Agriculture This Week: The future lies in robotics

Apr 19, 2024

Certain topics in agriculture have tended to dominate farm media – this column included – over the years.

For example the protracted debate which finally led to the elimination of the Canadian Wheat Board. The Port of Churchill, and the evolutionary move to zero till farm practices would be such topics.

Currently, the trend toward robotic agriculture is added to the list.

There is no doubt in this writer’s mind that robotic farming is the next big thing in terms of on-farm operations.

Just what the future will look like is of course an unknown. In many ways the basic foundation of robotic technology is very much in its infancy, and what improvements will be made in the next decade will be beyond what most of us can even start to imagine.

Then how that technology is adapted to agricultural applications is another facet of development which is going to be significant, if not fully understood today.

So it’s hardly surprising to see a www.producer.com story about DLG (the German Agricultural Society), which organizes Agritechnica, the world’s largest farm machinery show, adding a new feature to its upcoming outdoor Feldtage (field days) event to do exactly that.

“FarmRobotix is to become a platform that will supply farmers with relevant information,” said Malene Conlong, DLG’s international press liaison in the article.

Robotics have been part of the annual field days event for several years, including a design competition for field robotics. The FarmRobotix focus will emphasize that element of emerging technology.

The addition to the show is simply testament to the realization of the importance of robotics, and with that in mind how critical it is to keep the producer aware of what is emerging in the field.

When I think back my father quit school so he could focus on working horses in the field, and he lived to see four-wheel drive tractors with air conditioned cabs and radios.

Had he lived only a couple of decades longer he would have seen the earliest autonomous tractors, and drone technology.

Imagine what a younger farmer today – to quit school at 14 – will see a half century from now. What will robots being doing in our word and on our farms in 2074?

It’s a question even the likes of Isaac Asimov would find challenging to imagine, but it will most certainly be greatly different from the typical farming of today.

Change is a constant and that includes how farmers farm.

Click here to see more...

Video: The Investment Opportunities of Industrial Hemp

The fledgling U.S. hemp industry is decades behind countries like Canada, France and China, but according to impact investor and this week’s podcast guest, Pierre Berard, it could flourish into a $2.2 billion industry by 2030 and create thousands of jobs.

To reach its potential, what the hemp industry needs most right now, Berard said, is capital investment.

Last month, Berard published a report titled “Seeing the U.S. Industrial Hemp Opportunity — A Pioneering Venture for Investors and Corporations Driven by Environmental, Social and Financial Concerns” in which he lays out the case for investment.

It’s as if Berard, with this report, is waving a giant flag, trying to attract the eyes of investors, saying, “Look over here. Look at all this opportunity.”

Berard likens the burgeoning American hemp industry to a developing country.

“There is no capital. People don’t want to finance. This is too risky. And I was like, OK, this sounds like something for me,” he said.

As an impact investor who manages funds specializing in agro-processing companies, Berard now has his sights set on the U.S. hemp industry, which he believes has great economic value as well as social and environmental benefits.

He spent many years developing investment in the agriculture infrastructure of developing countries in Latin America and Africa, and said the hemp industry feels similar.

“It is very nascent and it is a very fragmented sector. You have pioneers and trailblazers inventing or reinventing the field after 80 years of prohibition,” he said. “So I feel very familiar with this context.”

On this week’s hemp podcast, Berard talks about the report and the opportunities available to investors in the feed, fiber and food sectors of the hemp industry.

Building an industry around an agricultural commodity takes time, he said. According to the report, “The soybean industry took about 50 years to become firmly established, from the first USDA imports in 1898 to the U.S. being the top worldwide producer in the 1950s.”

Berard has a plan to accelerate the growth of the hemp industry and sees a four-pillar approach to attract investment.

First, he said, the foundation of the industry is the relationship between farmers and processors at the local level.

Second, he said the industry needs what he calls a “federating body” that will represent it, foster markets and innovations, and reduce risk for its members and investors.

The third pillar is “collaboration with corporations that aim to secure or diversify their supply chains with sustainable products and enhance their ESG credentials. This will be key to funding the industry and creating markets,” he said.

The fourth pillar is investment. Lots of it. Over $1.6 billion over seven years. This money will come from government, corporations, individual investors, and philanthropic donors.

The 75-page report goes into detail about the hemp industry, its environmental and social impact, and the opportunities available to investors.

Read the report here: Seeing the U.S. Industrial Hemp Opportunity

Also on this episode, we check in with hemp and bison farmer Herb Grove from Brush Mountain Bison in Centre County, PA, where he grew 50 acres of hemp grain. We’ll hear about harvest and dry down and crushing the seed for oil and cake.