Ask HN: How would you automate my farm
I intend to fully automate my farm from soil prep to harvest within 3 years.
As a thought experiment, how would you imagine the automation of an one-acre farm?
As a thought experiment, how would you imagine the automation of an one-acre farm?
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rowbot is very specific to fertilizing corn. and they are working with just one or few corn farmers in the mid west now. automation of a farm involves several tasks.
have you worked vertical aquaponics? its very attractive as a concept. but farming is a business. lettuce glut is not a way to make money through diversified crop planning.
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You are saying the tech is still not scalable? I would love to know more. If it's pure automation then are robotics of any use?
Having said that greens like lettuce and kale shouldn't ever be grown on soil. Again..just my opinion. Take lettuce for example..1.quick turn around crop..2.you can grow multiple successions..3.it's always in demand all year. 4.needs post harvest hydrocooling. 5. Very stringent packing rules because it's mostly consumed raw. 6. Cost too high to return on soil. It is THE perfect aquaponics candidate.
Another one is kale. I am even surprised that people consider it edible but it's a brassica and at least in California, (farmer hat on now) bagrada bug has been devastating and kale is the worst thing any farmer can grow. Guaranteed damage to other high value brassicas like cauliflower or cabbage. Again..great aquaponics candidate.
I also feel strawberries can be grown in aquaponics/hydroponics system. It's devastating to the soil. Very high value but harvest cost eats all profits(that's why we have so many u-pick strawberry farms)
And there are other examples which makes aquaponics worthwhile to extend seasons and have regular supply..also scalable. I like aquaponics and hydroponics for those reasons. Carries its risk because an entire crop cycle can become mush if you lose power for more than a few hours. It's easy to salvage crops in soil. Like I said..soil farming is a self correcting and forgiving mechanism. The flip side to the risks of losing an entire lettuce harvest on aqua/hydroponic set up is that you can seed and harvest next succession in 4 weeks.
And then there is the whole debate about the nutrient/taste issues re traditional soil vs non soil farming.
i think robotics in farm and field is a diff kind. It is repetitive manual labour that robotics will replace. Reduced tillage and soil conservation cannot be achieved with mechanized automation. Unlike large farm equipment mechanization and automation, replication of robotic platforms for non-commodity crops with conservation goals will recreate and rejuvenate our soil web ecology. Modern agriculture is crude and very fracturing to natural resources in more ways than one. It's ..I don't know..I would use the word 'obscene' and a somewhat coarse. Soil less automated farms(like aquaponics) is elegant but elegant on champagne glass stints..fragile and gauche and very breakable..and not terribly satisfying. There is something very viscerally and primitively satisfying about working with the earth. You know it when you know it. There has to be a happy middle ground with technology's help..where you can sniff the dirt under your nails to get high and still not die from manual labour...ya know?