Shows
Agtech - So What?Killing Weeds Without Poison with Liam Hescock at AzaneoControlling weeds on farms is a sticky, two part challenge. First, you’ve got to identify the weeds, as distinct from the plants you want to grow. Then, you’ve got to destroy the undesirables and keep the rest. For today’s farmers, these two tasks can seem straightforward, but to do them at the scale required in modern agriculture– not so much. Identifying weeds, especially with computer vision, is a topic we discussed on the podcast last year, and now we’re circling back to talk about the available solutions on the destruction side. Herbicides have been the un...2025-02-0536 minAgtech - So What?Getting into the Weeds: AI, Computer Vision, and the Future of Non-Chemical WeedingWeeds are a very expensive problem. According to one 2016 study, if weeds were left to grow unchecked in agricultural fields across just the US and Canada, the cost in lost productivity would total over $43 billion. And challenges are mounting. Though the last century has been ruled by crop protection chemistries that have kept weeds at bay– crafty wild plants have quickly adapted and the existing tools are under pressure from regulators and consumers. As farmers try to turn elsewhere, agtech is stepping into the void, expanding the weed-fighting toolkit with everything from water and heat, to lasers and robots. 2024-02-2137 min