How Grower-Led Innovation Can Spark More Trust in Ag Tech

Innovation in agriculture has taken big steps forward — with drones mapping fields, satellites delivering real-time data, and software guiding decisions at scale, writes Reservoir CEO Danny Bernstein at CropLife. But there’s a layer of complexity closer to the ground for open-air farms — rugged terrain, fragile crops, unpredictable labor — that demands something more tactile. That’s where physical artificial intelligence (AI) comes in: technology built to operate in the dirt, alongside the crop, in real time.

Too often, ag tech is built in isolation — by teams removed from the realities of the farm, designing for ideal conditions that don’t exist. But agriculture isn’t always a controlled environment or a software layer you can iterate on overnight. It’s shaped by unpredictable variables — weather, labor, regulation, crop biology — that don’t respond to roadmaps or pitch decks.

What we keep hearing from growers, retailers and producers is that real traction happens when technologists are hands-on, immersed in the day-to-day of the farm, not just the boardroom. And that’s backed by data. According to the 2024 CropLife/Purdue University Precision Agriculture Dealership Survey, the percentage of ag retailers using drones to apply crop inputs is projected to grow from 35% today to more than 50% by 2027.

AI-driven weed identification, once cutting-edge, is on track to be a standard offering in the same window.

Yet for all the progress, the reality is sobering: less than 2% of specialty crop production is currently automated, according to the Western Growers Association. That’s a massive gap — and a massive opportunity.

For more, continue reading at CropLife.com.