie says. “His gut ended up in the hospital a few times with an autism diagnosis.”

Doctors and therapists offered guidance, but the recommendations didn’t sit well with Wylie.

“And then at the time, the doctors and the therapist told us basically, ‘Practice acceptance,’” he says.

Instead, Wylie started searching for more information about gut health and what researchers were learning about the microbiome. Over time, he began seeing parallels between the human digestive system and the biological activity that happens in healthy soils.

“They started figuring out that autistic kids had very weak gut microbiomes,” Wylie says. “And so when you make that connection as a farmer and you start saying, ‘What are all the things I can do at home to not stress that?’”

That question eventually carried over into his work in the field. The farm’s first experiment with regenerative practices was modest.

“We started on 40 acres of pistachios, playing around with it,” he says. “What can we do here growing in a different system?”

At the same time, the regenerative agriculture movement was gaining momentum online, making it easier for farmers to explore new ideas.

“At the time, there were quite a few regenerative agronomists out there releasing podcasts and YouTube videos,” Wylie says. “So the information was there. It was never on my radar before. But once you join that community and industry, it’s pretty interesting.”

Building on What Came Before

Even as Wylie explores new biological tools, he says the farm’s current practices still build heavily on the work done by previous generations.

His father’s generation invested heavily in agronomy research and orchard management strategies, developing systems that helped the farm stay productive in California’s demanding growing environment. From pruning methods to fertilizer programs, many of those lessons still guide how the farm operates today.

Rather than abandoning those systems, Wylie says his goal is to refine them.

“It’s really a tweak,” he says. “In my mind it’s a slight change in the method, not a complete start over.”

The farm continues to rely on the knowledge accumulated through decades of conventional farming, while gradually introducing new practices aimed at improving soil biology.

“We’re just trying to make tweaks to the system that we’re already operating in on the other ranches to see if we can do this a different way,” Wylie says.

One of the biggest challenges in that transition is managing fertility.

California orchards have historically relied on precise fertilizer programs to keep trees productive. But moving toward organic or regenerative inputs can create a different nutrient dynamic, especially during the early years of transition.

Wylie says growers sometimes underestimate how sensitive orchards can be during that shift.

Managing the Transition Carefully

According to Wylie, one of the most common mistakes farmers make when transitioning to regenerative systems is reducing fertilizer too quickly.

He says orchards that have spent decades under conventional management are accustomed to intensive nutrient programs, and abruptly changing that system can cause yields to fall sharply.

On some ranches where regenerative practices have been in place for several years, Wylie says the difference in soil structure is already noticeable.

“There’s other ranches we’ve been farming regenerative for five years,” he says. “You can stick your hand in the soil and get your fingers down right there on the berms next to the trees — it’s chocolate cake.”

But he warns farmers shouldn’t assume that kind of soil health will appear immediately after switching systems.

“Until that day, do not pull back,” Wylie says.

He says the biggest mistake happens when growers assume they can immediately match their old fertility programs using organic inputs.

“That’s the mistake that growers make,” he says. “They think I’m going organic regenerative, I can match dollar for dollar, I can do the same thing I was doing conventionally.”

Instead, Wylie says the transition often produces what he calls a “J-curve.”

“You’re going to see that J-curve,” he says. “I mean, it’s going to tank.”

To avoid that, his farm relies heavily on testing.

“We pull a lot of sap samples, multiple tissues and soils per year,” Wylie says. “Kind of watching our fertility and making sure these trees are fed.”

He says growers must remember trees grown in conventional systems are used to consistent nutrient availability.

“The soil has been farmed a certain way,” he says. “These trees are used to being fed intensively in that conventional system.”

And organic fertilizers don’t always behave the same way.

“The organic fertilizers just don’t work as well,” Wylie says. “So you have to be careful.”

Introducing Algae Into the System

As Wylie searched for ways to accelerate soil improvement, one newer tool caught his attention: microalgae.

The technology comes from soil health company MyLand, which produces living algae on farms and distributes it through irrigation systems.

“We’re probably in our fourth or fifth season,” Wylie says.

The idea behind the system is relatively simple. Rather than applying microbes directly to the soil, the system produces algae that help stimulate microbial activity already present in the soil ecosystem.

Jeff Tuel says the technology centers around specialized tanks designed to grow algae on the farm itself.

“We call these APVs, algae producing vessels,” Tuel says. “And essentially, the sole purpose is to grow algae here.”

Water from the farm is stored inside the vessels, where conditions are controlled to encourage rapid algae growth.

“So for all intents and purposes, this is kind of like the algae producing container,” Tuel says.

From there, the algae are delivered through irrigation systems already used on the farm.

“And we try to keep that holding tank to a level where if the irrigator is irrigating a 12-hour set, 24, 36,” Tuel says. “Our main objective is for them to never run dry of algae.”

Production is adjusted to match the grower’s irrigation schedule.

“We harvest according to the grower’s irrigation schedule,” he says.

Another important step happens before the system is even installed. MyLand scientists collect algae samples from the farm itself, identifying native strains that are already adapted to the environment.

“The reason native is important is because it’s used to the pH, it’s used to the droughts, the floods, everything Mother Nature’s thrown at it,” Tuel says.

Because those organisms already exist in the local ecosystem, they are more likely to survive once applied to the soil.

“Its odds of surviving and actually making an impact in that ecosystem are far greater,” he says.

Microalgae also sits at the base of the soil’s microbial food web.

“Microalgae is actually the base of the microbial food chain,” Tuel says. “All the bugs and beneficials in the soil are feeding off of it.”

Rather than introducing microbes, the strategy is to stimulate the microbes already present.

“I like to say instead of a bug-and-a-jug approach, we are ringing the dinner bell for the microbes,” Tuel says. “It’s kind of an all-you-can-eat buffet for microbes to get them moving and active.”

Tackling Difficult Soils

For Wylie, improving soil biology could help solve one of the Central Valley’s most persistent challenges: poor soil structure.

Many orchard soils in the region contain very low levels of organic matter, which limits their ability to hold water and maintain structure through the growing season.

“We have about 0.5% soil organic matter,” Wylie says. “Our water holding capacity is very low.”

That lack of organic matter can cause irrigation problems later in the summer.

“A lot of times these soils as we’re irrigating during the season will lock up,” he says.

Early in the season, irrigation water infiltrates the soil fairly easily.

“You start with very good water infiltration in April, May, June,” Wylie says.

But conditions change as the summer progresses.

“By the time you get to July, August, when you really need it, it’s very difficult to push water down in the soil,” he says.

For farmers trying to manage water carefully in California’s dry climate, that creates a major challenge.

“These soils are not very functional for us as farmers,” Wylie says.

Tuel says stimulating microbial activity can gradually improve those conditions.

“When you get those microbes to start moving and firing, you’re going to start to build soil aggregate,” he says.

Better aggregation can help water move through the soil while also improving nutrient availability.

“If it’s a high-salt ground, we can start to leach out some of those salts,” Tuel says.

Algae may also influence soil chemistry.

“Algae is also going to help regulate the pH in the soil so we can start to free up some locked-up nutrients,” he says.

Thinking Long-Term

While installing an on-farm algae system requires investment, Wylie says he sees it as part of a long-term strategy for improving soil performance.

“In a biological system like MyLand, it’s about the same cost as a soil amendment program out here, depending on how much acreage you’re using,” Wylie says.

The difference is the system focuses on building biological activity rather than simply adding nutrients.

“But it’s a long-term solution,” he says. “It’s not going to work overnight.”

Instead, the goal is to strengthen the soil’s microbiome so it can better buffer environmental stresses.

“It’s actually creating a buffer by just supercharging the microbiome that’s in the soil,” Wylie says.

That biological activity may help address several common soil issues in California orchards.

“Everything feeds on it,” he says. “It’s overcoming high salt, high chlorides.”

Even trace mineral challenges may improve over time.

“In some cases in California, we have very high boron in some areas,” Wylie says.

He believes increased biological activity may help mitigate those problems faster than traditional soil-building methods alone.

“Microalgae being put into the system can actually overcome those salts that might take 10 or 15 years of compost and cover crops,” he says. “You can accomplish in a few years by using MyLand.”

The Pressure on California Farmers

The search for new tools is happening at a time when farming in California is becoming increasingly expensive.

Data from USDA shows the state continues to rank as the most expensive place in the country to grow crops, driven by high labor, energy and input costs.

Those economic pressures are compounded by growing regulatory expectations.

Wylie believes California farmers are already facing some of the strictest scrutiny in global agriculture.

“I think the state’s already looking at it very closely,” he says. “I think they’re going to put more pressure on farmers in California.”

Compared with other agricultural regions, he says California producers are operating under unique constraints.

“Other than the European Union, there is no one in the world that’s under as much pressure as a California farmer to change the way we do things,” Wylie says.

Because of that, he believes farmers must take the lead in finding workable solutions.

