California Ag Network

Tag: Artificial Intelligence

  • Registration Opens for 2026 Farm Robotics Challenge

    The Farm Robotics Challenge, the only collegiate agricultural robotics competition of its kind, is officially launching its 2026 season. Registration is now open for undergraduate and graduate student teams from two-year and four-year colleges and universities across the United States and worldwide.

    The competition tasks students with designing, prototyping and field-testing robotics and AI-driven solutions to tackle real challenges facing modern agriculture. The Challenge is organized by UC ANR Innovate, the innovation arm of University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, in partnership with the AI Institute for Next Generation Food Systems (AIFS).

    “What makes the Farm Robotics Challenge unique is that students work directly with farmers to identify and solve real problems,” said Gabe Youtsey, chief innovation officer at UC ANR and founder of UC ANR Innovate. “Teams are developing practical solutions growers can put to work, and the hands-on experience prototyping and field-testing prepares students for careers in agricultural technology, while helping address some of the pressing challenges our growers face today.”

    Lead sponsor the Reservoir to award Grand Prize investment

    The Challenge is pleased to announce a partnership with the Reservoir, a leading early-stage venture capital investor and robotics incubator dedicated to accelerating real-world agricultural technology. The Reservoir joins this year as a lead sponsor, bringing with it a commitment to help student innovations leap from concept to commercialization.

    As part of this partnership, the Reservoir will award a $50,000 Grand Prize investment to the winning team. This seed funding goes beyond a traditional competition prize, as it provides a powerful springboard for turning student-built prototypes into market-ready solutions with real agricultural impact.

    “The future of agriculture will be shaped by deep tech innovators who can move quickly from lab to field,” said Danny Bernstein, CEO of the Reservoir. “The Farm Robotics Challenge brings together the kind of early-stage talent we’re eager to back – engineers, scientists and entrepreneurs with the vision to tackle real problems and the grit to commercialize their solutions. By pairing this year’s $50,000 Grand Prize investment with our on-farm incubation and venture support, we aim to help these prototypes evolve into scalable companies delivering breakthrough technologies for growers.”

    Central to the competition is the expectation that student teams work directly with growers to identify prominent issues in agriculture that could be addressed using advanced robotics, AI and automation.

    “With this challenge, teams can target a broad range of agricultural activities, such as planting, weeding, harvesting, pest management and crop monitoring, as well as focused projects in data collection, mapping and on-farm automation,” said Steve Brown, associate director of the AI Institute for Next Generation Food Systems.

    Teams are encouraged to design and prototype solutions, using robotic platforms equipped with autonomous navigation systems, intelligent algorithms and custom attachments to address real-world agricultural problems. These projects are field-tested, ensuring that they are not only theoretically sound but also practically viable in production agriculture environments.

    Supported by leading technology partners such as Bonsai Robotics, the competition places strong emphasis on innovation, hands-on learning and collaboration with growers.

    “For the past four years, we’ve partnered with UC ANR Innovate and AIFS on the Farm Robotics Challenge because we believe the future of farming depends on the next generation of innovators. There are big problems to solve in how we grow our food, and we want these inventive, engineering minds focused on them,” said Brendan Dowdle, chief business officer at Bonsai Robotics. “Our robotics platform makes it easier to design, test and deploy AI, computer vision and autonomous systems. Every year, we’re inspired by the creativity and technical skill these students bring to the field, and the ideas just keep getting bigger. We can’t wait to see what they build next.”

    Prizes offered as part of multi-phase competition cycle

    The competition unfolds across several stages, beginning with the registration period starting in August, followed by a team formation and proposal research phase through October. Project proposals must be submitted by October 30, 2025.

    Teams then embark on a six-month development and testing phase, culminating in final project submissions due on May 3, 2026.

    The competition concludes with an awards ceremony set for May 20, 2026.

    Participation in the Farm Robotics Challenge offers numerous benefits. The competition will award over $100,000 in prizes across multiple categories, and select teams will be offered travel stipends to showcase their projects at FIRA USA, North America’s leading ag tech conference. Beyond the prizes, all participants gain access to a network of academic and industry professionals dedicated to building the future of farming.

    Throughout the competition, educational webinars will be available to help students stay informed about industry trends, develop entrepreneurial skills and gain valuable insights on topics such as intellectual property, company formation and venture capital financing, presented by experts from Morrison Foerster.

