SMYRNA — Robotic dogs and drones drew the attention of convention goers at the BIPOC Farmers Conference hosted by Delaware State University (DSU) this week, emphasizing a growth in technology for new and seasoned farmers alike.
Technology has played an increasingly integral part of agriculture over the years to include gene editing, drones, GPS and new technology assisting with fertilizer and water applications along any number of acreage. Precision farming has also been put to the test in the past few decades, starting in the 1980s when technology was used to start scanning soil and crops to identify problems or helpful information for farmers.
This week, farming enthusiasts saw first-hand just how helpful that technology has become after years of continuous development as they watched the bright yellow robotic dogs, named Spot – the Agile Mobile Robot, roam near a field at DSU’s The Farm in Smyrna.
Spot was manufactured by BostonDynamics in 2020 with reports showing a price tag of $74,500 for one unit. Formed as a spin-off from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Carnegie Mellon University in 1992, it is now primarily owned by South Korean chaebol, or a large family-owned business, Hyundai Motor Group.
Terrence Wright, an international student from Jamaica in DSU’s agriculture department, was among students and staff operating Spot and other robots and drones for spectators during the BIPOC Farmers Conference, demonstrating what the technology might look like in the field.
“It can go into the crop fields and detect for yields, as well as pests and other diseases. It’s helpful in a way that it can help them enhance their efficiency, as well as their production,” he told the Delaware Business Times. “At the moment, I don’t think any farmer is using [this in Delaware]. It’s a very expensive [piece of] equipment.”
That price tag leaves smaller operations like the Washington Campbell Farm in Wilmington out of the picture when it comes to up-to-date technology.
While their youngest child, 4-year-old Kareem Washington, played with the robotic dog during the conference like he might a pet, catching a toy tomato the dog had picked up and then dropped into his hand, LeShawn Washington considered the possibilities if financing was not a barrier for the family which has a micro-farm on two-sites.
“You can use robots in the field to detect the dryness or the water in the crops and the moisture and you can use them to go out there on a bad day or a good day and help you with the science part of farming,” he said.
The family produces a wide variety of produce, as well as chickens, to include strawberries, rosemary, thyme, chocolate mint, cherries, figs, grapes, squash, okra, kale, all types of lettuce, raspberries and blueberries, among other items. From some of those items, they also make preserves, lemon balm tea, soursop and other marketable items.
To make it all happen, he said the family doesn’t really use a lot of tech right now as a newer agricultural startup.
“We are the techs. We have a small farm and we’re just now getting started. Right now, since it’s so small, it’s hard to attain. But we can see it helping keep an eye over the chickens from the racoons, possums, skunks and the foxes. We have a lot of problems with that,” he said. “It would also help us in the greenhouse as far as detecting when it’s too hot or too moist in the greenhouse.”
Meanwhile, behind the scenes, his wife and partner in farming Michelle Washington said adding more technology to the business could help with not only precision farming, but safety elements, too.
Washington frequently burns her hands and arms on the hot jars she uses to create preserves and other merchandise for the family, a necessary function so the family can continue doing what they do best – feeding their community with a love for agriculture.
“That takes away time, because now I have to go and nurse [the burned areas] back. With tech, that would so helpful if the tech could tighten the jars or pick them up, plant trees or help with the produce planting,” she told DBT, all functions that could be handled by the newer developments in the robotic dogs by BostonDynamics or the drones presented by the DSU students and faculty.
