This episode of the Voices of the Valley podcast is brought to you today by the Western Growers Association. Supporting producers that grow the best medicine in the world. Find out more at WGA.com.
Brent Shedd, CEO of Stout Industrial Technology, Inc., joins Voices of the Valley to examine Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the agriculture industry. Brent joined Stout with a background in technology and tends to approach farming issues through this lens. The decision for Stout to build its own hardware and software was based around Brent’s background with AI. Brent quotes agtech engineers: “If it’s dirty, dangerous, dull, or difficult, it’s a prime candidate for automation” when looking at where robots are needed on the farm. AI is not encumbered by historical process, and it uses data to focus on output from the farm. The podcast hosts and Brent also delve into what farmers focus on – that growers are not terribly concerned with the technology behind innovation as long as it works in the field.