    “We are excited to partner with UC ANR Innovate and AIFS on the Farm Robotics Challenge,” said Michael Ward, co-head of the Morrison Foerster Food and Ag Practice. “To ensure that teams get their industry-changing ideas off the ground, it is critical that they have a solid understanding of the legal issues that arise when launching and growing a startup company in this field.”

    The webinars will feature interactive sessions designed to introduce teams to the legal knowledge needed to start and grow a business, protect their innovations and navigate the challenging regulatory landscape.

    “We will offer free confidential office hours to all competition participants to answer legal questions and provide guidance on moving their ideas into a company and taking steps to commercialization,” said Mitchell Presser, co-head of the Morrison Foerster Food and Ag Practice.

    Throughout the competition, student teams develop practical skills at the intersection of technology and agriculture, expand their professional networks and engage with a distinguished panel of evaluators and innovators.

    Past competitions have featured over 40 teams from across the U.S. and abroad, with previous winners including UC Davis, University of Georgia, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and Olin College of Engineering (click to view past results).

    For those interested in participating, prospective teams are advised to assemble members with a range of technical expertise and secure a faculty or staff advisor. The next step is to partner with a grower to identify a meaningful agricultural problem and then design and rigorously test a solution using advanced robotics and AI.

    Comprehensive information, official rules and regular updates can be found on the Farm Robotics Challenge website. You can also register to participate in the Farm Robotics Challenge Info Session Webinar on September 10 at 4 p.m. (PDT).

    New for the 2025-26 academic year is the Farm Robotics Academy, intended for secondary school students. The Academy aims to equip both educators and students with knowledge and skills in leading-edge technologies that are reshaping the agricultural landscape. Learn more at https://www.farmroboticsacademy.ai/.

    Farm Robotics Challenge

    The Farm Robotics Challenge is organized by UC ANR Innovate and the AI Institute for Next Generation Food Systems, with lead support from the Reservoir, technology partner Bonsai Robotics, as well as Western Growers, Morrison Foerster, F3 Innovate, Taylor Farms, Beck’s Hybrids, Google.org, the California Tomato Research Institute, Linak U.S., and Plug and Play. The competition challenges college-level teams to identify and solve real-world agricultural problems using advanced robotics technology.

    For more information about the Farm Robotics Challenge, including details on how to participate or sponsor, visit https://farmroboticschallenge.ai.

    UC ANR Innovate

    UC ANR Innovate brings together people, resources and ideas to accelerate agricultural, food and biotech innovation in California. UC ANR Innovate develops practical technologies, generates research and policy insights, prepares a future-ready workforce and builds the ecosystems and partnerships that make innovation possible: locally, regionally and globally.

    The AI Institute for Next Generation Food Systems

    The AI Institute for Next Generation Food Systems (AIFS) is a USDA-National Institute of Food and Agriculture-funded research institute leveraging artificial intelligence to solve the world’s biggest challenges to crop and food production: ensuring a sustainable, nutritious, efficient and safe food supply while mitigating the impacts of changing conditions. For more information, visit https://aifs.ucdavis.edu.

    The Reservoir

    The Reservoir is a startup incubator and venture capital fund focused on helping ag tech startups succeed where agriculture happens – in the field. Reservoir Farms is the world’s first on-farm robotics incubator, starting in the Salinas Valley and expanding to other key regions like the Central Valley. Reservoir Ventures backs startups solving real problems in high-value crops. By combining R&D space, hands-on grower input and early-stage capital, the Reservoir helps turn promising ideas into tools for the growers who feed the world. Learn more at https://reservoir.co.

    Bonsai Robotics

    Bonsai Robotics is reimagining the agricultural industry with its AI-first platform that makes autonomous farming affordable, easy to use, and deployable across all farm equipment – whether retrofitted onto existing machines or built into next generation solutions. Its acquisition of farm-ng in 2025 combines its leading, vision-based autonomy software with modular, electric robotics to deliver next-generation machines adaptable for a wide range of crops, tasks and environments. Bonsai empowers growers to monitor and manage all farm equipment – new or legacy, autonomous or not – through a single, intuitive app. Learn more at www.bonsairobotics.ai.

