“We have our laser weeders, and through a collaboration with our managers and Carbon Robotics, we have them weeding and thinning at the same time,” said Kristen Smith Eshaya, President of JV Smith Companies, to Western Growers last summer. “In the early days, we had engineers basically living out of trailers in the middle of these farm fields because we were actively developing and changing and editing things,” he said. “Our earliest growers and customers were in Salinas and are all part of Western Growers, and we’re very happy to continue to participate.” Mikesell said he makes it a point to visit with his customers as often as possible, stating that the growers are the ones who really hold all the knowledge. “The only way you can make a good product for growers is by building that relationship and having conversations,” he said. “A lot of tech companies have made the mistake of feeling like they’re experts in one field and thinking they’re just going to show up and give farmers a piece of equipment to solve all of their problems. It doesn’t work like that.” Mikesell’s familiarity and experience in the tech startup space has served him well. For more than 20 years, he’s contributed largely to robotics and advanced techniques for AI-driven computer vision systems for notable companies in Silicon Valley, including Uber—and he has no plans for Carbon Robotics to slow down any time soon. “I have a long background of making venture capitalists a ton of money through my inventions, and I hope to continue doing that with Carbon Robotics,” he said. “I’m very proud to have NVIDIA invested in us, and if you think that’s exciting, just wait until you see what we do next.” The third annual FIRA USA event is set to take place Oct. 22-24, 2024 in Woodland, Calif., and will showcase more than 35 robots demonstrating advancements in agricultural automation solutions in several demonstration zones. The exhibition hall will include more than 70 indoor booths. This year, for the first time, growers will be able to attend the three-day event for free.
The study also found that the LaserWeeder can reduce weed seedbank. “It was important for us to not only weed at a relatively low cost, but that we would improve our weed-to-plant ratio over time by reducing the weed seed count in the soil,” said Josh Roberts, former President of Triangle Farms, who participated in the case study. Carbon Robotics’ customers range from farms as small as 300 acres to farms that are hundreds of thousands of acres. Mikesell said his goal is to have a product for growers that will pay for itself in less than three years. “We’ve saved farmers a lot of money. Most of our farmers are seeing that payback period between one to three years…sure, there are growers who are more conservative in nature and are conscientious of how they spend their money, but we have enough machines out there in the field now that most people know somebody, or are two or three steps removed from somebody, who has a LaserWeeder and can get some questions answered firsthand,” Mikesell said. And while the LaserWeeder is getting a lot of attention by word of mouth, Mikesell said another big reason for his company’s success is that his team makes a concerted effort to get to know farmers and uses their feedback to optimize his products. “A lot of tech companies have made the mistake of feeling like they’re experts in one field and thinking they’re just going to show up and give farmers a piece of equipment to solve all of their problems. It doesn’t work like that.”
17 Western Grower & Shipper | www.wga.com July | August 2024
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker