As farmers grapple with extreme weather, supply chain disruptions and labor shortages, Washington state is betting that artificial intelligence could help secure the future of agriculture.

A new initiative called Growing with AI will bring together the state’s tech giants and diverse farming community to tackle the industry’s most pressing challenges. Supporters say this is the perfect place to launch such an effort: uniting the region’s robust agricultural economy with hundreds of different high-value crops in Eastern Washington, with its world-class tech and AI companies on the western side of the state.

“Our farmers are dealing with so many different external forces, mostly beyond their control,” said Melanie Roberts, executive director of the Washington State Academy of Sciences. “So what if Washington can get ahead of this and be intentional about how we use AI in agriculture?”

The initiative, led by the publicly funded Academy of Sciences, kicked off earlier this month with the first of six free informational webinars. The next session is Jan. 23. The effort will culminate in April with an invitation-only workshop where past participants will strategize action items.

There are already a number of AI-driven, ag tech companies based in Washington, including Carbon Robotics, which manufactures autonomous farming machines that zap weeds with lasers. Carbon is based in Seattle but also runs a manufacturing facility on the other side of the state in Richland, Wash.

While geography might separate the state’s tech and ag communities, Carbon CEO and founder Paul Mikesell said the two are natural collaborators.

“Farmers and technologists see the world in similar ways,” Mikesell said. “We can get things done. We tackle problems head on, put in a lot of hard work …. So in a lot of ways, farmers act a lot like engineers because they’re trying to design solutions.”

To be successful in this space, he emphasized the importance of genuinely partnering with farmers to learn their specific challenges rather than coming in with predetermined solutions. Mikesell said entrepreneurs need to develop their technology in the literal field to see firsthand how it performs.

Ananth Kalyanaraman, a computer science professor at Washington State University and expert in ag tech applications, highlighted several potential AI applications:

• weather and climate data analysis and modeling to provide guidance on planting and harvesting schedules and selection of which varietals to use;
• insights into the amount and timing of irrigation, fertilizing and pest control;
• robotics to support tree pruning and crop harvesting;
• automated devices like those provided by Carbon Robotics to remove weeds, damaging insects and rocks.

This is the first time the Academy of Sciences, which educates public leaders on scientific matters, has created a series focused on one issue and incorporated a call to action.

Kalyanaraman noted that federal support of AI in the ag sector has been limited, particularly given the importance of building a more robust food-supply system. Farming hasn’t been made a priority compared to other areas, he added, but the need is urgent and Washington can help lead.

“We should be able to provide an exemplar to the rest of the nation,” Kalyanaraman said, “in terms of how to most effectively and responsibly embrace AI into a complex, decision-driven system like agriculture.”

Never mind the Apple Cup. Washington State University is focused on the apple grip and the apple pick.

Researchers in WSU’s School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering unveiled a low-cost robotic apple-picking arm designed to help offset labor shortages for tasks such as harvesting and pruning, according to a news release Wednesday.

The inflatable arm can see an apple, extend and retract to pick fruit in about 25 seconds (as demonstrated in the video above). Mounted on a metal base and weighing about 50 pounds, the 2-foot-long arm is made of a soft fabric filled with air.

Researchers published their work in the journal Smart Agricultural Technology. The team is collaborating with researchers at the Prosser Research Extension Center and with Manoj Karkee at Cornell University to adapt the arm to an automated moving platform that is also being developed to move through orchards.

Washington state leads the nation in apple and sweet cherry production, contributing more than $2 billion to the U.S. gross domestic product in 2023, according to WSU. Farms across the state employ hundreds of workers annually for orchard tasks such as pollination, pruning, flower thinning and harvesting. But an aging population and a decline in migrant farmworkers have made it harder for growers to meet labor needs during harvest season.

Compared to humans who can pick an apple every three seconds, the robotic arm is still slow. The researchers are refining some of the mechanical components as well as working to improve its rudimentary detection system, which hinders the picking more than the robotic arm’s movement, WSU Insider reported.

Deploying robots in fruit harvesting and other aspects of agriculture is not a new concept. Apple-picking technology is also being developed at Oregon State University, Michigan State University, and elsewhere. WSU says that some robotic harvesting systems can be large, expensive and complex to use in orchards.

“Having this very low-cost, safe robotic platform is ideal for the orchard environment,” said Ryan Dorosh, a PhD candidate and lead author on the work.

The researchers are working with WSU’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship team for the intellectual property protection and commercialization of the technology. The work was funded by the National Science Foundation, the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, and Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission and tested at Allan Brothers Fruit in Prosser, Washington.