    Morrison Foerster

    Morrison Foerster is a leading global law firm, with clients including some of the most innovative companies – from trailblazing startups to Fortune 100 enterprises. Morrison Foerster is the firm for Food + Agriculture, representing stakeholders across the value chain, from scientists in labs optimizing plant genetics, to farmers nurturing crops, to ag tech pioneers revolutionizing farm technology, to CPG companies and global brands selling your favorite foods. With unmatched scientific depth and deep sector knowledge, Morrison Foerster has helped shape the sector for over two decades. For more information, visit www.mofo.com.

    UC Agriculture and Natural Resources brings UC information and practices to all 58 California counties. Through research and Cooperative Extension in agriculture, natural resources, nutrition, economic and youth development, our mission is to improve the lives of all Californians. Learn more at ucanr.edu.

    To read more UC ANR news, visit our newsroom at ucanr.edu/News.

  • AI can Empower Agriculture Retailers, Farm Supply Cooperatives

    New artificial intelligence technology is enabling agricultural retailers and farm supply cooperatives to optimize their operational performance while strengthening all-important customer relationships. In addition to broad-based AI platforms that can be leveraged to simplify everyday business operations, farm suppliers now have access to AI apps specifically designed to support field agronomy and crop production.

    According to a new research brief from CoBank’s Knowledge Exchange, AI technology offers ag retailers a new set of tools to optimize workflows, inventory management, employee performance and other key business functions. Farm supply businesses that rise to the challenge of adopting AI can also enhance their position as trusted advisors and essential partners in the ag supply chain.

    “AI in agriculture can be utilized in a company’s back office, front office as well as within agronomy and supply chain operations divisions,” said Jacqui Fatka, farm supply and biofuels economist with CoBank. “Early adoption and reliable partnerships will provide an advantage for those willing to test the AI landscape. Ag retailers should research companies and pick AI partners who understand agriculture and promise value beyond just lofty ROIs.”

    Agricultural cooperatives and retailers serve as a critical relationship bridge between farmers and input providers. The potential erosion of those relationships due to alternative distribution models, disruptive technologies or other competing forces is one of the biggest challenges ag retailers face moving forward. Early adoption of AI can help the ag retailer sector stay ahead of competitors while maintaining and strengthening customer relationships.

    Fatka suggested ag retailers start with easy-to-implement, low-stakes AI applications for things like email and presentation assistance and customer interaction summaries before tackling more complex tasks. “Testing out different pathways to gain internal acceptance can lead to greater long-term success. For instance, an easy initial test might be recording virtual meetings with CoPilot. Within minutes, it can deliver an AI-generated summary of the meeting with key takeaways, immediate action items and future tasks.”

    Ag retailers can also start leveraging AI to optimize workflows for standard business functions like human resources, accounting, operations and sales. Using AI to evaluate and streamline these functions offers a high return on investment relative to the efforts required to build or implement such tools. Fatka stresses, however, that companies should establish guardrails for the use of customer information and understand privacy changes with the use of AI tools.

    While AI is unlikely to eliminate ag retail jobs, it can help simplify tasks and reduce human error or bias. In addition, as labor continues to be a challenge for many rural enterprises, it can provide continuity during labor turnover. AI can also help agronomists and other staff cover more acres or customers. Apps like AgPilot enable agronomists to interact with AI verbally while traveling between customers, allowing them to input crop protection recommendations and smoothly advance potential sales from one stage to another.

    “The stakes are high for agribusinesses operating in an environment where margins are tight,” said Fatka. “However, ag retailers will need to ensure AI costs do not outweigh the benefits. The cost of experimentation is minimal and delaying a trial adoption of these promising tools could result in missed opportunities for growth.”

    Read the research brief, How AI is Empowering Agriculture Retailers.

    About CoBank

    CoBank is a cooperative bank serving vital industries across rural America. The bank provides loans, leases, export financing and other financial services to agribusinesses and rural power, water and communications providers in all 50 states. The bank also provides wholesale loans and other financial services to affiliated Farm Credit associations serving more than 78,000 farmers, ranchers and other rural borrowers in 23 states around the country. CoBank is a member of the Farm Credit System, a nationwide network of banks and retail lending associations chartered to support the borrowing needs of U.S. agriculture, rural infrastructure and rural communities.

  • Artificial Intelligence In Agriculture

    Artificial intelligence, or AI, is defined by IBM as a phenomenon that “combines computer science and robust datasets to enable problem-solving.” In other words, AI is set up to solve problems that humans might not have been able to solve. As such, AI has seeped into various industries, as it continues to advance over the years.