“We need to figure this out,” he says. “And I want to figure it out before the government gets involved and tries to tell me how to do it.”

Government incentive programs exist, but Wylie believes the real challenge is making soil health practices economically viable.

“They can offer me some incentives,” he says. “We have healthy soils out here. They give you a little compost and cover crop seed.”

Ultimately, though, growers need systems that work on their own.

“We need to figure this out and we need to make it economical and profitable before the state comes in,” Wylie says.

Because once regulations remove certain tools, farmers may have little room to adapt.

“Now you’re forced to figure it out with your back against the wall,” he says. “We don’t want that.”

For Wylie, the answer may lie beneath the soil surface where billions of microbes, fueled by algae, could quietly reshape how California farms grow their crops. And by doing so now, Wylie hopes he’s able to find ways to continue to grow productive crops in California, despite increased regulations.

Lighting Up the Ranch for the Next Generation of Agriculture

Tue, 03 Mar 2026 22:29:51 GMT

Connectivity is a significant hurdle to the future of smart farming, says Don Cameron, vice president and general manager of Terranova Ranch. He says he’s wanted to add Wi-Fi and connected devices for a long time to better automate farm tasks, especially irrigation.

Once Cameron started working with high-speed internet service provider Cal.net, he began to explore broader implications of smart farming at Terranova Ranch. Later, he connected with Emergent, an ag tech company that provides an automation platform for the ranch.

Taking Manual Work Out of the Field

Cameron says that Emergent’s dashboard helped Terranova track irrigation on the ranch’s 2,200 acres of processing tomatoes instead of crews manually operating valves.

“We had guys going around every seven hours or eight hours, opening and closing valves to irrigate subsurface drip irrigation on tomatoes,” he says. “For every 75 acres, we have three valves.”

Cameron says this system is critical as groundwater management becomes a greater focus in farming in California. He says Terranova has specific allocations on groundwater use, so there are accurate records of irrigation as well as even applications.

“We’re seeing allocations on how much groundwater we can pump in certain areas here, and so being able to use water efficiently is really imperative for us,” he says. “As we move forward with groundwater management, it’s going to become extremely important.”

Cameron says Terranova benefits not only from accurate irrigation records through this precision irrigation application, but he’s also seen reduced labor and vehicle use.

“We can change the irrigation schedule from a phone. We do deficit irrigation as we approach harvest, so we can make these changes relatively easily,” he explains. “We can get better-quality crops, higher-yielding crops, and save water. We can irrigate during off-peak periods with electricity.”

Cameron says all of this is critically important as water use is the No. 1 issue California growers face. The more information he has on water usage, distribution and more, the better, he says.

“The more information we have, the more data we have on our water usage and even what’s going on with our wells, our pumping,” he says. “To me, that data is going to be even more important in the future because of the regulations we have here in California and how valuable water really is.”

Cameron says Terranova farms in four groundwater sustainability agencies, which have slashed the amount of water allocated.

“Next year, they’re cutting the amount of water to be pumped from the underground to 1 acre-foot per acre,” he says. “And a crop of tomatoes typically takes 2.5 acre-feet. Almonds could use as many as 4 acre-feet. So, you understand really quickly how important data is when we’re talking about exactly about water and crops that we can grow for the future and planning for the future.”

Building a Digital Paper Trail for Compliance

Cameron says Emergent’s platform has opened the door to where he can monitor much more of the farm beyond the irrigation.

Smart farming’s reach extends to well monitoring with AgMonitor and electronic timecards on workers’ phones, both of which he says are to stay in compliance with regulatory issues. Workers clock out for breaks, and having that electronic record is critical.

“If we ever get an issue with labor and proving our guys took breaks at the right time, believe me, this is a really important thing to have,” he says.

The timecards feed into Terranova’s payroll program, which has eliminated some manual work, Cameron says.

He also uses fixed-wing photos that take NDVI images to show moisture stress.

“This gives us assurance of what we’re doing with our irrigation,” he says.

Cameron has also placed trackers on Terranova’s sprayers, which helps monitor efficiency (and inefficiencies) on the ranch.

“We know if they miss a row,” he says. “We know how long it takes them to fill the sprayer, and if they’re spraying or if they’re screwing around.”

Vetting the Next Wave of Technology

Cameron says crop selection, in light of potential water use restrictions, will play a bigger role in the future of agriculture in California.

“They’re going to have to use conservation measures, and they’re going to have to use their water much differently than they have in the past,” he says.

Cameron, who has been a pioneer in groundwater recharge, says it’s critical to renew aquifers and prevent downstream damage during flooding.

Cameron switched to subsurface drip irrigation in 2009, and he says he saw not only water savings but better yields.

Connectivity also will play a major role in the future of agriculture, but he says there’s still much work needed in improving rural access.

“What we’re doing now, I think with IoT [internet-of-things] technology, I think is going to be really helpful long term,” he says.

Cameron has also experimented with automated weeders. The challenge with automated weeders, however, is that they have to pencil out in terms of speed and cost, he explains.

“What I’d love to see in the future is more automation in weeding, better technology, faster technology and lower-cost technology,” he says.

Cameron also hopes the future brings more integration of CRISPR technology with built-in disease resistance, “along with other new traits to make what we grow more flavorful, healthier, and more resilient,” he adds.

As for being a pioneer in the integration of technology, Cameron says he views taking a chance as being critically important.

“Sometimes you just have to say, ‘Look, we’re going to try this, and hopefully it’s going to work well, and let’s get behind it and give it a chance, and it solves a problem that we have,’” he says. “Typically, what happens is it works out well, and if it doesn’t, we stop.”

Smart Farming Trial at Windset Farms Integrates AI and Sensors to Bolster Year-Round Food Security

Wed, 18 Feb 2026 22:09:35 GMT

Announced last month , Windset Farms has embarked on a new smart farming initiative at its Delta, British Columbia, headquarters designed to improve how crops are grown, managed and monitored in a changing climate.

This is a joint project, supported by the B.C. Centre for Agritech Innovation, and is in partnership with Simon Fraser University, Koidra Inc., Vivent Biosignals, and Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands.

Ryan Cherry, vice president of sales and marketing at Windset Farms, says the international project is part of a broader focus on the province’s ag tech industry. This smart farming initiative at Windset Farms’ Delta facility is part of a $658,000 joint investment between the B.C. Centre for Agritech Innovation and industry partners on three specific projects.

Cherry says this investment seeks to boost food security, create good jobs, support communities and help spur growth in the controlled environment agriculture industry.

“By working with industry, academia and government, we’re developing solutions that address climate change while building a more sustainable and resilient agriculture sector for all British Columbians,” he says.

Moving From Reactive to Proactive Management

Cherry says what’s unique about this project, which officially began in spring 2025, is it incorporates sensors to monitor plant stress from Vivent Biosignals and intelligent automation from Koidra to provide a holistic look at Windset’s greenhouse tomato production. Vivent provides the biological data that Koidra’s machine learning uses to adjust the automated system.

“Vivent Biosignals allows us to ‘listen’ directly to the plants by capturing their electrical signals, which can indicate stress long before it’s visible to the human eye,” he says. “Koidra’s AI platform then helps analyze that plant-level data alongside environmental and operational information. Together, they create a decision-support system that’s plant-centric, combining biological insight with advanced analytics to guide greenhouse management.”

Cherry says this integration signals a shift in Windset’s decision-making process.

“Instead of responding once plants show visible stress or disease, the system helps flag issues early and supports more precise climate, irrigation and nutrient adjustments,” he explains. “That means healthier plants, more consistent production and better resource use driven by real-time data.”

Over the course of this project, the team hopes to learn how plants communicate stress in real time, which can then translate to better information for growers, Cherry says.

“Pest infestations and diseases are critical in greenhouse environments because they can spread quickly and affect large volumes of crops,” he says. “Early detection enables faster, more targeted responses that protect yield, reduce losses and minimize the need for more aggressive interventions later.”

Cherry says there are also broader benefits with better information. These include more efficient uses of inputs.

“By better understanding what plants need, the system supports smarter irrigation, nutrient delivery and climate control,” he says. “While specific savings will emerge from the trial data, the long-term expectation is reduced waste and improved sustainable growing practices.”

Scalability and the Future of Specialty Crops

While the project currently focuses on greenhouse-grown tomatoes, Cherry says the hope is that the insights from this trial would have broader applications in the specialty crop industry.

“While this project is focused on a specific production system, the project aims to make the underlying technology highly adaptable,” he says. “A proof-of-concept here opens the door to broader applications across the agri-food sector.”

Cherry says the research team has currently focused on validating performance improvements, including plant health, consistency, early detection accuracy and production efficiency versus quantifiable metrics or yield goals. He adds that the research team hopes to have products, services and processes ready for market within 24 months.

“What’s exciting is that this early work lays the foundation for long-term adoption across the sector,” he says.

