Article

2013-07-16 Science & Technology

Robots To Revolutionize Farming, Ease Labor Woes

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Posted by Fred 2013-07-16 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11136 views ] Top

#1 (Chortle) A new Under class for Democrats to exploit.

I hear Robosexual, now.
Do we really need a Ro Man?

Posted by Redneck Jim 2013-07-16 01:42|| 2013-07-16 01:42|| Front Page Top

#2 Lest we fergit, IIRC BUGS BUNNY > "One of these days they may invent something that will actually outsmart a Rabbit".

And so it begins ...

lol.

Posted by JosephMendiola 2013-07-16 01:46|| 2013-07-16 01:46|| Front Page Top

#3 I remember telling a farmer 20 years ago that robots would tend to his crops in the not too distant future.

He laughed at me.

I'm surprised the Israelis aren't on to this. It should be right up their street.

Posted by phil_b 2013-07-16 02:00|| 2013-07-16 02:00|| Front Page Top

#4 It's my understanding that tractors now practically run themselves already. Look for the first self-driven vehicle to be a tractor in some field somewhere.

Posted by CrazyFool 2013-07-16 02:10|| 2013-07-16 02:10|| Front Page Top

#5 Robots of the world, unite!
You have nothing to loose but your batteries!

Posted by European Conservative 2013-07-16 02:29|| 2013-07-16 02:29|| Front Page Top

#6 Tractors on large farms now largely do run off of GPS combined with other types of software. They even have tractors which meter whatever soil modifier they apply based upon satellite data over a large field, so that the rate of application is updated constantly and checked with location to apply just the right amount for a particular spot.

Agriculture, at least for large crops like grains, potatoes, cotton, and large-scale veggies like tomatoes for processing and root crops for supermarket distribution etc. have been and will continue to be automated in their production.

Those carrots you buy in a bag? Deere and the other ag equipment manufacturers have machines that pull, top, clean and bag them in one process, then spit the bags into a truck driving alongside the harvester.

Most of supermarket meat is raised the same way, with heavy automation. A lot of the propaganda by animal rights groups about cruelty on these farms is overblown but there is definitely an automated aspect to two of the big three (chicken and pork), less so with beef which does require grass feeding for about a year prior to being grained up. Even milking is automated relative to each cow's, um, spacing, plugged into a machine which automatically adjusts the four milking nozzles and applies them with little human intervention.

Despite questions about some aspects of aquaculture, that too is making inroads in the total amount of fish consumed. Oysters and salmon that Americans consume are now almost entirely farmed. Much of the white fish is either farm-raised catfish or tilapia. Value added fish products like frozens fillets or fish sticks are more often than not caught on large quota-boat operations like the ones seen on "Deadliest Catch", frozen into blocks, and processed (automated) into breaded product, not caught and sold fresh by small operator individually owned boats.

In the early 1900's a little less than half of Americans were directly involved in growing/harvesting food and fiber crops or in raising animals. It's now 5% or less depending on how you figure things. Outside of boutique or specialty crops raised on small family farms for mostly affluent or trendy end users, that is going to continue. Like it or not (and I don't, always), that's how it is. A difference of a few cents in margin can make or break an operation, and for the most used and lucrative products that means volume, and that means automation.

Posted by no mo uro 2013-07-16 05:29|| 2013-07-16 05:29|| Front Page Top

#7 >In the early 1900's a little less than half of Americans were directly involved in growing/harvesting food and fiber crops or in raising animals. It's now 5% or less depending on how you figure things.

UK it's 1%. Automation doesn't lower the ability of the economy to employ people, it raises it.

Unemployment is caused by taxes on employment (and some rent-seeking).

Posted by Bright Pebbles 2013-07-16 06:09|| 2013-07-16 06:09|| Front Page Top

#8 Robots are a great idea until one of them chops up a new born fawn with a hay bailer. PETA will throw a fit and the unions will demand a 'look out driver' earning a 'living wage' on all robot tractors.

Posted by airandee 2013-07-16 08:21|| 2013-07-16 08:21|| Front Page Top

Those carrots you buy in a bag? Deere and the other ag equipment manufacturers have machines that pull, top, clean and bag them in one process, then spit the bags into a truck driving alongside the harvester.

Tomatoes are also machine-picked, despite their fragility.

Apparently tomato growers once upon a time depended on migrant workers to pick their crops. Then there was a massive strike, and the tomato processors -- Heinz, Campbells, etc -- had nothing to sell. So they cut deals with their growers: we'll front the cost of automation, you pay us back over so many years, no interest, we guarantee to buy from you at market rates.

And so the migrant workers, in their strike, lost their jobs.

Posted by Rob Crawford 2013-07-16 08:36|| 2013-07-16 08:36|| Front Page Top

#10 But those machine tomatoes suck dead bunnies. :(

Posted by Shipman 2013-07-16 09:01|| 2013-07-16 09:01|| Front Page Top

#11 They're getting better. I eat the Roma tomatoes even in the summer now. And their consistency makes them good for sandwiches.

Posted by Fred 2013-07-16 10:07|| 2013-07-16 10:07|| Front Page Top

#12 But notice the gripe about the infernal machines doing away with farm worker jobs, when one of the incentives toward automation is lack of workers.

Posted by Fred 2013-07-16 10:10|| 2013-07-16 10:10|| Front Page Top

#13 Increased Gov't farm subsidies and EBT cards should level the playing field on both sides and make everyone happy.....except the poor working stiff and tax payer.

Posted by Besoeker 2013-07-16 10:15|| 2013-07-16 10:15|| Front Page Top

#14 But, won't these robots violate the rights of "undocumented Americans"?

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2013-07-16 12:15|| 2013-07-16 12:15|| Front Page Top

#15