December 2022 - 10

UF AI center to push boundaries of ag research
By J. Scott Angle
University of Florida
The scientist called the grower with
a proposition: Let me fly a drone over
your grove and you'll be able to see
how many trees you have, and even the
size of individual canopies.
Alex Gardinier, director of business
development for Gardinier Florida
Citrus, accepted. He recalls that when
he received such easy-to-read metrics
and maps from the flight data, he saw
something else - the future.
It's a future fueled by artificial
intelligence. Dr. Yiannis Ampatzidis
is among those at the University
of Florida's Institute of Food and
Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) that's
putting AI to use on Florida farms
today, in this case by synthesizing
millions of images into instantly
actionable information.
AI will create a fourth agricultural
revolution, achieving huge gains
in farm productivity the way the
introduction of tractors, synthetic
fertilizers and genetics did in previous
eras. The speed and success of that
revolution depends on how well
land-grant university innovators
like Ampatzidis, of the UF/IFAS
Department of Agricultural and
Biological Engineering, work with
south Florida growers like Gardinier.
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Kevin Wang and Dana Choi at the University of Florida's Gulf Coast Research and Education Center, release a drone. The assistant
professors of agriculture and biological engineering are recent hires with agtech backgrounds. Photos: University of Florida
The groundwork for the revolution has
been laid by more than a century of UF/
IFAS establishing credibility through its
citrus science. Working with a UF/IFAS
faculty member comes with assurance
that growers' data will be protected.
Gardinier took up Ampatzidis on his
offer because he trusts him and trusts his
land-grant university.
As the old saying goes, the Gardiniers
Equipment that makes dollars & 'sense'
trusted, but verified. They did their own
ground count, and Ampatzidis turned
out to be 98% accurate. The technology
has the potential to save growers time
and money, strengthen claims for relief
in hurricane-prone areas like south
Florida and drive decisions down to the
level of the individual tree.
The UF/IFAS push to apply AI to
agriculture includes hiring 15 faculty
members with expertise in AI to work
on everything from plant breeding to
irrigation to packaging. It has infused AI
throughout its curriculum to produce
a generation of AI-literate agriculture
professionals. It recently announced its
intent to build a hub for its efforts to
put the benefits of AI into the hands of
farmers nationwide.
The Center for Applied AI in
Agriculture, just south of Tampa, will
bring together our expertise from
around Florida to concentrate our vision
for technology-driven productivity
increases. The 19,000-square-foot facility
will be anchored by a workshop for
developing machine prototypes. Plans
call for research and office space as well.
The center will be a place to help our
organization of nearly 1,000 agriculture
and natural resource faculty members
think, tinker, pitch to investors and
companies and invite you in to see and
touch and critique.
The Hillsborough County Board
of County Commissioners, the local
government for the UF/IFAS research
center outside of Tampa, has already
made a $1.5 million commitment. UF/
IFAS is raising private funds. Royalties
from its tops-in-the-nation plant breeding
program will be reinvested in the
center. And UF/IFAS is seeking a state
investment to help fund construction.
Dr. Nathan Boyd of the UF/IFAS Gulf
Coast Research and Education Center
(GCREC), recently recognized by the
Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association
as its researcher of the year for his work
on weed management and Extension
programs, and GCREC Director Jack
Rechcigl have been the lead visionaries
for the center. They have shared their
plans widely with stakeholders across
Florida and have extended their outreach
nationally to find partners to accelerate
the delivery of AI technology to
American farms.
" It used to be that
game-changing
technology was out of the
reach of all but the biggest
producers. AI, though, can
fit the size of your phone
and the size of your wallet
if it's done right. "
− J. Scott Angle,
Senior Vice President,
UF/IFAS
This center needs to happen now.
Global spending on smart technologies
such as AI and machine learning
directed toward agriculture is projected
to triple in the next three years. That
represents great interest in scientific
advancement and an opportunity for
us to employ the land-grant-universityindustry-government
partnership model
to make the impact we seek.
It used to be that game-changing
technology was out of the reach of all but
the biggest producers. AI, though, can
fit the size of your phone and the size of
your wallet if it's done right.
AI is a Swiss Army knife of technology.
http://www.philbrownwelding.com http://www.VegetableGrowersNews.com

December 2022

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