Cherry explains this will also help provide more reliable year-round access to fresh produce for consumers and retailers.

“It helps stabilize supply, reduces vulnerability to disruptions and supports food security by strengthening domestic production,” he says. “Over time, that consistency benefits both retailers and shoppers.”

Building a Skilled Agri-Tech Workforce

Windset Farms’ smart farming trial is part of a larger New Smart Farming project, which includes robotic weeding technology development at the University of the Fraser Valley and drought-resilient training at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. Cherry says this project will also boost opportunities for those working in the ag tech space.

“Beyond the technology itself, the entire New Smart Farming project, through B.C. Centre for Agritech Innovation, announced it is investing heavily in training and upskilling, noting that more than 353 people are expected to receive advanced training in agri-tech, innovation and business,” he says. “This will bring highly qualified personnel into the sector to support the industry well beyond this single project.”

The investment is also a commitment to resilient, consistent food production, Cherry says.

“By integrating advanced technologies into greenhouse operations, we’re strengthening Canada’s ability to produce fresh food locally year-round while reducing reliance on imports,” he says. “It’s about building a more secure, climate-resilient agricultural system.”

It’s also a signal that smart farming is more than a buzzword, Cherry says. The project is proof that it is foundational to specialty crop production, especially CEA production.

“The integration of AI, plant-based sensing and automation represents a fundamental shift in how growers manage risk, resources and productivity,” he says.

Technology to the Rescue in 2025

Mon, 29 Dec 2025 11:33:21 GMT

Not all the big headlines in 2025 were doom and gloom. The Packer’s technology coverage often highlighted the hopeful and helpful ways the produce industry is growing and adapting the changing conditions.

By it’s very nature, most ag tech is helping arm the growers of today for the realities of tomorrow.

For example, in mid-March, The Packer’s Jennifer Strailey talked with FarmWise CEO Tjarko Leifer about how the business’ restructuring was helping it prepare for the next chapter in ag robotics with its precision weeding technology. That new chapter involved being acquired by Taylor Farms , which had previously implemented FarmWise’s Vulcan technology and saw a reduction in its weeding costs of nearly $550,000 as a result.

“We believe in the FarmWise technology and think we have an important role to play with industry adoption in the specialty crop space,” said the president of Taylor Farms agricultural operations. “This acquisition is another step forward in our mission to drive the future of agriculture with thoughtful and impactful innovation.”

Reducing Food Waste With an Apps

In late August, The Packer’s Jill Dutton looked into how various apps are changing the way retailers deal with unsold food items approaching their sell-by dates, thereby preventing food waste. The three food waste-reducing apps in focus in the story are Too Good To Go and Flashfood, both geared towards connecting retailers with individual consumers in need of lower-cost options, and Careit, which connects retailers to nonprofits and community organizations in their areas for food donations.

Apps like these have a big potential to not only reduce food and especially produce waste, Dutton’s sources said, but also benefit retailers financially as well.

“The ability to sell more product, even at a discounted price, suggests greater food access could be achieved while recouping previously lost revenue,” one source said. “Additionally, applications that enable more accurate forecasting, facilitate coordination of logistics and optimize inventory management could prevent food from going to waste all along the supply chain.”

A Visceral Type of Technology

For a long time, consumers have shunned GMO foods. But in early September, Strailey sat down with Nathan Pumplin , CEO of Norfolk Healthy Produce, the company behind the Empress Purple Tomato, which is bioengineered to have more antioxidants. He said that consumers are hungry for change and starting to see through GMOs’ past bad publicity.

“When the first GMOs were launched, they were really marketed to farmers, and the innovative farmers said, ‘OK, there’s these new GMO crops, do I want to use them?’ And they very quickly saw, ‘Wow, this solves a lot of problems for me. Yes, I want to adopt them,’” said Pumplin.

“What was forgotten was that it was food being produced and sold to consumers, and consumers never had an opportunity to engage with GMOs in the food system,” he added.

But that has changed. Pumplin reported that 80% of consumers the company surveyed about the purple GMO tomato said they were interested to extremely interested in trying it.

Technology in Defense of Tech

In late October, The Packer’s Christina Herrick did a deep dive on a device to deter copper theft called Cop-R-Lock. The brainchild of a former law enforcement official and customizable farming automation company Farmblox, the Cop-R-Lock device aims to reduce or even eliminate the costly issue of copper thefts on farms.

“Every pump site, depending on its location, has upwards of a 40% chance of being hit every year by a thief,” said the Farmblox CEO. “Every time it happens, it’s between like $8,000 and $100,000 just for fixing the equipment, not minding the cost to the crop for the lack of irrigation for weeks on end, sometimes months.”

Working much like a home security system for your farm equipment, the system involves a wire wrapped around and inside the irrigation system’s conduit. When cut by a potential copper theif, an alarm goes off. The system will text the grower and also alert local law enforcement in the area, in an effort to help prevent and respond to copper thefts while they are happening.

These were some of the top tech stories The Packer covered in 2025, and there will be plenty more coverage in 2026, which you can find here .

3 Ways To Protect Your Ag Business from Cybersecurity Threats

Mon, 27 Oct 2025 14:59:14 GMT

Agriculture is in the bull’s-eye for threat actors trying to access business information. But as Chris Sherman says: “Our keys in the visor mentality” has many farmers trusting too much and putting too much at risk.

Sherman is the founder of Tech Support Farm, an IT and cybersecurity consulting business who works with farmers, co-ops, custom harvesters and more ag businesses to shore up their systems, lock down their sensitive information and stay attuned to emerging risks.

The FBI has listed agriculture as a critical infrastructure for cybersecurity.

So where do most farmers leave themselves vulnerable to hackers? Sherman shares these:

1. Email

Sherman points to email as the No. 1 priority for farmers on where to start in taking cybersecurity seriously.

“The amount of information and data we are sending via email leaves every farmer at risk — from our FSA staff, agronomists, banks and more,” he says. “Emails can be intercepted, all contents can be exposed, and no one is the wiser. It would be like a rural mail carrier, and when he drops the mail someone stands there opening it, reading it and closing the envelope and putting it back in the mailbox. Foolhardy to be using the free email services such as Gmail, Yahoo and others.”

Here are four steps to shore up your email:

Get a domain
Get a commercial email provider
Get a filtration software (which monitors what comes in)
Get a DMARC compliance service (which manages outbound emails, so no one spoofs you and encryption is done properly)

As an example of why this should be prioritized, Sherman tells the story of a farm business working on a land deal.

“A dad and son were just about ready to sign, and the dad got an email from the bank, at least it appeared to be from the bank, but it was a spoof encouraging them to e-sign,” he says. “And everyone signed, and it drained the bank accounts and blew up the deal.”

2. Be aware of your personal information shared, and embrace “herd immunity”

All to often, farmers don’t have passcodes on their phones.

“That’s like leaving your credit card at the bar,” Sherman says. “For some reason in agriculture we are running multimillion dollar businesses on residential-grade infrastructure.”

He says by the nature of the business, enrolling in government programs, immigration workforce programs (such as H-2A) and more, make your address, phone number and email readily accessible.

“It’s a wealth of opportunity for threat actors. We can’t leave our doors and windows open,” Sherman says. “So you have to protect yourself, and encourage your friends, neighbors and business partners to do the same. If we are all reducing our individual risk, we are reducing the overall risk.”

3. Use high-quality passwords

Sherman says good passwords are must-have on all your accounts, including your Wi-Fi.

“Too often, farmers have their password just be a duplicate of the network name. Or if a farmer’s favorite tractor is a John Deere 4450, 4450 is his pin for everything,” he says. “When we are on the internet, it’s like being in the big city, and you have to act accordingly.”

Farming Doesn’t Follow All the Business Models, Unique Opportunity for Startups

Thu, 31 Jul 2025 17:26:51 GMT

It could be said success in business is driven by timing and people. And AgLaunch provides agricultural startups with the nexus of both.

With its AgLaunch365 accelerator, early-stage startups have programming paired with the coast to coast network of AgLaunch farmers.

It’s a story Michael Rhys and the team at Barnwell Bio experienced firsthand. Their company spun out of the same technology platform used for municipal waste monitoring during COVID-19, except they are applying it to biosecurity and animal welfare.

Rhys says there is no other program like AgLaunch in existence.

“The farmer buy-in was really important to us along with the product feedback and guidance farmers can give us on the feature roadmap we want to add to Barnwell,” he says. “What’s great about the AgLaunch network is the level of inclusion along the way and the how the farmer network shares their feedback in real time and we’re able to iterate with them quickly because of their candid insights.”

Barnwell Bio collects aggregate samples from animal byproducts, analyzes them for a broad array of pathogens and then shares the assessment of potential health risks with farmers and their veterinarians.

“We see an opportunity to change the sentiment in animal health from being reactive to proactive,” Rhys says.

