Updates from the WGCIT By Ellie Amesse
The Western Growers Center for Innovation and Technology was created to link Western Growers members with innovators in the agtech space. Below are news updates from the Center’s startups, as well as updates on activities at the center and its popular podcast!
AgTools
Agtools is moving forward and has become a worldwide source of reliable data for private and public/government entities. Its founder was selected as one of the Microsoft-sponsored Women in Cloud, Top 100 Founders for 2023 in part by accelerating the usage of ESG and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. AgTools was honored by the city of Champaign, Ill., with a city proclamation during Agtech Week at the University of Illinois in March 2023. The company was also recently featured by the University of Florida in its research article on economies of scale and scope in fresh produce technologies. Also featured was AgTools’ white paper highlighting how geo-political and climate changes, plus over 76 variables, impact the supply chains for U.S. commissaries. These various honors have resulted in AgTools receiving multiyear contracts across the globe to continue providing curated data for optimum decision-making by farmers and buyers in the food supply chain.
Bluewhite
This February, Bluewhite participated in the World Ag Expo 2023 in Tulare, in which they were selected as winners in the International Agri-Center World Ag Expo’s New Products competition. Bluewhite’s team installed the award-winning Bluewhite Pathfinder on multiple manufacturers’ tractors, showcasing the
Pathfinder’s autonomous system with multiple types of implements, such as the Exact harvester. Bluewhite and Exact Harvesting Systems announced a collaborative partnership to pioneer the industry’s first fully autonomous nut- harvesting solution during the event. Together, Bluewhite and Exact Harvesting Systems are reimagining what is possible for growers around the world by creating autonomous farming opportunities. Carbon Robotics, a leader in AI-powered robotics, empowers farmers to operate more efficiently by building innovative agriculture tools. The company’s revolutionary, high-precision laser weeding technology leverages sophisticated AI deep learning technology, computer vision, robotics and lasers to reduce weed control costs by 80 percent and improve crop yield and quality. In February 2022, Carbon Robotics launched the LaserWeeder, a pull-behind robot that seamlessly attaches to the back of tractors and utilizes Carbon Robotics’ laser weeding technology to identify weeds and target them for elimination. The LaserWeeder’s 30 high-powered CO2 lasers use thermal energy to destroy the meristem of the weed with millimeter accuracy, without disturbing the soil or damaging nearby crops. The implement can kill up to 99% of weeds, eliminate up to 200,000 weeds per hour and weed up to two acres per hour. Carbon Robotics introduced the industry’s first LaserThinning capability for its LaserWeeder in February 2023. LaserThinning targets areas where vegetable crops are purposefully overseeded and then thinned for optimal crop spacing, growth and yield. As a new software update, all LaserWeeders in the fleet will now be able to thin and weed on a single farm equipment platform. To date, Carbon Robotics’ LaserWeeders have successfully eliminated over 500 million weeds across 50 different crops. Deliveries in 2023 will bring the LaserWeeder to farms in 17 U.S. states and three provinces in Canada. Pre-orders for 2023 are nearly sold out and pre-orders for 2024 deliveries are well underway.
Carbon Robotics
36
MAY | JUNE 2023
Western Grower & Shipper | www.wga.com
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker