Advancements made with automated weeding technology have become even more important as labor costs continue to climb. Compounding the issue for producers is the overall amount of available labor. Vegetable Crop and Weed Science Farm Advisor for the Central Coast region, Richard Smith said the lack of available workers has made automated weeders more of a necessity in some cases.
“If that’s your situation then the automated weeder is a no-brainer; you have to use it,” said Smith. “We’re kind of in that situation because the amount of labor that we have to do the work, like on a vegetable production field, has really diminished in the last several years. So, it’s just kind of amazing that that situation developed just at the time that the automated weeders became available.”
Listen to the radio report below.
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