California Ag Network

Category: Technology

  • Western Growers Launches Global Harvest Automation Initiative

    Western Growers (WG) is spearheading a Global Harvest Automation Initiative (GHAI) to accelerate harvest automation across the fresh produce industry, with a goal of automating 50 percent of harvest within 10 years.

    “For well over a decade, our members have struggled with a dwindling number of available workers. If we don’t come together as an industry to quickly and efficiently deliver automation solutions for farmers in this country, it is likely that the shift of fresh produce operations to other countries will dramatically increase,” said Western Growers President and CEO Dave Puglia. “The Global Harvest Automation Initiative is aimed directly at this challenge, and the alignment of so many industry leaders and partners in this endeavor is a strong indicator of our shared commitment to success.”

    The global initiative is comprised of several key projects uniquely designed to solve the ag industry’s labor woes while simultaneously helping harvest automation start-up companies commercialize and scale at a more rapid pace:

    Technology Stack: A documented set of technical interfaces that will help startups leverage industry-standard components so their robots can get into fields and markets faster.

    • Harvest Automation Cohort: A cohort of automation startups will be selected based on industry input to receive exclusive access to systems integration to help integrate the tech stack into their product roadmap, strategy for go-to-market support, field trials and case studies.
    • Impact Report: A comprehensive analysis on the impact of harvest automation on the specialty crop industry will be provided annually based on grower metrics.
    • Harvest Automation Traction Roadmap: A list of current harvest automation startups by crop type and in-market progress/traction will be distributed regularly.The technology stack will be built by a team of subject matter experts(SMEs) in ag and robotics:
    • precision ag companies (Trimble, Bosch)
    • original equipment manufacturers and platform companies (Ramsay Highlander, Oxbow and SPUDNIK)
    • AgTech engineering companies (Milano Technical Group, All-Phase Agricultural Engineering, Red Rooster Engineering and NWFM LLC)
    • WG members that are among the world’s largest and best farming operators at adopting new technologies (Grimmway Farms, Turlock Fruit Company, Church Brothers Farms, Superfresh Growers and Illume Agriculture)The SME group will build a set of documented interfaces so startups can connect to tractor manufacturers like John Deere, sensor manufacturers like Bosch, navigation equipment providers like Trimble, and other manufacturing partners.The Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission (WTFRC) has been a key partner for WG in supporting the GHAI by providing recommendations for SMEs and harvest startups with traction based on WTFRC’s 52 years of experience with tree fruit innovation. In addition, WTFRC has committed $200,000 in funding over three years to support the overall GHAI initiative.“The specialty crop industry needs to all work together to solve harvest automation by strategically accelerating the speed of innovation and adoption,” said Dr. Ines Hanrahan, executive director for WTFRC. “The platform approach Western Growers is taking is supported by both startups and industry as the best path forward to finally achieve this goal.”

      WG held a hybrid in-person and virtual event on February 11, 2021, in Tulare, Calif., to announce the official launch of the Global Harvest Automation Initiative. Resources and detailed information about the GHAI can be found on the WG Center for Innovation & Technology webpage here.

      About Western Growers:

      Founded in 1926, Western Growers represents local and regional family farmers growing fresh produce in California, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico. Our members and their workers provide over half of the nation’s fresh fruits, vegetables and tree nuts, including nearly half of America’s fresh organic produce. Some members also farm throughout the U.S. and in other countries so people have year-round access to nutritious food. For generations, we have provided variety and healthy choices to consumers. Connect and learn more about Western Growers on our Twitter and Facebook.

  • California Dairy Farmers Help Lead the Way for Clean Energy

    Dairy Cares — California is leading the nation toward a 100 percent clean energy future. Multiple state policies are working to achieve a cleaner, more efficient energy grid and transportation sector. The state’s dairy farmers are also world leaders in energy-smart practices. They’re reducing usage, electrifying equipment, generating renewable energy, and producing carbon-negative transportation fuel.