Michael Rhys, CEO, Barnwell Bio

(Ashley Benham)

Two-Way Street

Just as the startups receive benefits from the AgLaunch programming, as do the farmers. Fundamental to its approach it getting startups on farms in field trials, the farmers who take part in those field trials can earn an equity stake in the companies.

One of the original farmer members to the AgLaunch network is Grant Norwood, a Tennessee row crop farmer. He was part of the farmer network who proved the concept of Aglaunch earlier this year and cashed out an early investment in an irrigation technology startup.

“Farming is a business that doesn’t follow all the business models,” Norwood says. “And if you are coming from non-ag background, the farmer is your insight early on to how to best finish development and finish designing the product. We share knowledge to how ag markets work and to purchasing models. For a startup company it can be a big jump ahead to have that insight that would otherwise take them several years on their own.

Norwood has done field trials with sensors, hardware, and biological startups. And he’s proud to be part of the network he says is “where inventors meet farmers to solve agriculture’s problems.”

While the group started in Tennessee, it has since expanded into the midwest and pacific northwest.

“We’re a diverse group growing a lot of different crops and raising a lot of different livestock. But we are like-minded in helping startup companies bring their ideas to agriculture,” Norwood says.

AgLaunch has officially opened applications for the 2026 AgLaunch365 Accelerator. Applications are due by September 15, 2025.

AgLaunch365 aims to provide the proving ground startups need to help reshape how food is grown, animal are raises and land is stewarded.

For founders who would like to learn more, AgLaunch is hosting short Q&A webinars:

• August 4, 1-2pm CT: Registration link.

• August 14, 12-1pm CT: Registration link.

• August 25, 12-1pm CT: Registration link.

Biodiversity Index in the Field: A Look at Diagnostic Microbiome Tests for Soil Health

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 21:13:30 GMT

In the past few years, about a handful of companies have emerged with tests to measure a soil microbiome of fields, give a biodiversity index and help farmers understand the effects of inputs on soil health.

All of these companies recognize the complexity of a soil’s biology, and they aim to bring new tools to advance regenerative agriculture. Different from chemical and physical soil tests, which are often used to gauge what the soil needs (for example, rates of nitrogen), microbiome tests can provide insights on what the soil can supply (for example, nitrogen fixation or decomposition processes).

And these companies see the microbiome soil tests as complements — not replacements — to traditional soil testing.

Biome Makers

With a goal of delivering agronomic insights, Biome Makers built its BeCrop technology pairing soil microbiome knowledge and machine learning. The company, which is based in northern California, currently services farmers across 2.2 million acres and six continents. The BeCrop Test provides a report on nutrient cycling, health and biodiversity to be used to improve yields, monitor nutrient cycling, and predict disease risks. ( biomemakers.com )

EarthOptics

Launched as Pattern Ag and now part of EarthOptics, this platform claims to provide farmers a predication of key field agronomic outcomes with more than 90% confidence. The company uses DNA sequencing to provide soil biological test results. It also offers a premium program combing the soil microbiome results, with sensor data, yield data and satellite imagery for soil fertility and crop planning. ( earthoptics.com )

RhizeBio

Based in North Carolina, RhizeBio says its test uses a proprietary bioinformatics pipeline to translate raw soil DNA sequencing data into soil health reports both informative and easy to use. The results can be bucketed into three groups: biodiversity, bioindicators and risk analysis. The RhizeBio report provides biodiversity data including the number of species within the soil’s microbiome, community evenness, primary members and functionality. This gives insights on a soil’s capacity in stress environments such as droughts, disease, disturbance rating and nutrient cycling potential. ( rhizebio.com )

Trace Genomics

Recently acquired by Canada-based Miraterra, Trace Genomics was founded in northern California and has a soil analytical lab in Ames, Iowa. The Trace Genomics testing uses DNA sequencing to provide insights on the soil microbiome. The technology combines soil science, genomics and machine learning to output a measurement of a soil’s bacteria and fungi. Combining those measurements with chemical properties, growers receive information on a soil’s health and productivity. The company also offers a year-round sampling program to help guide seed selection, input selections, fertility products and biologicals for 70 crops and more than 225 pathogens. ( miraterrasoil.com/trace )

Where Can Farmers Expect the Next Level-Up Technology in Biologicals?

Thu, 10 Jul 2025 18:04:49 GMT

With a 70-year track record of use, are crop biologicals poised for a parabolic growth spurt? Or have sales plateaued?

According to Dunham Trimmer analysis, the global biologicals market could reach $19.6 billion by 2027. Shane Thomas of Upstream Ag Insights shares his own analysis that biological sales could equal synthetic crop protection by 2043.

So what is required for those projections to come true?

Pam Marrone, co-founder of Invasive Species Corp. and previous founder of two additional biological businesses, dove deeper into the topic with certified crop advisers during a recent webinar hosted by the Science Societies.

She points to more than a handful of drivers for biological sales growth:

Improved grower ROI
Soil health benefits
Reduction of carbon dioxide
Ramped up scientific developments for efficacy and scale
Biodiversity
Labor safety and flexibility
Lower development costs and time frames (less than $5 million and three years to develop)
No pesticide residues
No resistance

“It’s important to keep in mind, with biologicals, their best use is in integrated programs with conventional crop chemistries,” she says. “More and more growers are seeing that when you incorporate biologicals into programs, you can get a higher return on investment. More than 70% of biologicals are used by conventional growers.”

Biologicals can be divided into three categories:

Biopesticides, biocontrols, bioprotections ($9 billion in global sales)
Biostimulants ($5 billion in global sales)
Biofertilizers/bionutrients ($2.5 billion in global sales)

There are up to 80 new biological active ingredients at the EPA, so what kind of new products — or biological breakthroughs — can farmers expect?

Marrone points to peptides, proteins, pheromones, and RNA interference.

One category she’s optimistic about but with a farther out horizon is bioherbicides, with product introductions expected a few years away.

“Herbicides are a tough one for biologicals. Why are there fewer companies? Why is this harder?” she says. “Well, broad-spectrum herbicides are cheap, even though there’s a lot of weed resistance.”

She points to the need for new modes of action encouraging more work and investment.

Another front she is watching is the predictability and measurability of biological use on soil health.

“It’s going to be important to look at the intersection of crop microbiomes and soil health. Microbes and plants signal each other,” she says. “We know plants recruit microorganisms to their rhizosphere (rootzone) from the pool of microbes available in the soil. So, let’s measure how adding microorganisms to the soil can help reduce time to become regenerative.”

New Chassis For Application: Terrana Biosciences Emerges From Stealth Mode

Tue, 01 Jul 2025 10:40:00 GMT

The saying in real estate is location, location, location. And that applies for technology being unveiling by Terrana Biosciences.

Emerging from stealth mode after four years of development, this Flagship Pioneering company is taking the RNA expertise of cousin company Moderna, and creating crop protection solutions in parallel but distinctly different than cousin company Indigo Ag.

“Terrana is coming out of the Flagship Pioneering ecosystem in Boston, and Flagship has a long history of working on RNA,” Ryan Rapp Terrana Biosciences co-founder and CEO. “Probably the best known RNA company is Moderna, but we have a whole host of other ones within the ecosystem, and it’s helped allow us to have all this knowledge about RNA, but apply it to solve problems in agriculture.”

Rapp says RNA is a natural solution to deliver proteins and RNA molecules that can solve many agronomic issues.

“Plants have natural RNAs inside of them that have been evolving with plants for thousands of years. They’ve been largely ignored, because when people are thinking about RNA in plants, they’re usually trying to find things that are making plants sick,” he says. “What Terrana does is we actually look at all the things that everyone else has not had the time to look at and we begin working with those and what we’ve developed from that is a class of three products: prevent, protect and improve.”

Still in pre-commercial phase, Terrana is working on its portfolio of biological RNA-based products that can work like a chassis to carry and deliver protein building information directly to the plant. Protective effects provided by such technologies include anti-insect, nematicidal, antibacterial, and one key solution Terrana is focused on is antivirals.
“We’re looking at some of the vegetable species where today there are severe problems with viruses in the in glass houses and protected culture, particularly like tomatoes,” Rapp says. “We’re working to create viral products that can deliver resistance to several different viruses that when you get them, you kind of have to destroy the whole crop in the greenhouse.”

(Terrana Biosciences)

While the company’s first development focus is specialty crops, Rapp is eyeing opportunities in row crops as well.

“Think about Asian soybean rust in Brazil. You’ve got farmers that are growing three crops of soybean a year down there and spraying up to 16 times. We believe with the way that our technology works we could potentially reduce that to one spray per cropping cycle. So it’s basically three sprays per year,” he says.

New solutions to previously uncontrolled pests, improved application efficicacy and climate resilience are all benefits Rapp says are possible.

He points to cherry orchards in the Pacific Northwest requiring chill hours–hours below 45 degrees Fahrenheit. And farmers have observed warmer winters, which leads to poor flowering, poor fruit set and poor quality fruit.

