I am encouraged by what they are doing across the pond. Not so much stateside.

I have been trying to form a framework for a few years now. Small acreage farmers growing organically need automation.

Large corporate farms are already mechanized. As are most commodity crops. Speciality crops that need a lot of human labour and expertise..especially in organic operations need help from automation and robotics tech.

The trend I am seeing in the US is mostly data collecting intelligence. Everyone is doing something in AI or ML or blockchain. But small acreage farmers like me need more automation.

I have noticed that the trend in the states seems to be data collection technology which needs massive datasets. There isn’t a lot of care or use from small acreage farms. This is the biggest stumbling block for small farms(less than 100 acres) to be included in the big boys game.

We need small cheap robots that does a diverse set of tasks. At this point, for small farms, human intelligence trumps AI. But data is king. More money is made off data harvested from farmers than the actual produce itself. Because farmers sell wholesale but we pay retail for the tech.

We are lagging behind in the United States compared to endevours in the EU or down under. Not everyone can be a unicorn. Not everything has to be big.

In a way..we don’t have to try because we have super cheap migrant labour. For now. I will bet my bottom dollar that it will be gone in a few years time. What then? We are also spoilt for choice by the produce bounty from Mexico. But for how long?

As a small farmer who is interested in automation, a few thoughts : 1. I would like a robotic platform that can be modular depending on my operation. Diff farmers use diff methods. We live in diff zones and have diff pests and diff soil and diff water. One size won’t fit all. 2. There is more to farm labour than just weeding bots. 3. I need to own my farm’s data and be able to commodify it. 4. We need to be partners. Because bots are not farmers and the industry needs us to train them. Include us. I am the domain expert. Not the roboticist or the engineer. 5. I would pay upto 20-25k for a robotic platform with a certain set of features. It’s worth it for me. That’s because I have a smattering of interest about robotics and automation to know what’s possible and how much it would cost. I also know how valuable data is and I want to make money off my data. A seemingly expensive platform is still worth that to me..however, I find it very difficult to convince my fellow farmers. Why? Distrust. 6. Farmers distrust technology because we deal with perishables and tech we can’t control is our work rotting in the field. 7. Farmers don’t get enough respect. Not the farming concerns with 10s of thousands of acres or corporate farms that have lobbies and trade memberships. Not commodity farmers..but regular farmers who sell at the farmers markets or to restaurants. 8. Nobody works with us. They ask us questions and once funding comes through, they are being nudged towards larger farms. They won’t grow bitter melon or fenugreek. Those huge farms won’t grow the eggplant from Laos or India. Or that specific spicy hot pepper from some place in South America. Without small farmers, we will all be eating the same kinds of foods. Same variety of tomato or the same kind of sweet pepper bred for machine harvest and mass production.

I started out naive. I am not under any illusion anymore that I can design a small acreage robotic platform. But now I know what’s out there and how I can make it work for smaller operations. And how to integrate the many things we do seamlessly as a new kind of Ag for us. Afterall, in other countries..the average farm size is 2-3 hectares. And they feed local population. So my platform will be useful elsewhere even if it doesn’t gain traction in the states.

I also have realistic expectations of technology now. And people. I am excited every time I read about innovations across the pond. Maybe we will get it for small acreage specialty crop organic farmers here. Or maybe not. But when we consider global momentum, some really exciting things are happening. And it’s happening fast!