    California has already made great strides in its clean energy and energy conservation goals:

    • California is the nation’s top producer of electricity from solar, geothermal, and biomass energy.

    • The state is the nation’ second-largest hydroelectricity producer and the fifth-largest of wind energy.

    • An estimated 60% of California’s electricity comes from carbon-free sources.

    • California accounts for almost half of the nation’s electric vehicle sales and 30% of all public electric charging stations.

    • California has the second-lowest per capita energy use in both the residential and commercial sectors.

      The state’s family dairy farms play an important role in these milestones, part of their commitment to planet-smart practices. Their clean energy investments also help improve economic sustainability. Offsetting costs is important, with electricity rates already high and predicted to rise more than 40% over the next ten years.

       Energy efficiency and electrification on dairies

      Over the past several years, dairy farmers have been partnering with local utility providers to conduct energy audits. The audits identify opportunities, enabling farmers to implement changes that reduce energy needs. Incentive and rebate programs have helped them to invest in the latest, most efficient technologies—changing the way they light barns and milking parlors, pump water, refrigerate milk, and keep cows cool. Individual farms have cut energy use up to 20% through efficiency investments. However, as farms convert from diesel to electric equipment—reducing reliance on fossil fuels and cleaning the air—their need for electricity is also growing.

      Steve Maddox is one of more than 150 California dairy farmers who generates solar energy.
      Solar dairy farms
      Investments in solar energy is another way many dairy farmers are offsetting costs and helping create a cleaner electricity grid. More than 150 of the state’s dairy farms are generating solar energy for on-farm usage. The average capacity of these systems is about 1 megawatt (MW). Several dairy farmers are now doubling their investments, adding more panels to achieve 2-3 MW capacity. Depending on farm size and crop irrigation needs, these systems are meeting the majority of farm energy needs.
      Jared Fernandes’ family dairy is creating carbon-negative transportation.

      Digesters fueling transportation

      California is also leading the nation in the development of dairy digesters, which capture methane emissions and create renewable energy. About 140 projects are in operation or in various stages of development. The earliest projects built in the state produce electricity. Now, more than 115 California dairy farms already or will soon create carbon-negative transportation fuel to replace the use of diesel in heavy-duty trucks. These “barn-to-biogas” projects are helping shrink dairy’s carbon footprint to unprecedented levels, while also helping the state meet clean air and transportation goals. Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in California, accounting for more than 50 percent of GHGs. Dairy digesters provide significant farm-related greenhouse gas reductions and play an important role in achieving the state’s climate goals.
       

      Dairy farmers are doing their part to contribute to a sustainable, clean energy future that benefits all Californians.

  • Autonomous Robot to Sample Leaves and Measure Water Potential

    Every backyard gardener knows how hard it can be to tell when to water the plants. Multiply that by tens or hundreds of acres and it’s easy to see the challenges growers face keeping their crops healthy while managing water resources wisely.

    To determine water needs accurately, growers hand-pluck individual leaves from plants, put them in pressure chambers, and apply air pressure to see when water begins to leak from the leaf stems. That kind of testing is time consuming and means growers can only reach so many areas of a field each day and cannot test as frequently as needed to accurately determine optimal irrigation scheduling patterns.

    A group of researchers from UC Riverside and UC Merced have received a grant for more than $1 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture through the National Science Foundation’s National Robotics Initiative to address these challenges. From UC Riverside are Assistant Professor Konstantinos Karydis and Professor Amit K. Roy-Chowdhury, both from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. UC Merced, which leads the effort, is represented by Stefano Carpin, professor of computer science; and Joshua Viers, professor of environmental engineering.

    UC Riverside Assistant Professor Konstantinos Karydis

    As part of the project, the group is developing a robotic pressure chamber that can autonomously sample leaves and immediately test them on site to provide the freshest data. The system will work to gather data even in large fields, and over a period of time, rather than just providing a snapshot.

    Frequently updated data can help growers better plan irrigation schedules to conserve water, optimize the time and effort spent by crop specialists tasked with determining and analyzing lead water potential, and help decrease some of the costs in the food-production chain.