“Farmers don’t have good options today—they could cut down the cherry trees, move north to Canada, or replace trees with new genetics,” he says. “Terrana’s product lets us do something completely different. We could go in during the summer, spray those trees with our RNA based product, and actually attenuate or turn down the amount of cold hours that they need so that they can go back to being productive farms that are setting high quality fruit. This keeps those flavor profiles, keeps the cherries that consumers have come to love, and gives the economics back to the farmer.”

Terrana is aiming to have commercially available products in the next few years, pending regulatory approval, that can be applied as sprayables or seed treatments. And the company says its RNA-based biologicals can be stored at ambient temperature and will be formulated as stand alone applications or for tank mixes.

3 Questions Every Farmer Should Ask About Biological Products

Fri, 27 Jun 2025 13:53:31 GMT

Pam Marrone, co-founder of Invasive Species Corporation, and previous founder of two additional biological businesses, shared her key takeaways with certified crop advisers during a recent webinar hosted by the Science Societies.

Marrone says there are three areas to evaluate before farmers make an application of a biological product:

Specific use instructions
Science
Data

Specific Use Instructions
“First, read the label,” she says. “When do I use it? What’s the timing? Is there any effect on soil? Can I tank mix it? Can I mix it with fertilizer? Can I mix with other pesticides? Some of the labels I’ve seen can be very specific, and others give you almost no information. So, that’s important. Read the label.”

In reviewing label information, identify if the product is registered with the EPA (which requires a higher level of requirements) or non-registered. Also, the specificity provided on the label is an indicator about the overall product quality and performance.

“There are products that are bugs in the jug, and they have a consortium of microbes in the jug or bag. If the product has 500 or 800, it should be proven why all those specifies are necessary, and if quality control is being done on all 500 species,” Marrone says.

Marrone has been working toward one national certification of products to eliminate any issues with heavy metals or human pathogens being included in formulations.

“Quality control measures need to be robust,” she says.

Science
Marrone says in order to draw a line between “snake oil” and reputable products, the manufacturer and the retailer should be able to explain the science behind the product.

“It’s no longer good enough to just say ‘we have the best microbes,’” she says.

For best placement and performance, Marrone emphasizes the importance of understanding how the biological works.

Data
Marrone encourages farmers to seek out significant proof of field data.

“Small plots don’t always work with biologicals,” she says. “And when you are looking at field data, know where the trials were conducted and what the consistency was.”

Marrone believes today’s biological industry has progressed to a new performance threshold.

“These days, you really want to see a win rate of at least 80%. So, 80% of the time you’re seeing a yield increase of at least 7% —anything below that is just noise,” she says. “I know companies today getting consistent 10% yield increases. That’s where the bar has been raised to.”

Ecorobotix Adds Lettuce-Thinning Functionality

Tue, 17 Jun 2025 19:49:18 GMT

Ecorobotix, an artificial intelligence-based precision agriculture company, said it has added a lettuce thinning algorithm to its ARA Ultra High Precision Sprayer, joining the company’s already existing portfolio of broccoli, carrot, cauliflower and more.

“What’s really unique about the lettuce thinning algorithm is that it thins and weeds at the same time, which is amazing,” said Chrissy Wozniak, U.S. marketing and communications manager for Ecorobotix.

Wozniak said the company saw an unmet need with lettuce growers who already used the machine for other crops.

“Fundamentally, the machine is just one machine, but we do have many different algorithms,” she said. “It goes across the ground and cameras take pictures, and then within a quarter of a second, it decides whether that is a crop to spray or a weed to spray.”

The company said its ARA uses mathematical precision to define plant spacing, ensuring consistent stands. This lettuce algorithm is available through an additional license subscription for customers using the ARA sprayer for weeding and other crop protection plants.

Wozniak said Ecorobotix is as precise as 2.5-by-2.5 inches. As the company adds a new AI algorithm, the development team takes hundreds and hundreds of photos to help the device understand what the crop looks like and what it doesn’t look like.

“They just run the machine over hundreds and hundreds of acres of the crop so that we can teach the AI what that crop looks like and what we’re looking for,” she said.

Wozniak said Ecorobotix aims to meet the needs of its growers, and the company wants to get the equipment into more fields since crops and weeds vary slightly depending on growing regions.

“We’re working on cabbage,” she said. “Cabbage is a huge crop, especially here in the southeast. There’s lots of cabbage, and so we’re really excited about that one, too.”

New Holland, Bluewhite collaborate on autonomous orchard and vineyard solutions

Tue, 09 Jul 2024 18:14:28 GMT

New Holland and Bluewhite say they have entered a multiphase partnership on the integration of Bluewhite’s autonomous solutions for New Holland tractors in North America.

The companies say the technology will be deployed in tractors used in orchards, vineyards and other specialty crops.

Bluewhite, an autonomous farming technology company, said its artificial intelligence-driven autonomous farm solution uses AI, sensor fusion, advanced vehicle integration and precision implements to help growers manage their fleets and data. The company works with more than 20 specialty crop growers and has deployed its autonomous solutions on more than 150,000 acres, according to a news release.

New Holland says adding the capabilities of Bluewhite in orchards and vineyards boosts its strategy of bringing autonomous solutions to market in the specialty crop market. New Holland said Bluewhite technology has been proven to reduce operational costs by up to 85% through inputs, labor and maintenance cost savings.

“With this tech, we’re not only helping address the financial aspect of an operation by freeing up an operator to tackle other tasks; we’re alleviating some of the biggest pain points growers contend with every day that slow them down during the most critical times in the growing season,” Paul Welbig, precision product marketing director for New Holland Agriculture North America, said in the release. “When a grower is hard-pressed to secure labor or schedules don’t align, a difference in hours or a day can significantly set an operation back financially and agronomically. This technology brings relief to those situations.”

IFPA exec outlines sustainability initiatives, programs for next 6 months

Tue, 02 Jul 2024 16:06:59 GMT

With sustainability one of the International Fresh Produce Association’s strategic priorities for 2024, the organization says it continues to develop new resources, education, advocacy and opportunities for its members and industry to engage on the issue.

Following the recent Hort Connections Conference, IFPA Vice President of Sustainability Tamara Muruetagoiena discussed the various influences on sustainability in the global fresh produce and floral community.

Regulatory pressures

In response to new proposals around produce packaging and stickering in Australia, Canada, the European Union and New Zealand, IFPA founded the Alliance for the Sustainable Packaging for Food to engage with regulators, governments, researchers and civil society organizations to ensure regulations achieve environmental sustainability without compromising food safety and product quality, and without increasing carbon footprint of the industry, according to a news release.

“What’s interesting is that consumers’ concerns about the environmental impact of packaging are spread almost equally among a number of factors, ranging from air and water pollution to deforestation to marine litter,” Muruetagoiena said. “Our goal is to continue to use the best science and innovation to create solutions that improve the environmental performance of plastics, increase recyclability and compostability, and discover efficiencies within the system for reusable packaging.”

Environmental, social and economic change drivers

She also reflected on IFPA’s participation in COP28 in late 2023, where agriculture was included for the first time in the United Nations’ climate plans. In her view, the integration of food systems into climate plans signified a shift from the exclusive focus on fossil fuel phaseout and opened up a realm of opportunities and challenges for the agricultural sector, particularly those engaged in climate-smart agriculture, according to the release.

“Regenerative agriculture is one sustainability practice that has garnered the attention of both retailers and consumers. Two-thirds of shoppers told us they are very or somewhat interested in this method,” Muruetagoiena said. “Whether it’s through no-till or reduced-till cultivation, the use of cover crops and crop rotation, drip irrigation, or integrated pest management practices, there’s been a growing public interest in how we grow the most nutritious food on the planet but also how we take care of the planet in doing so.”

Consumer expectations

“Multiple studies show that the health of the planet is one of the top important and top sustainability-related concerns in food and beverage for consumers globally; however, there is confusion about eco-friendliness in terms of labeling and packaging,” she said.

IFPA research has found that fresh produce outranks all other food industries when it comes to being associated with sustainability and that the top five sustainability-related issues on consumers’ minds are water conservation, energy efficiency, recyclable packaging, zero waste and healthy soils.

“I believe our industry has a tremendous opportunity to become more intentional and visible in marketing and communicating the many aspects of its environmental stewardship and care of our planet to consumers,” Muruetagoiena said. “This is supported by an IFPA study that shows consumers believe our industry to be trustworthy but could do more when it comes to transparency in production methods.”

In August, IFPA plans to host Sustainability Summits: in Melbourne, Australia, Aug. 13, and Auckland, New Zealand, Aug. 15.

“By increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables, we can not only improve global health, but we can also decrease the environmental footprint of our diets. Members and industry can look to IFPA to establish best practices and guidance to the fresh produce industry specific to sustainable agriculture as we seek to grow a healthier world,” Muruetagoiena said.

