YOLO COUNTY, Calif. — The future of farming in California includes artificial intelligence and robots to help farmers.
The International Forum of Agricultural Robotics and University of California system partnered to show farmers what’s possible at the Yolo County Fairgrounds, Tuesday.
Guests at the news conference saw self-driving carts that can move alongside workers to ease the burden of carrying crops to robots that can operate independently.
The hope is AI can solve the labor shortage for farmers while helping small family farms continue for generations.
“We are losing farmers. Who’s going to do the farming in the future? One of the things we have to do is help make farming more profitable and more sustainable for our farmers and their next generations, so they see a future there,” said Glenda Humiston, the vice president of UC Agriculture and Natural Resources.
The UC system hopes 50-60 new robots can be developed this year. They hold events like Tuesday’s to let farmers know they can get in on the ground floor and help design/create robots for their specific needs.
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