    Unsurprisingly, AI has already started to be experimented with in the agricultural industry. With that said, this brief overview will cover the following on AI in agriculture:

    • Why AI should be adopted
    • Why AI is challenging in the industry
    • The benefits, AND
    • AI at work in agriculture

    Why Adopt AI In Agriculture?

    “With more technology developing over the recent years, it’s no wonder that artificial intelligence is shouldering its way into many industries,” says August Wakefield, a tech blogger at Write my X and 1 Day 2 write. “Nowadays, AI is growing more desirable, because factors like crop diseases, weather strikes, and very few manpower – especially due to the global pandemic – are responsible for reduced food production and food shortages. And with the global population growing every day, there is a need for more agricultural progress. In that case, AI has the potential of minimizing risks and managing crops and production.”

    Why Adopting AI Is Challenging

    One of the major issues of implementing AI in agriculture is how effective it actually is. While technology isn’t perfect at this time, that doesn’t mean that AI can’t be improved.

    In addition, some farmers might or might not like the idea of technology taking over human jobs. Despite that, some companies allow for AI to work alongside workers, so that human jobs aren’t jeopardized.

    Plus, the lack of understanding can play a role in hindering AI progress in agriculture. In that case, farmers would need to be trained to work with AI in order to grow crops better.

    The Benefits Of AI In Agriculture

    Despite the challenges addressed, agriculture can, of course, benefit from AI. Here are just some of the notable benefits that AI can bring to agriculture:

    Using Robots To Lessen The Burden Of Harvesting

    While the common fear of “robots killing human jobs” may seem like a reality for some people, what if robots could work alongside humans? As mentioned, AI robots can still be implemented, while human workers can still do what they do best. In this case, AI can lessen the burden of a farmer trying to harvest as much of the crop as possible without having to leave valuable produce behind because he or she is tired. Plus, AI can handle the numbers, while farmers spend more time with the produce.

    As you can see, AI can be the “helping hand” of farmers, and not the “new” farmer.

    Cost Savings

    “Businesses are prone to dealing with production costs,” says Jared Butler, a business writer at Origin writings and Brit Student. “Even in agriculture, it takes time and money in order to produce crops. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, agriculture, or farm production expenditures, were estimated at $366.2 billion in 2020.”

    Rather than spending copious amounts of time, money, and resources on trying to grow crops, AI can introduce methods that can help farmers grow more on less resources through precision agriculture. Such methods include:

    • Data management for proper yielding and spending
    • Technology with variable rates
    • Real-time insights that identify areas for:

    o   Fertilization

    o   Irrigation

    o   Pesticide treatments, etc.

    • Improved soil management

    Allows For Better Decision-Making

    AI can introduce predictive analytics, which allows for farmers to immediately collect and process more data, and make better agricultural decisions. Such useful data includes:

    • Market analysis
    • Weather forecasts
    • Price forecasts
    • Soil health insights
    • Produce readiness
    • Recommendations for fertilizer
    • Optimal sowing and harvesting times, etc.

    AI At Work In Agriculture

    One perfect example of AI at work in agriculture is from Sentient – an AI-based firm. Sentient had found a way to leverage AI when analyzing the effects of variables on crops, especially on basil. Such variables involve the following:

    • Heat
    • Salinity
    • UV light
    • Water, etc.

    It’s with these forms of data that allow for agricultural workers and farmers to raise better crops. In addition, AI has paved the way for technological advancements like smarter plucking machines and more intelligent tractors.

    Conclusion

    Ultimately, AI can provide a plethora of benefits and opportunities for agriculture. With more technological advancements on the way, AI is just one tech trend that will continue to transform agriculture for the better.

    George J. Newton is a writer and editor at Write my assignment and PhD Kingdom. He is also a contributing writer for Cheap coursework. As a content writer, he writes articles about agriculture, tech trends, and job searches.

  • Apps For Ag Hackathon Winner Uses Artificial Intelligence To Diagnose Plant Problems

    Sacramento, Calif., (August 9, 2017) – For 48 hours, innovators and entrepreneurs at the Apps for Ag Hackathon labored over laptops at The Urban Hive in Sacramento before pitching their ideas to judges at the California State Fair. More than 40 people, some from as far as New York and Texas, competed for a $10,000 grand prize and assistance from UC Agriculture and Natural Resources to turn their ideas into commercial enterprises.

    Ultimately Dr. Green, a mobile app to diagnose plant problems, took the top prize on Sunday (July 30). The second-place Greener app also helps people diagnose and treat plant diseases. Farm Table, an app that promotes agritourism, came in third place.