For more details on IFPA sustainability efforts, visit the sustainability section of the organization’s website.

Autonomous ag robotics company raises $11.5M, eyes U.S. expansion

Wed, 07 Feb 2024 14:04:05 GMT

Norwegian autonomous ag robotics company Saga Robotics says it raised $11.5 million in growth capital through an equity transaction.

New shareholders include Songa Investments — part of Blystad Group — and MP Pensjon.

“We clearly see the value Saga Robotics is already creating for its customers in the UK and the U.S., Jacob Ziesler, investment director with the Blystad Group, said in a news release. “The flexible, self-driving platform developed by Saga Robotics offers significant opportunities to continue supporting agriculture with efficiency, reducing the need for spraying, and making a substantial contribution to greenhouse gas reduction. The use of Saga Robotics’ robot makes economic sense for farmers, and the global scaling potential is immense.”

Saga Robotics said this growth capital will help fuel its expansion into the U.S. vineyard market. The company said it also secured contracts to deploy its technology with strawberry growers in the United Kingdom.

The company said its next-generation autonomous solution, Thorvald 3, operates in larger areas. Saga Robotics said it designed this update for scaled production. Thorvald 3 uses high-intensity UV-C light to combat powdery mildew as a fungicide alternative, and it also cuts runners and spreads beneficial predatory mites in strawberry fields, according to the release.

“Robots are now capable of covering large areas and performing precision tasks that surpass conventional farming methods. Thorvald is leading the way in this transformation. This year, nearly one in ten strawberries in the UK will be treated by Thorvald — and this is just the beginning of our global journey,” Saga Robotics CEO Anne Dingstad said in the release.

Fall Creek Farm and Nursery invests in mechanical harvesting company

Mon, 05 Feb 2024 21:38:16 GMT

Fall Creek Farm and Nursery , a blueberry genetics and nursery company in Eugene, Ore., has made a minority investment in FineField, a mechanical harvesting solutions provider headquartered in the Netherlands.

“FineField’s state-of-the-art harvesters reduce fruit bruising, improve pack outs, and are environmentally friendly,” Cort Brazelton, co-CEO of Fall Creek, said in a news release. “They are dedicated to supporting growers through innovative solutions, and we’re excited to partner with them in this journey, fostering a thriving future for growers and the entire industry.”

Fall Creek said FineField incorporates solar-powered robotic harvesters designed to reduce fruit damage and improve harvest quality. FineField currently offers the Harvy500, which is a fully automated solution, and the Harvy200 and Harvy200s, which are harvest-assist equipment.

Fall Creek said that, as a minority investor, it will help support and offer expertise to FineField as it develops new solutions for blueberry growers.

“We are truly excited about the potential of this collaboration, which brings together Fall Creek’s innovative work in variety development with FineField’s cutting-edge robotic harvesting technology,” Oscar Verges, Fall Creek co-CEO, said in the release.

Verges said this investment highlights Fall Creek’s focus on innovation while producing high-quality fruit. Brazelton agrees.

“We aim to address some of the most pressing challenges in blueberry farming, from labor shortages to environmental concerns,” Brazelton said in the release. “This partnership is more than an investment; it’s a commitment to exploring new possibilities and pushing the boundaries of what’s achievable today.”

FloraPulse introduces real-time water monitoring system

Wed, 27 Mar 2024 15:53:21 GMT

FloraPulse says its water-sensing technology offers real-time data to farmers and researchers while helping optimize irrigation and yields.

The company says it has developed a way to acquire data directly from trees and vines, providing automated measurements on plant water status and science-backed irrigation recommendations to agriculture professionals, such as fruit and nut growers, commercial orchard and vineyard operators, scientists and crop consultants.

FloraPulse’s easy-to-install new microT system comprises patented hardware, software and technical support for each user to directly manage water stress, reducing water and labor costs and risks while increasing yields, crop quality and environmental health, according to a news release. The company says the system is ideal for a range of crops, including almonds, hazelnuts, wine grapes, apples, peaches and berries.

“The FloraPulse system is a microchip tensiometer (microtensiometer) that is embedded into the tree woody tissue and directly measures the water status, known as water potential,” the company says on its website. “Because the measurement is taken directly inside the water-carrying tissue, readings are very accurate and reliable.”

FloraPulse was founded through research and collaboration of Cornell University’s Alan Lasko, emeritus professor of horticulture; Abraham Strook, director of the Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; and microT technology developer Michael Santiago, who holds a doctorate in mechanical engineering.

“FloraPulse is a game-changer for the entire agricultural industry,” Lakso said in the release. “After years of research and development, our team created the first simple-to-use device that provides farmers and researchers real-time data that helps growers and researchers achieve efficient water use in the face of variable climate conditions.”

First seedless blackberry developed using CRISPR, company says

Fri, 07 Jun 2024 20:39:31 GMT

Pairwise, a company creating genetics-based solutions in food and agriculture, says it has developed the world’s first seedless blackberry.

Created using the company’s proprietary Fulcrum Platform, a suite of tools for CRISPR application in plants, this is the first time seedlessness has been achieved in any caneberry, according to the company.

“Pairwise scientists have used their deep knowledge of plant genetics, broad suite of CRISPR tools, and multiplex editing techniques to eliminate the hard pits in berry fruit, creating soft, small seeds like those found in grapes and watermelon that are commonly labeled as seedless,” Ryan Bartlett, Pairwise chief technology officer, said in a news release. “We expect that this trait will not only transform the blackberry market, but it also lays the groundwork for accelerated progress in removing seeds and pits in many other fruits such as cherries.”

The company said its data shows more than 30% of berry buyers do not like seeds, and this technology will help introduce more consumers to blackberries and its health benefits.

“The berry variety we edited is consistently sweet year-round and holds up well during shipment; now, consumers will have the option to choose a nutritious blackberry without seeds that also reliably delivers great flavor and quality,” said Haven Baker, Pairwise co-founder and chief business officer.

Pairwise said it also edited the same variety to create a more compact and thornless plant which will help harvesters and growers through more efficient harvesting and improved productivity. The compact nature of the plants means growers can create a more high-density berry patch, the release said.

“The absence of thorns and reduced height of the compact plants allow berry harvesters to better access the fruit and leave less on the plant, reducing food waste and further improving the growers’ economics,” Baker said. “With the precision of CRISPR, we’re able to develop these thornless and compact traits without sacrificing consistency in flavor and quality for consumers.”

The company said it plans outdoor field trials as it works toward a commercial release in the next few years.

“A key challenge in our food system is helping people eat more high-quality, healthy foods. As part of our drive to increase the consumption of fruit and vegetables, we’re working to provide consumers with new, highly nutritious food options with improved flavor and convenience,” said Tom Adams, Pairwise co-founder and CEO.

BeeHero deploys research stations to provide users real-time data

Wed, 28 Feb 2024 20:25:12 GMT

BeeHero, a data-driven precision pollination company, says it has launched three Pollination Research Stations in California’s Central Valley to provide users the ability to track and monitor bloom progress and bee activity.

BeeHero said its Pollination Research Stations deliver real-time, accurate and extensive data on bloom progression and bee activity. The company said these research stations will provide visibility for growers who previously operated with minimal data.

“We’re not just measuring massive amounts of data, we’re transforming pollination practices. Our innovative platform is a unique source of this type of live information for growers, essentially providing a ‘bee livestream’ that grants unprecedented access to the heartbeat of pollination,” BeeHero co-founder and CEO Omer Davidi said in a news release.

The research stations use advanced scientific monitoring techniques and artificial intelligence analysis, according to the release. BeeHero said the stations collect and analyze data to provide insights in a public dashboard, which enables growers to refine their practices, mitigate risks and boost pollination.

“From the outset, our research project set out to uncover new insights into the intricate world of bees, but we quickly realized its greater potential to help transform local growers’ practices,” Doreet Avni, head of bio-research at BeeHero, said in the release. “Opening growers’ eyes to this real-time data they’ve never had before is like bringing science fiction to life.”

The company said each station includes precision instrumentation including:

Weather monitoring equipment that alerts growers to potential frost advisories.
Bee counters to provide accurate bee flight times for precise tracking of pollination activity to the single-bee level.
Scales that offer insights into colony weight gain, a key indicator of foraging and pollination effectiveness.
Cameras to provide visual confirmation of bloom progression.

Related: How technology can help protect bees and aid beekeepers

Exploring the vineyard of the future project's broader impacts

Wed, 28 Feb 2024 23:41:45 GMT

John Deere recently announced a “vineyard of the future” project with Sonoma County Winegrowers to deploy technology solutions to help wine grape growers better maximize yield, applications and more.

In this episode of the “Tip of the Iceberg” podcast , Sean Sundberg, business integration manager for John Deere, said the team at John Deere recognized the importance of the multigenerational farms in the region. He said these families wanted to participate in the project to help ensure the vineyard lands continue to stay in farming.

