Sabanto is the most economically transformative company in farming (besides sister DCVC company Pivot Bio) — and of the least reported on
Lora Kolodny - not only is this autonomy that works (cough, cough) but it helps farmers grow more food, more healthfully, more quickly, at lower cost, in the face of climate variability.
Meet “Dusty." Dusty’s running 10 tractors in parallel across the US. He covers more acres in a single day than most do in a year.
#FaaS#autonomy#farming
Back in 2017 I made a $1,000 bet with a colleague that autonomous equipment would be available in 5-6 years, of which he was in strong disagreement.
The reality is that autonomous equipment although not yet prevalent in the industry, there are machines available such as SwarmFarm Robotics, GUSS Automation, Robotics Plus to name but a few who are providing this technology to growers today, and the number is growing.
It is good to see that there is work being done on smaller autonomous machines for nurseries and high value horticulture crops such as the machine in this video.
There are many reasons that growers would take up autonomous machines outside of the challenges of labour (supply, reliability, cost, efficiency etc). The decision to invest relate to improvement of the activity outcome, cost of operation, timeliness of activity (operation complete at time of the day when it is unreasonable or not possible to get labour), efficacy etc.
With that average farm in Australia making around 3-4% profit per year, quality of output, productivity and cost of operation will continue to drive farm and crop management decisions well into the future.
PeritusAg
Leading the Precision Silviculture Programme at Forest Growers Research
🚜 Mini autonomous tractor testing🌱
Alongside partners Tui Technology and PF Olsen, we've been busy testing GOVOR, a compact autonomous electric "tractor," designed specifically for row based growers by Agovor. We are interested in its use in bareroot nurseries for monitoring, mowing, and spraying tasks.
Key Takeaways so far:
"Perfect" GPS?!: Although traditional tractors equipped with GPS offer precise planting, variations in spacing still occur meaning sometimes GOVOR was the perfect fit down the rows and other times it was very snug!
Monitoring prototype: The prototype monitoring trailer, attached to GOVOR, handled turns and uneven surfaces with ease. This gives us confidence that it can work paired with GOVOR. Next step is deploying the cameras and sensors for ground based monitoring. This is a bespoke attachment we are designing specifically for forest nurseries.
Ongoing Trials: We're extending trials across various nurseries to validate GOVOR's versatility and effectiveness in different settings and use cases.
#Innovation#AutonomousVehicles#SustainableForestry#GOVOR#AGOVOR#PrecisionTechnology