Can robotics solve farm labor challenges? with Sophie Thorel and Connie Bowen

Agtech - So What?

Ask any farmer what their biggest challenge is right now and most will say ‘labor’. But what if, instead of trying to get more farm workers, we focused on changing the types of jobs available on farms? That’s where robotics comes in.

Unfortunately, successfully commercializing robots in agriculture has been extraordinarily difficult, especially relative to sectors like healthcare, defence and warehousing.

We break down the problem into three key challenges, based on research by Sophie Thorel, robotics expert and researcher at CREO Syndicate. Sophie argues robotics in agriculture needs to overcome the technical challenge of varied, uncontrollable environments; the cost and capital challenges that often comes with hardware; and the social stakeholder challenge of getting farmers and farm workers involved in the design process. Connie Bowen, GP at Farmhand Ventures, also joins us, drawing on her expertise in understanding and investing in agtech from a labor-first perspective and how all of these challenges intersect.

Connie, Sophie and Sarah discuss:

• Sophie’s journey into robotics and why a family office investment platform cares about robots in food & agriculture
• How we can overcome the time and cost it takes for on-farm robotics to develop to a stage where it’s actually useful for farmers/growers
• Why it’s so important for farmers and farm workers to be involved over the long term in a robotics program- from design into implementation
• How overcoming the key challenges in ag robotics could lead to a revolution in farm labor– more attractive and skilled farm opportunities

Useful Links:

• Agriculture Robotics: Technologies Enabling the Fourth Industrial Revolution" - CREO report
• Ag Launch
• Pete Nelson on partnering with growers to build better agtech
• Beyond VC: Redeemable Equity in Agtech, with Connie Bowen
• The Three Categories of Autonomy in Agriculture, SwarmFarm Robotics
• Burro
• TRIC Robotics

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