“That’s really what engaged us to say there’s an opportunity here, that we can help,” he said. “The future is now, and those farmers are … looking for technology and embracing technology.”

Sundberg said growers he works with understand how technology can help alleviate the mounting pressures of labor woes, pesticide spray regulations and rising costs of farming. He said farms of the future will likely integrate more electric and battery-powered equipment in the coming years. Automation will play a big part in agriculture equipment, he said, as it supplements the crews working on farms.

“[Automation is] not meant to eliminate all jobs,” he said, noting automation will help growers better deploy existing crews into other jobs on the farm.

The other major component of the future of specialty crop farming is the utilization of data, Sundberg said. Growers will soon be able to understand how applications in each block or section of the vineyard impact quality and yield. He said growers will also be able to understand other factors that go into yield including sunlight, irrigation and soil type to provide a full picture of the growing season and conditions,

“Then you can make real-time decisions that are going to allow you to say if I can do this here, I will get that there, and you’re going to be that much better off as an operation,” he said.

Sundberg also shared how the vineyard of the future trial includes utilizing John Deere’s Smart Apply which detects canopy density to help calculate the necessary spray density to better target applications and avoid overspraying or drift. Sundberg said John Deere will trial Smart Apply in Sonoma County this year on existing sprayers. Initial trials show a lot of promise from a cost savings perspective, but Sundberg said that isn’t the only goal for the growers in the project.

“I think that if you were to ask these growers, they’re going to say [saving] money’s great,” he said. “... but it really goes back to am I being a good steward of the land? Am I being a good steward of the environment? And that’s exactly what this is helping them do.”

Listen to this episode by using the player above or by clicking here .

Quest for AI solutions propels ag strategies

Fri, 28 Jun 2024 13:51:46 GMT

Agricultural operations are embracing innovative methods focused on artificial intelligence to simulate human intelligence processes.

And growers, packers and shippers are joining other business-to-business entities seeking practical starting points for entry into the AI domain.

“AI can improve decision-making by providing better signals and insights,” said Mike Sinoway, CEO of Lucidworks. “As models become more specialized for sectors like agriculture, their value will increase even further.”

Lucidworks is a San Francisco-based software company that specializes in commerce, customer service and workplace applications. The firm recently released the results of its second annual “Generative A1 Benchmark Study.” The global effort surveyed business leaders who are actively pursuing A1 initiatives.

“The initial wave of enthusiasm for generative AI is being met with a more strategic approach,” Sinoway said. “Businesses are recognizing the potential of this technology, but they’re also cautious about the risks and costs. This is reflected in the flattened spending, which suggests a shift toward more thoughtful planning.

“While our research didn’t specifically target the agricultural sector, we found valuable insights from B2B companies that are relevant to produce grower/packer/shipper sectors,” Sinoway added. “B2B leaders are focusing on establishing AI governance and using AI to decrease general and administrative expenses. These are practical starting points for agribusinesses as well.”

Sinoway urges agribusinesses to proactively adopt AI to stay competitive. AI, especially Large Language Models, can accelerate how agribusinesses create product descriptions and attributes, for example, saving time and resources, he said.

Agribusinesses should start by identifying specific use cases for AI and understanding their data requirements. Sinoway said these measures will ensure a targeted and effective implementation.

“Lucidworks advocates for making well-informed decisions about AI investments, not just rushing into adoption,” he said. “Define your goals, understand data security needs and choose AI solutions that align with your specific requirements. AI can enable agribusinesses to deliver highly personalized experiences to their customers, understanding their needs and preferences in real time.”

The opportunities for agriculture to incorporate AI include boosting transportation and logistics performance to optimize routes, predict demand and improve efficiency in the supply chain, reducing costs and improving delivery times.

Sinoway said AI can automate the inspection of produce, identifying defects and ensuring consistent quality.

“A1 also can personalize marketing campaigns, predict customer behavior and optimize pricing strategies,” he said.

High-value and specialty crop growers are transitioning to A1-powered tools that can analyze data from sensors, drones and satellites to monitor crop health, predict yields and optimize irrigation and fertilization.

Autonomous approach

Ben Alfi, CEO and co-founder of Bluewhite, says he has propelled his 6-year-old startup company into prime position to capitalize on the automated solutions surge.

Bluewhite’s robot-as-a-service model is enabling data-driven autonomous farming to take hold as a profitable tool for growers.

Bluewhite’s Pathinder product is a bolt-on kit that transforms any tractor into a fully autonomous machine, allowing the tractor and its implements to fully function without the need for a human operator. It is capable of spraying, mowing, tilling, mulching, fertilizing and more. It preserves the ability to operate the tractor manually.

With U.S.-based headquarters in Fresno, Calif., Bluewhite is a global company founded in 2017 by Israeli air force and autonomous technology veterans.

“High-value crop production lends itself well to an autonomous approach because it’s quite repetitive and quite known,” Alfi said. “We understood, costwise, that buying new robots is expensive, and it would be hard to show return on investment. We don’t want to promise future yields. We want to show how you are cutting operational costs.”

Bluewhite combines a hardware kit and a software stack to enable operation of varied vehicles “doing different types of missions.”

With a workforce of 150 people and investment support of nearly $100 million, the company says it currently has field operations in California and Washington state.

Acceptance by equipment operators wasn’t fully anticipated.

“We saw a few things that we didn’t think that we would see, including the positive reaction of workers, saying, ‘hey, I’d like to work with an iPad,’” Alfi said.

“We see men and women, more diversity,” he continued. “[They say,] ‘I find it much more attractive to not be near the tractor that is spraying, near the chemicals. Keep me away from that.’

“The 21st century worker is transforming from pilots and drivers to robot operators,” Alfi added. “They understand what is the need. They are not in charge of the safety of the tractor and the quality of the mission. The tractor is safe. [It has] all the software and algorithms, obstacle detection and the ability to see how to maneuver into place. It’s real exciting in saving money and increasing the quality of life for the workers.”

Alfi said “an autonomous farm is not a farm without workers. It’s a farm where workers create more with their abilities while maintaining high quality and safety.”

Bluewhite thinks that agricultural autonomy is no longer a luxury, but a necessity to preserve global food production.

“If we will always be obliged to determine … where is the cost of the cheapest labor available, then we’re not making food in America anymore,” he said. “You will see yourself without food security, something that is totally crucial.

“The upside is we see growers saying, ‘I’m able to keep on producing in America in a safe way,’” Alfi continued. “Second, [they also see their] kids coming back, and they are willing to be the next generation, because today it’s very hard to convince them to be the next generation taking over.”

The way A1 technology is developed and deployed will maintain a traditional structure.

“The ecosystem, for good reason, is the same ecosystem for more than a century and I think it will stay like that,” Alfi said. “It will be the grower, the dealerships, the OEMs, startups and new innovative companies that will join in.”

While Lucidworks’ survey found generative AI’s explosive growth is cooling as businesses face cost and security hurdles, in agriculture “the ecosystem stays and gives us more opportunity to create more food to more people who need healthy food that won’t be so expensive,” Alfi said.

Autonomous equipment is unlike some agriculture technologies that receive timid acceptance by growers.

“Autonomy is unlike precision ag,” Alfi said. “Precision ag promises, in some ways, future yields. With future yields, it’s hard to prove because there are so many reasons for it. The adoption of precision ag is not easy, and you need to invest in order to get it.”

As for autonomy, Alfi said when a company is bolted into an already existing fleet, it doesn’t need to buy new, expensive robots — and return on investment is seen much faster.

“Autonomous vehicles are not superheroes,” Alfi said. “They need to practice and mature. Every year we’re creating more capabilities and more accomplishments. We started with a certain model doing spraying. Now we have 20 models.

“As long as you’re patient and you know autonomy is here to stay, you say, ‘OK, give me more capabilities,’” he continued. “And with us and the dealers to help out how to adopt, we see a very positive impact on the adoption process that is happening, much better than I thought, actually.”

Cutting-edge solutions

More than 1,500 produce companies use Famous Software to help drive their operations’ data management, the Fresno-based company says.

Famous Software was founded as a grower accounting solution in 1975. As the industry has evolved, so has Famous Software.

“We saw a unique need for technology solutions that were and are built with the fresh produce industry in mind,” said Heather Hammack, president of Famous Software. “We have worked hard to stay on the cutting edge of what operators in the fresh produce space need and expanded our offerings to accommodate the needs not only of grower, packer, shippers, but [also of] anyone involved in fresh produce from distributors to wholesalers to labor contractors and more.”

The company says its enterprise resource planning software helps organizations automate and manage core business processes to improve performance.

“What we have found over the years is that because our ERP and other solutions were built with the fresh produce industry in mind, many of our customers gain significant efficiency right after ‘Go Live,’” Hammack said. “One of our huge competitive advantages is that our ERP system is built on powerful Oracle products. Customers can rely on the fact that their data is consistent across all modules given our normalized database.”

The key to offering new technology products is a focused development process, Hammack said.

“We are always monitoring trends in technology and finding ways to incorporate new advances into our offerings,” she said. “Before we push new features live, we want to make sure that anything we introduce into our technology suite is fully vetted and functions exceptionally well. That’s why we’ve been in business for nearly 50 years — we focus our efforts on technology that can bring real value to our customers and will ensure they are efficient and even have a competitive edge.”

Hammack acknowledged that “security is a huge priority for our customers. That’s why we are a Service Organization Control-compliant company and have been since 2020.”

In order to be SOC compliant, the company goes through a significant annual audit, she said.

“We just passed our SOC 1 Type 2 audit recently and make it an organizational priority each year,” Hammack said. “This helps our customers feel confident that we are an organization that is committed to data security and control. It also helps our customers meet their own audit obligations and be in compliance with regulatory requirements.”

Grower says AI integration is changing greenhouse ag

Fri, 21 Jun 2024 15:38:11 GMT

Artificial intelligence-driven technology is playing an increasingly pivotal role in greenhouse agriculture, where the delicate balance of plant care meets the demands of market freshness, says Village Farms Fresh.

The grower, marketer and distributor of greenhouse-grown fruits and vegetables says a bustling greenhouse can feature rows meticulously tended plants thrive under conditions finely tuned by a blend of human expertise and technological prowess.

Village Farms Fresh growers like Arie van de Giessen, vice president and facility manager in Texas, says the integration of AI-driven solutions like Blue Radix is helping improve efficiency and quality.

“I like to say that AI is our friend, because it is doing what we are training it to do and it keeps improving,” van der Giessen said in a news release. “Blue Radix makes life easier so we can focus on the many other important aspects of greenhouse growing.”

Greenhouse growers are often on call perpetually, tasked with monitoring plant needs around the clock, which underscores the intersection of green thumb know-how and automation in controlled environment agriculture, the company says.

A recent panel discussion featuring Blue Radix, which specializes in autonomous climate and irrigation control, focused on how AI innovations are transforming the agricultural landscape, according to the release.

Blue Radix, which received an innovation award at GreenTech in Amsterdam, says it exemplifies the strides made in autonomous growing technologies for greenhouses — advancements aimed at not only elevating the quality of produce, but also improving growers’ well-being.

“Autonomous growing with Crop Controller really is a win-win for team and company. Besides the financial and sustainable benefits for the companies, our customers tell us they have more peace of mind,” Blue Radix CEO Ron Hoek said in the release. “They can improve their work-life balance as no check in the evenings or weekends are necessary.”

The advent of AI in agriculture is about more than operational efficiency; it signifies a paradigm shift in work dynamics, the company says. By letting AI systems handle routine monitoring and control tasks, growers are free to engage more deeply in strategic endeavors such as crop planning and experimentation, the release said.

Village Farms Fresh says it has consistently championed innovation, viewing technology not merely as a tool for growth, but also as a cornerstone of sustainable practices. The company says that by investing in AI-driven solutions it is enhancing the quality of its offerings and underscoring a commitment to supporting the growers who drive its success.

The company says the benefits of AI in agriculture extend beyond the specific operations, influencing everything from market competitiveness to environmental stewardship. By optimizing resource use and minimizing waste, the goal is for AI to empower growers to cultivate crops that are superior in quality and more sustainable in production.

How technology can help protect bees and aid beekeepers

Tue, 20 Feb 2024 19:56:22 GMT

In his TED Talk, “ A plea for bees ,” Dennis vanEngelsdorp, a leading apiarist, said bees pollinate and indirectly pollinate about one-third of the food in the U.S. To illustrate this point, he shared a photo of his breakfast, followed by one where he removed everything impacted by bees. It was a stark contrast.

The presentation by vanEngelsdorp focused on the challenges affecting both the beekeeping industry and the fresh produce industry, which relies greatly on pollinators such as bees. These include varroa mites, colony collapse disorder and, unfortunately, hive theft.

It’s in addressing these challenges that technology companies such as BeeHero hope to help improve efficiencies and offer beekeepers and produce growers insights into the hives deployed to pollinate.

In this “Tip of the Iceberg” podcast episode , BeeHero co-founder and CEO Omer Davidi said he founded the company to help those in the industry better understand their hives.

“We develop technology that helps to mitigate those gaps between what we see with the beekeeping industry and the pollination needs,” he said. “It’s a low-cost sensor that goes into an existing beehive, so understanding the complications of the beekeeping domain and the commercial environment.”

Colony collapse disorder is damaging for beekeepers, causing up to 40% hive mortality a year, which has a broader effect, Davidi said. BeeHero helps monitor temperature and humidity within the hive so beekeepers can get a better picture of hive health and deploy that data to better predict issues.

“As the environment changes, we create a lot of stressors that eventually affect the hive,” he said. “That requires beekeepers to be more thoughtful and maybe even adjust the way they are used to operating their business so they can survive in this environment.”

Davidi said BeeHero works with beekeepers year-round and offer farmers a precision pollination service. Farmers, thanks to BeeHero’s technology, understand a hive’s activity in their orchards or fields.

Davidi said a challenge to developing technology like BeeHero is that farming isn’t a sterile environment like a laboratory, so there’s a critical need to build technology solutions to withstand Mother Nature.

“When you go out to the field and there’s mud, there’s rain,” he said. “It’s messy out there, and you still need to create something that is robust enough and solid enough to work in those conditions and does not affect the way that people operate their business.”

Davidi said hive tracking helps beekeepers in the unfortunate situation of hive theft.

“It wasn’t the core aspect of what we’re trying to do, but if we can support beekeepers to handle theft as well, it’s a good thing to do,” he said. “We hope that people seeing those sensors on the hives will understand that you don’t want to steal those they are tracked.”

Davidi said tracking can help beekeepers in other ways, too. He said one beekeeper said the BeeHero map showed a hive in an orchard, but the beekeeper was adamant that his team removed all the hives. Using BeeHero’s precise tracking, the beekeeper found 10 hives in a location his team had forgotten about.

“Sometimes just forgetting the hives in the field could be a devastating thing because those hives will not survive in a farming environment all year long,” he said.

Listen to this podcast episode in the player above, on your favorite podcast platform or by checking out this link .

Natus Foods takes data-driven approach to sustainable produce

Thu, 08 Aug 2024 14:08:19 GMT

Natus Foods says it looks to data in its approach to sustainable agriculture.

Natus Foods serves as the direct conduit for Unispice customers in the U.S. and Canada. Unispice is a grower-shipper-packer dedicated to creating a truly sustainable fresh produce production chain, and Natus Foods is at the forefront of a mission to create a direct and transparent link with its customers and farms, according to a news release.

By focusing on data-driven farming, Natus Foods says it aims to gather real-time data from customers and bring valuable information back to the farms, allowing for precise planning.

“Data is crucial for us,” said Unispice CEO Allan Safieh. “Collecting accurate information from our clients helps us transform this unpredictable industry into a more predictable and reliable one, ensuring we meet market expectations and deliver the best solutions.”

By connecting customers directly to its farms, Natus Foods says its customers can focus on core competencies while it operates efficiently to meet all expectations, helping to ensure consistent and high-quality produce from farm to table.

Natus Foods offers a range of premium products under the Born label, including French green beans, sugar snap peas, snow peas, baby broccoli, butternut squash and more. These products are grown on regenerated land, aligning with the brand’s mission of sustainability, the release said.

Natus Foods offers tailored solutions such as exclusive brand management, purchasing programs and private labels. Its products are imported via Florida and Texas, providing customers with versatile loading options and minimizing food miles, the release said.

RDO Equipment to carry AI-driven precision sprayer

Mon, 05 Aug 2024 17:17:23 GMT

RDO Equipment Co. says it will carry Ecorobotix’s ARA ultra-high precision sprayer at select locations nationwide. Ecorobotix specializes in artificial intelligence-driven agricultural technology.

Ecorobotix’s ARA sprayer is an AI solution that offers precise application of phytosanitary products with a 2.4-by-2.4-square-inch spray footprint, according to a news release. Ecorobotix said its AI Plant-by-Plant software and UHP-Spray-Technology results in a 95% reduction in chemical use. The company said the ARA sprayer’s algorithms are tailored to vegetable crops such as lettuce, carrots, onions and more.

The company said its precision sprayer also helps reduce labor and input costs, enhances yield and lowers carbon dioxide emissions with its precision application.

“We first learned about Ecorobotix’s innovative ARA sprayer while working with a vegetable grower on ways to optimize their operation,” Brady Kiesz, RDO product specialist manager based in the Pacific Northwest, said in the release. “All of us at RDO Equipment Co. are thrilled to be able to offer this intelligent spraying solution plus our service and support so growers can effectively integrate the advanced sprayer to save on labor or input costs.”