    One goal of the hackathon was to produce solutions for military veterans who are becoming farmers. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs was a major sponsor of the event and leaders from Washington D.C. were on site all weekend participating.

    “There was an amazing range of applications this year,” said Gabriel Youtsey, chief innovation officer for University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, which hosted the hackathon.

    Twelve teams pitched new ways to apply technology to improve the food system.

    “There was an application to take a picture of a plant and it’ll identify the plant disease – which can help anyone from backyard gardeners to professional growers – all the way to an application for community-supported fisheries, which helps fishermen better scale their businesses and allows for customers to get the freshest fish,” Youtsey said.

    There was an app to match unemployed veterans with farm jobs, an online resource for bees, an app to simplify shipping logistics, an app for detecting mold on produce and many more solutions for food-related problems.

    Sreejumon Kundilepurayil, left, and Vidya Kannoly and their Dr. Green app took first place in the Apps for Ag hackathon. Dr. Green uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to quickly advise growers how to treat ailing plants.

    1st Place: Dr. Green: Figuring out why a plant is ailing can be time-consuming for a new farmer or backyard gardener. The plant doctor is always in with Dr. Green. The app created by Sreejumon Kundilepurayil and Vidya Kannoly of Pleasanton will help people identify crop diseases quickly through artificial intelligence and machine learning. The app can incorporate data from sensors monitoring temperature, light and soil moisture to alert growers to problems. Using a smart phone, backyard gardeners and growers can take a photo of plant symptoms and get a diagnosis or use the messaging feature to ask a question about symptoms and receive advice immediately.

    Kundilepurayil and Kannoly won $10,000 and tickets to the UC Davis Food and Ag Entrepreneurship Academy, $3,000 worth of Google Cloud Platform credits, plus other resources to help the team start their venture.

    2nd Place: Greener: Using a smart phone, home gardeners can take a photo of plant symptoms and quickly get a diagnosis and recommended IPM treatment from the Greener app, created by Scott Kirkland, John Knoll and Shiang-Wan Chin of Davis and Calvin Doval of Oakland. They won $5,000 and $1,000 worth of Google Cloud Platform credits and other resources to help start their venture.

    From left, Calvin Doval, Scott Kirkland, John Knoll and Shiang-Wan-Chin’s Greener app, which diagnoses plant diseases from a photo, took second place.

    3rd Place: The Farm Table: The Farm Table app aims to make farms more economically sustainable and educate the public about food through agritourism. Heather Lee of San Francisco teamed up with Will Mitchell of Sacramento and Zhenting Zhou of New York City to create the agritourism app.

    From left, Heather Lee, Will Mitchell and Zhenting Zhou finished third with their Farm Table app, which promotes agritourism.

    “We are making agritourism accessible to farmers by building a platform that’s connecting visitors with farms,” said Lee. “This is going to help educate our communities on where their food comes from and create an additional revenue source for farmers.”

    They won $2,500 and $1,000 worth of Google Cloud Platform credits and other resources to help start their venture.

    Growing the pipeline of young innovators: Judges included Joshua Tuscher of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; Robert Trice, investor and founder of The Mixing Bowl Hub; Jenna Rodriguez, product manager at Ceres Imaging; Ann Dunkin, chief information officer for the County of Santa Clara; and Jessica Smith, vice president of Strategic Partnerships at AngelHack.

    Apps for Ag is a food and agriculture innovation event series hosted by University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UCANR) and sponsored by IO Labs, The Urban Hive, California Community Colleges and the California State Fair.

    “We’re growing the pipeline of young innovators, getting entrepreneurs and technologists interested in applying technology to solving problems in the food system,” said Youtsey, who led organization of the hackathon.

    “UC ANR is the original innovation engine in food, agriculture and natural resources in California and has been so for over 100 years. This is just taking another spin at tackling innovation in food and agriculture through an innovative competition style format with technology,” he said.

    Additional support for the hackathon was provided by Valley Vision, The Mixing Bowl, Farmer Veteran Coalition, AngelHack, Nutiva, Google Cloud Platform, Royse Law Firm, Hot Italian, GTS Kombucha, Startup Sac, AgStart, StartupGrind Sacramento, Future Food, Internet Society San Francisco Bay Chapter, Sacramento Food Co-op, Balsamiq and YouNoodle.