Five Questions About The Ag Robotics Revolution (FIRA USA Takeaways)

FIRA USA: https://fira-usa.com/

SwarmFarm Robotics: https://www.swarmfarm.com/

Robotics Plus: https://www.roboticsplus.co.nz/

Bluewhite: https://www.bluewhite.ai/

Agtonomy: https://www.agtonomy.com/

Western Growers' Financial Case Studies: https://www.wga.com/innovation/case-studies/

A couple weeks ago I had the chance to attend FIRA USA, which is the gathering for ag robotics and autonomous equipment in agriculture. And autonomy has been on my mind a lot lately. You’ve seen an uptick in autonomy related episodes this past year or so, featuring companies like Verdant Robotics, Carbon Robotics and Sabanto all on different episodes. The reason for this is I’m definitely getting the sense that many of these solutions are starting to reach a tipping point from “wouldn’t it be cool if” to “this is actually being purchased and used on farms”. 

And that’s exciting. So while I was at the event I recorded about a dozen conversations and asked some of the questions I have about what I’m choosing to call the “ag robotics revolution”. What you’ll hear today are clips from four founders who were at FIRA USA to feature their technology. 

Andrew Bate of SwarmFarm Robotics

Steve Saunders of Robotics Plus

Ben Alfi of BlueWhite Robotics

Tim Bucher of AgTonomy

I should mention that Tim’s interview didn’t actually happened at FIRA, it happened earlier this year for a series of radio reports, but it really fit the episode and he was at the event I just missed him, so I wanted to include him. That said, I chose these four to feature on this episode for a number of reasons: 

• They all have some sort of focus on fully automating the power unit of the farm - aka the tractor - although this isn’t their exclusive focus as you’ll hear - but they all are taking different approaches
• They are all originally from different countries, which I think really shows the global effort of this industry and the different perspectives that come with that. Andrew at SwarmFarm from Australia, Steve at Robotics Plus from New Zealand, Ben at BlueWhite from Israel, and Tim at Agtonomy from California. 
• They represent the type of people leading this effort in that these are not young (no offense guys) silicon valley types. These are accomplished entrepreneurs and businessmen in their own right who don’t seem to be doing it because they need the money or they want to become billionaires. They really seem to just have a passion for the technology and the change it can bring to the future of agriculture. This to me is at the core of what made the people I interviewed at this event different from other agtech events I’ve been to. That, and the field demonstrations equipped with everything from fake orchards and vineyards to vegetable beds to a field crops area just big enough to showcase John Deere’s see&spray ultimate and its 120 ft carbon fiber boom was what separates this events from other agtech events.  

I’ll tell you more about each of the guests as we go and share some of my thoughts about robotics and the event, but overall through these four interviews, we had the chance to cover seven of the big questions I have about farm robotics, and i’ll outline those questions here: 

1. Has the ag robotics revolution *really* arrived? 
2. What’s driving the push toward these solutions? 
3. Does this technology really solve much-talked-about “ag labor problem”? 
4. Will farmers actually adopt this? 
5. What’s next for ag robotics? 

Previous episodes featuring robotics and automation:

Tractor Driver is Now a Remote Opportunity With Craig Rupp of Sabanto

Laser Weeding And Growing A Robotics Company Toward An IPO With Paul Mikesell of Carbon Robotics

The Path To Superhuman Farming with Curtis Garner and Brent Shedd of Verdant Robotics

Robotic Harvesting and Beyond with Kyle Cobb of advanced.farm

Autonomous Sprayers with Gary Thompson of GUSS

Ag Robotics Roundtable