    UC Riverside Professor Amit K. Roy-Chowdhury

    Current measuring techniques involve collecting leaf samples and transporting them to an off-site location, where testers can use very accurate, expensive pressure chambers; or sampling and analyzing leaf samples in the field using hand-held pressure chambers.

    “In the first category, leaf samples can get mixed up, making it impossible to track them back to the specific areas of the field they came from, Karydis said. “In addition, the properties of the leaf might vary given the time elapsed between being sampled and being analyzed, which in turn may yield misleading results.”

    Hand-held instruments in the field can be less accurate, but testing can be done multiple times with different leaves from the same plants. This method is time- and labor-intensive, and must be undertaken by specially trained personnel.

    Carpin has already worked with colleagues at UC Davis and UC Berkeley to create the Robot-Assisted Precision Irrigation Delivery, or RAPID, system, which travels along rows of crops adjusting irrigation flows according to sensor data that tells the robot precisely what’s needed for each plant.

    The project will use the same mobile base robot as in RAPID but equip it with a custom-made robotic leaf sampler and pressure chamber being designed by the researchers at UC Riverside, and pair it with drones that can survey the fields and direct the robot to areas of interest.

    “Using this process, growers could survey plants all day long, even in large fields,” Carpin said.

    The four-year project will support graduate students as well as summer research opportunities for undergraduates. The project has four phases: development of the chamber; developing machine vision so the robot can “see” the water coming from the leaf stems; coordinating multiple robots — in the air and on the ground; and evaluation.

    The researchers plan to have the first set of automated pressure chamber prototypes fabricated by spring 2021, and to evaluate their performance and refine designs in controlled settings over spring and summer 2021. They expect to have a completed setup by winter 2022, so they can begin controlled field testing.

    “We have to be quick about it because if we miss a peak growing season, we have to wait another nine months for the next one,” Carpin said. “We’d like to be able to start testing next summer and test every summer, and we need to be able to maximize the tests.”

    When all of the components have been designed, the designs and code will be made open source, and all the data collected during the project will be made available to the scientific community, the researchers wrote in their proposal.

    The project came about after Carpin and Viers, director of the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society, or CITRIS, at UC Merced, had been talking with area farmers about the challenges of growing almonds and grapes. Karydis and Roy-Chowdhury had been hearing the same challenges from citrus and avocado growers in the Riverside area, so the four partnered up.

    “California agriculture presents a challenge in terms of scalability,” Carpin said. “But this an exciting collaboration because we’ll get to develop a system that will work on different kinds of crops.” — By Holly Ober, UC Riverside

  • Growers who Contact PG&E Before Planting can Prevent Loss of Trees – and Lives

    When orchard trees meet power lines, disaster can result. Whether it’s a power outage affecting millions or the accidental death of a line worker, such scenarios can have devastating and far-reaching consequences:

    Ø  In 2003, sagging power lines contacted untrimmed walnut trees in Ohio and caused a massive cascading outage – costing millions and leaving entire cities without power throughout parts of the Northeastern and Midwestern United States, and the Canadian province of Ontario. The incident left millions without power – and came at a great cost to state coffers.

    Ø  In Fresno several years ago, a grower used a boom lift to prune his orchard. When wires from the power line became entangled in the lift, he was electrocuted.

    Ø  In another California orchard, a fast-growing nut tree grounded to a high-voltage power line, causing widespread chaos and power loss throughout the region.

    Unfortunately, these events are far too common. The good news? When Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and growers work together, we can prevent these losses and tragedies.

    Growers need only contact PG&E at 1-800743-5000 or at planbeforeplanting@pge.com early in their planning phase – before they plant new trees. One call or email is all it takes to eliminate the risk of tree removal and gain some valuable peace of mind.

    PG&E also offers a Mature Orchard Incentive Program for Transmission Lines, which encourages orchard growers to remove nut-bearing trees under transmission lines. Growers can use the incentive to replant crops that are compatible with electric transmission lines or reinvest the funds according to their needs. 

