7 startups offering new solutions for farmers

Technology and innovation are no strangers to the agriculture industry. From the time plow horses were put away for the first tractors, invention drives massive change in the industry.

Below are seven of the newest innovations and solutions coming soon to a farm near you. From autonomous produce harvesters to a tool that identifies crop disease through the air, check out whether one of these solutions can benefit your farm:

1. Noktura. Farmers dealing with troublesome weeds know a one-size-fits-all approach might not work. Noktura has developed the OpenWeedLocator, or OWL, as an open-source, do-it-yourself, low-cost weed detector.

Using a Raspberry Pi computer the size of a credit card, a camera and 3D-printed parts, OWL offers tools to find a solution that works for any farm.

Its purpose is real-time detection of weeds in fallow. After seeing the costs and a lack of innovation in his Ph.D. research, Guy Coleman wanted to create a usable, farmer-friendly platform that farmers could use to innovate solutions that work for them.

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“The OWL project grew out of my research and my belief that technology in agriculture shouldn’t be a black box,” Coleman explained. “I’m a strong proponent of open source because I’ve seen how it can accelerate innovation in other tech industries.”

2. AgAnswersAI. Data is one of the biggest parts of agriculture. From knowing the yield of a certain field last season to knowing what programs you’re enrolled in, keeping track of that data can be cumbersome. AgAnswersAI is a farm management platform, offering an application through which farmers can manage all of their data in one place.

Made to simplify decision-making and day-to-day workflows, this platform can digitize written records, PDFs, receipts or any other documentation. Once all the data is compiled in the platform, a text message to the application detailing a task will start the artificial intelligence agent’s work to get it done quickly, using the information you need.

AgAnswersAI is currently in its beta-testing phase, and farmers can contact the company to get involved if interested.

3. Acre Almanac. With mountains of data come worries about safety. Acre Almanac builds a machine learning model for each of your fields — privately. It helps you determine an optimal nitrogen rate per type of soil in each field based on your own data.

You can add your field and crop history, which could mean manually typing in yields or uploading the data to the system. Weather data will be pulled automatically, and you can add your inputs, tillage, hybrids and planting dates.

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4. ScanIt Technologies. What if instead of waiting for symptoms of crop disease to appear, you had an early alert that disease-causing pathogens were present? ScanIt Technologies is a real-time microscope that can be deployed in any field or greenhouse. It can detect disease in the air weeks before visible symptoms occur, helping farmers to make their fungicide applications more confidently.

The device sucks in the air using a fan, and the particles adhere to a stick tape. A combination of ultraviolet light and white light can detect the internal structure of various diseases, so you can be confident in what is lurking.

Find out more about early insights into crop disease at ScanIt Technologies.

5. The Rhyzosphere. In a growing digital world, connection is easier than ever. But what if there was a place for every aspect of the industry to come together to find what it needs? Enter the Rhyzosphere.

Built to connect producers, processors, buyers and service providers, it creates a place to find who you need to find while accelerating collaboration and networking to advance the food system. The Rhyzosphere is a private platform, and users can join through invitation or application only.

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Powered by AI, you can say, “Help me find people involved in this,” and the Rhyzosphere will provide a list. It offers market listings and other insights on supply and demand in your area.

Seeing a list of names is one thing, but the Rhyzosphere takes it a step further with mapping. Visualizing how many of your searches are out there helps build community, which is what the Rhyzosphere is all about.

Find out more or apply to join the Ryzosphere.

6. NuPeak Robotics. NuPeak Robotics specializes in produce farms and bringing a solution to the tight harvest window. “Pixa” is a universal harvester that can harvest strawberries, cucumbers and tomatoes.

Bringing robotics onto a farm can be a difficult process, as each farm’s processes and day-to-day operations can vary widely. With Pixa’s ML capabilities, you can teach it similar to a human helper. This means it’s bespoke to your operation, not something that was trained by developers before appearing on your farm.

NuPeak is offering select lease-to-own models for farms today. If interested, go to NuPeak.

7. Kissan AI. With the goal of making farming easier, Kissan AI works to bridge a knowledge gap in agriculture. Noticing a divide between what farmers wanted to do and where the information they want to reach was, Kissan built a specific AI model to bring the necessary knowledge to farmers.

Harnessing their AI agent, farmers don’t need to rely on memory or different software to determine how to manage certain acres. Adding in certain context means they can take action, and action is an important management decision made every day on the farm.

From field history and scouting to product evidence and follow-through, Kissan AI connects information with one working system. Find out more about the offerings at Kissan AI.

If you’re looking for more solutions for your farm, check out 8 startups offering solutions to farm challenges.