    Public Safety, our Priority

    As a utility provider, our most important responsibility is to ensure public safety and provide a reliable supply of electricity. To meet those obligations and state and federal regulations, we must maintain safety clearances between trees and other vegetation and our high-voltage power lines.

    The electrical charge carried by high-voltage lines is many times more powerful than the current that flows through standard power lines. Naturally, the potential for life-threatening injuries is commensurate with that power.

    For those reasons, we take great care to regularly inspect our transmission lines for potential hazards, using ground patrols as well as aerial remote sensing.

    Each year, PG&E is required to inspect all electric transmission and distribution lines across our 70,000-square mile service area. Our inspections are audited, and we will be fined if we fail to comply with required standards for vegetation clearance.

    Multiple Risks at Play
    Electricity from power lines finds its way to the ground using nearby objects. Like lightning, it can jump to a building, a person or a tall tree. Electrical storms and lightning strikes can also lead to a voltage surge, which may create an electrical arc that travels to nearby objects like trees, vegetation and people.

    When trees or vegetation are located near high-voltage power lines, they pose serious fire and electrical hazards. Anyone on the ground is at risk – whether they are in contact with the power line or just standing near the tree.

    And when a tree trimmer or a child climbs or shakes that tree – or when the tree contacts a power line – the risk to lives and property is multiplied, often with tragic consequences.

    Reasons for Generous Clearance
    We understand that growers need to plant every possible acre, and that some consider our clearance requirements excessive. But our requirements are based on many decades of field experience – and the fact that a variety of conditions can create dramatic material changes in towers and power lines.

    High-voltage power lines also require more clearance than other power lines because of their current strength and potential hazards. In addition, clearance requirements must account for the real possibility of line sag, which depends on weather, line design and electrical load.

    Metal transmission conductors can expand in hot conditions, sometimes causing wires to sag. Wind and ice storms can also wreak havoc, loosening normally taut wires and causing branches or trees to fall into electrical lines.

    During hot weather, power lines carrying heavy electrical loads can become heated, causing them to stretch out. These elongated lines can sag near the ground or near trees and other objects.

    As a result, what appears to be generous clearance in winter months may not be enough in the heat of summer.

    Tree Growth Exceeds Expectations
    Our mantra – “plan before you plant” – is not a new message. Yet it isn’t accepted by some growers, despite its potential to benefit their operation and their community.

    Some growers question whether their young trees could ever interfere with power lines that soar 40 or 50 feet – especially when tree purveyors provide assurance that their stock will top out at 20 or 25 feet.

    But plantings routinely exceed their expected growth rate and height. We’ve experienced trees that have grown 12 feet in a single growing season.

    Other growers fail to notify PG&E because they misunderstand the nature of our easement on their property. They may believe the electric easement right-of-way for vegetation applies only to our wires in the air, when it actually extends across a grower’s physical property.

    It’s also human nature to hope for the best – or to think “it can’t happen to me.” In fact, one of the state’s largest nut producers learned through trial and error that power lines and orchard trees don’t mix. Today, he contacts us regularly before planting.

    Every orchard is vital to the economic health of our state. By working together, we can prevent injuries and power outages, and preserve more trees.

    Contact PG&E at 1-800-743-5000 or at planbeforeplanting@pge.com so we can identify power-line friendly planting locations that avoid transmission lines. We’ll be out to your orchard within days, at no cost to you. — By John Bolling, Orchard Vegetation Program Manager, PG&E

  • Rural Energy for America Program Grant

    The Propane Education & Research Council encourages producers to apply for the United States Department of Ag (USDA) Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) Grant, which offers funding for renewable energy systems or to make energy efficiency improvements. Through the program, producers or small business owners can receive a 25 percent grant for replacing a diesel irrigation engine with a propane-powered engine.

    The USDA REAP recently announced Nov. 2 as its fall deadline for the Renewable Energy systems and Energy Efficiency Improvement Grant, so PERC encourages interested applicants to act quickly to save even more on propane-powered engines.

    “With lower purchase costs and savings of up to 50 percent compared to diesel engines doing the same job, farmers are already saving big by switching to propane irrigation engines,” said Michael Newland, director of agriculture business development at PERC. “For anyone considering making these energy efficiency upgrades to their operation, now is the time to act and take advantage of additional savings with the USDA REAP program.”

    Funds can be used for the purchase and installation of a new propane-powered irrigation engine, and any agricultural producer who makes over 50 percent of gross income from agriculture is eligible to apply. The grant is good for up to 25 percent of the total upgrade cost, with a $1,500 minimum and $250,000 maximum.

    “There’s never been a better time to replace a diesel irrigation engine with a cleaner, more cost-effective propane alternative,” said Newland. “On top of cost savings, propane engines help meet strict emissions goals and can keep your ag operation running no matter where you live or what happens with the electric grid.”

    Grant applications will be accepted at local USDA offices through Nov. 2. Find your nearest USDA office, andget full program details.

    For more information about the USDA REAP Grant Program, visit https://propane.com/for-my-business/agriculture/usda-grant-information/.

  • Automation Helps Solve Specialty Crop Challenges

    With support from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s Multistate Research Fund, researchers at 17 land-grant universities are working together to develop automated systems that work well for labor-intensive specialty crops like fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, and nursery plants. A multi-state collaborative approach lifts the burden of research and development from a single specialty crop sector and spurs major advances.

    Automation is helping the specialty crop industry overcome labor shortages, fine-tune management decisions, conserve resources and meet growing demand. Consistent with the USDA Agriculture Innovation Agenda, advances in technology for growing, harvesting, handling, and processing are generating significant savings for growers and consumers, while improving sustainability.

    University of Florida scientists developed a robot that counts and maps the fruit on citrus trees, and University of California-Davis researchers developed fruit-picking carts with instruments that map orchard fruits. These automated devices have helped farmers see if and where production issues arise, so they can make targeted, effective management decisions. Accurate yield estimates are also important for programming harvest machines and making marketing decisions.

    Automated disease detection and management technologies could mitigate crop losses. For example, Iowa State University scientists are guiding the manufacturing of technology that reduces pesticide drift. Washington State University scientists developed drones to deter birds that eat and damage fruit crops. And, handheld devices designed by University of Hawaii researchers give coffee growers an inexpensive way to spot leaf water stress and optimize irrigation.

    To overcome labor shortages and cut labor costs, Washington State University scientists designed a robotic twining machine for hops, and University of Georgia researchers are perfecting affordable automated technologies for efficient blueberry harvest. A new pruning method recommended by Pennsylvania State University Extension could cut pruning time by 42% and save $136 per acre. Automation can also make labor less dangerous. For example, a harvest-assist device designed at Penn State eliminated ladder falls and reduced the time apple pickers spent in awkward, dangerous postures from 65% to 43% of picking time.

    Automation won’t soon replace the keen eye of talented growers, but these technologies will reduce costs, improve quality, and ensure consumer satisfaction, while eliminating some on-farm health risks, increasing efficiency, and reducing environmental impacts.

    Learn more about this USDA-NIFA funded project: W2009: Integrated Systems Research and Development in Automation and Sensor for Sustainability of Specialty Crops(link is external) (2013-2018). Learn more about NIFA Impacts.

    This research supports the “value-added innovation” theme outlined in the USDA Science Blueprint and moves us closer to meeting the goals outlined in USDA’s Agriculture Innovation Agenda. Learn more about The Hatch Act of 1887 (NIFA’s Multistate Research Fund).

    Advances in technology, automation, and remote sensing is a cross-cutting, macro movement in science impacting agriculture outlined in the USDA Science Blueprint (PDF, 2.6 MB). The Science Blueprint guides USDA’s science priorities for the next 5 years, building from past success. Relative to other crops, many specialty crops are more dependent on agricultural labor for production, harvesting, and processing. This is part of a blog series that highlights research investments to advance automation and mechanization for specialty crops. — By Sara Delheimer, NIFA-funded Multistate Research Fund Impacts Program

  • Fennimore Receives 2020 EurAgEng Outstanding Paper Award

    Steve Fennimore, UC Davis Cooperative Extension Weed Specialist

    Steve Fennimore, UC Davis Plant Sciences faculty member and UC Cooperative Extension weed specialist, and colleagues received the 2020 EurAgEng Outstanding Paper Award for the paper, “Crop Signalling: A Novel Crop Recognition Technique for Robotic Control,” which was published in Biosystems Engineering.

    The research represents a breakthrough in differentiating weeds from crops using machine vision systems. The technology could help California growers address challenges in managing weeds in in dozens of crops with limited herbicide options, and significant hand-weeding costs due to a growing labor shortage.

    “California growers would benefit from improved weeding technology,” said Fennimore. “This technology certainly has commercialization potential by improving the accuracy, speed and reliability of weed/crop differentiation by weeding machines.”

    Rekha Raja, a postdoctoral scholar in the UC Davis Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering

    Field experiments were successfully conducted for real-time weed control in tomato and lettuce. The paper was a collaborative effort led by first author Rekha Raja, a postdoctoral scholar in the UC Davis Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, and included researchers from the UC Davis Departments of Plant Sciences and Plant Biology; UC Cooperative Extensions in Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties; and the Department of Biosystems Engineering at the University of Arizona.

    Awarded by the European Society of Agricultural Engineers, the EurAgEng Outstanding Paper Award is only awarded once every two years and is selected out of all the papers published in Biosystems Engineering. – By Kristin Burns, UCANR

  • Turning Almond Shells into Plastics & Tires

    Here is a throwback video from a previous annual convention of the Almond Alliance of California as many were disappointed by the cancellation of the annual convention this year due to COVID-19 restrictions; however, very interesting research performed by USDA exploring alternative uses for almond hulls and shells — including plastics and vehicle tires through a process of torrefaction. Watch this brief interview Bill Orts Bioproducts Research Leader at USDA and read more in Pacific Nut Producer Magazine.
    Please thank this video’s sponsor Suterra by taking this brief Survey.

  • Environmental Benefits of Modified Subsurface Drip Irrigation Systems at Dairies

    California is the top milk-producing state, accounting for 21 percent of the milk produced in the United States. With that comes responsibility to find innovative solutions for managing cow manure while ensuring food and water safety and security – and California farmers and ranchers remain on the forefront in helping find new agriculture technologies that lead to environmental solutions.

    The leadership of our farmers is highlighted in “Subsurface Drip Irrigation System Utilizing Dairy Manure Effluent,” a report recently released by Sustainable Conservation that details their work on several California dairies. The report describes how using subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) modified to apply liquid manure can save water, protect groundwater quality through precision nutrient application, and reduce irrigation-related greenhouse gas emissions.

    The report provides information and recommendations for using manure subsurface drip irrigation (manure SDI) on dairies as well as resource links for deeper-level details. Some highlights include:

    • Manure SDI provides dairies with a new tool to help improve water resiliency and water quality for their communities.
    • Most of the manure SDI fields produced yields similar to flood-irrigated fields but using less water, measured as yield per acre-inch of water applied.
    • Manure SDI fields generally resulted in less nitrogen applied and greater nutrient-use efficiency, as measured by pounds of nitrogen applied per ton of yield. Similarly, the manure SDI fields received less magnesium, which is an emerging environmental concern.
    • Liquid manure has a lot of solid particles, so the effectiveness of pre-system solid separation will directly influence manure SDI performance.
    • With the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) cost-share support in California, switching to manure SDI results in a positive change in net income of $96.95 per acre.

    CDFA’s Office of Environmental Farming and Innovation was among the many partners and subject matter experts that Sustainable Conservation brought together for this work.

  • UCR Wins $10 Million to Develop AI for Sustainable Ag

    Digital Agriculture Team Principal Investigator Elia Scudiero. (Elia Scudiero/UCR)

    The University of California, Riverside, has won a $10 million grant to develop artificial intelligence that will increase the environmental and economic stability of agriculture in the Western U.S. 

    This Sustainable Agricultural Systems grant is one of nine given by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, or NIFA, annually to shape the future of U.S. agriculture toward environmental, economic, and socially sustainable food production. It is the third-largest grant in UCR history.

    This project will focus on the Colorado River Basin and Salinas River Valley areas, which employ more than 500,000 people and generate roughly $12 billion annually in revenue.

    Despite its productivity, the region has experienced major, prolonged droughts over the past 20 years, and is increasingly under attack by weed, pathogen, and insect invasions worsened by climate change. In addition to insufficient water, soil and water degradation from excessive salt and chemicals is also a threat. This project will develop solutions to these problems in the form of new data science tools, a new multistate cooperative extension program for growers, and a fellowship to educate future agriculture leaders.

    Elia Scudiero, a professional researcher in UCR’s Department of Environmental Sciences, is the project’s principal investigator. Scudiero is an expert in soil, plant, and water relationships, and received NIFA’s New Investigator Award in 2019.

    In addition to Scudiero, the following UC Riverside scientists are involved: Hoori Ajami, Ahmed Eldawy, Milt McGiffen, Connie Nugent, Vagelis Papalexakis, Alexander Putman, Monique Rivera, and Kurt Schwabe. Partner institutions include UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, USDA Agricultural Research Service, University of Arizona, Duke University, Colorado State University, and University of Georgia.

    Leaders of the UC Riverside Digital Agriculture Team. (Elia Scudiero/UCR)

    One of the major challenges of this project will be teaching AI algorithms to synthesize massive amounts of data from a wide variety of sources. Vagelis Papalexakis, assistant professor of computer science and engineering, explained there is currently no one prevailing method for combining such radically different types of data.

    The crux of the solution, he said, will involve inventing new statistical and algebraic models that find repeated and generalizable patterns between seemingly different types of data.

    “This will be an endeavor that will help make field management more efficient, reduce costs for growers, and make food more accessible,” Papalexakis said. “This by itself is an amazing prospect. But the lessons learned from this project also have the potential to advance core AI techniques for combining large, disparate data sets, which extend to a wide variety of real-life applications.”

    A key piece of advancing the agriculture industry will be supplying it with the next generation of growers, managers, and scientists. According to the USDA, the average age of farmers in California went from 56.8 in 2002 to 60.1 in 2012. There is a need to recruit more young people into the workforce, and this project represents an opportunity to do so.

    Funds from this grant will establish a Digital Agriculture Fellowship program that will recruit more than 50 students over the next five years.

    Data, environmental, or agricultural science students will mostly come from UCR, while some will come from partnering institutions. Those coming from other universities will spend summers at UCR participating in career development activities.

    Students will be paired with faculty mentors to develop unique research projects they’ll undertake throughout their 1.5 years as fellows. Internships with key commercial partners are also a focal feature of the program.

    “This program will not only provide intensive professional training for the students, it will also spread awareness of big challenges facing American food growers when students present at academic and professional conferences,” said Connie Nugent, Divisional Dean for Student Academic Affairs.

    The UCR College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences has a track record of success in managing undergraduate research and mentorship programs. The Digital Agriculture Fellowship is an adjunct to UCR’s Research in Science and Engineering, or RISE program, offering long-term guidance for undergraduate success, preparation for graduate school, and careers as leaders in the agricultural sector.

    Scudiero is excited for the project to begin in September this year.

    “This work is very relevant not only for California, but for the entire U.S. Southwest because of water scarcity and other environmental challenges facing us all,” Scudiero said. “We hope to bring transformative changes to the entire farming system in this area of the country and engage students, as well as the research and farming communities in the process.” — By Jules Bernstein, UC Riverside