Ag Robotics Day gives insight into the future

Chuck Baresich of Haggerty AgRobotics explains the function of a drone that is being tested for spraying applications. (Jeff Helsdon photo)

Jeff Helsdon, Editor

Imagine a day when many of farm tasks are completed, or assisted, by robots.

That day may not be that far off.

The AgRobotics Working Group hosted a demo day at the Ontario Crops Research Centre in Simcoe on July 22. On display were several robots that are either on the market, or nearing that point.

Chuck Baresich of Haggerty Creek, a Chatham-Kent based agriculture company, approached the ministry in 2021, the group was formed and began to look into the possibility of using robots and artificial intelligence (A.I.) to solve many problems growers are facing. At the end of the first year, the group was working with five different robots. Since then, the number of participants and robots has increased exponentially.

There were nine different robots on display for those attending the demo day. These ranged from an asparagus harvester that can identify the ripeness of spears and harvest and laser weeders, to drone sprayers and electric robotic tractors.

Speaking about the drone, Baresich said his company started working with smaller drones and eventually reached the point of the machine they are using now, which is about two meters wide. It’s set up to automatically spray a field using GPS coordinates. He did point out no agriculture substances are legal to spray from drones at this point except fertilizer and Garland. More approvals, he said are coming, though.

The laser weeder is an attachment that goes on the back of a tractor. It can be programmed to identify weeds, and will then zap them long enough to kill them.

The asparagus harvester, made by Harvestcorp Technology in Tillsonburg, will hopefully be ready for market next year. It uses cameras to identify the spears, judge ripeness, then a decision is made to harvest, not harvest or harvest the spear and drop it. The machine uses cutters, then takes the harvested spears up a conveyor belt. It can also sort the harvested asparagus into two grades. The machine runs autonomously and is battery powered.

While robotics have been common in animal agriculture – such as dairy barns – Baresich said it’s just starting for field crops and orchards. His company Haggerty AgRobotics is the only company involved in both development and retail. He had nine Oz robotic tractors, which is a small unit that will perform a variety of tasks and is scaled for work on small farms or market garden operations, out this year. The Burro, a small unit which can run bins of fruit from the orchard to a processing centre or larger wagon, is in use on several farms.

Pointing to the Monarch, a 70-horsepower electric tractor which can drive itself between rows in an orchard, Baresich said it can allow an operator to pay more attention to the task being performed behind the tractor than where it’s going.

“They can watch that much more closely that before,” he said.

It will also drive itself without an operator.

The Monarch will run for 14 hours performing light tasks, and eight on heavy tasks. It can recharge in four to six hours on 220 volts. This unit sells for $130,000, compared to a conventional tractor at $70,000 to $80,000. However, Baresich said there are no oil changes, oil filters and operating costs are lower. A traditional tractor also can’t drive itself.

Asked about batteries, he said they are good for eight years.

“What’s interesting is the battery that goes in there (in the future) will be significantly better than the one that came out,” he predicted.

His dealership receives weekly calls from growers interested in making the switch. The technology is advancing rapidly, and Baresich believes it’s on the cusp of becoming practical.

Part of his company’s job is evaluating the new technology as it comes to market.

“We have to be honest with the grower,” he said. “It’s not that they (manufacturers) can’t get there, it’s just they need refinement.”

A robot on display from Finite Farms is designed to thin apple orchards. This task is essential as trees want to make 200 to 300 fruit, said Finite’s Matt Stevens.

“Basically, you have to take a whole lot of fruit off as quickly as you can,” he said.

The thinner is designed to be used after a chemical thinner has been applied and will cut off the tiny apples that it identifies as sub-par.

“The robot can see better than the human can, so we can start with marble-sized fruit,” he said.

The operator can program the optimum number of fruit per tree, depending on the variety and end use of the apples.

Toryn Boyle, manager of the Simcoe research centre, has been working with Haggerty to assess the Naio Oz’s practicality in the field by comparing two squash plots, one tended by the robot and one by conventional means.

“We’re trying to build a framework to assess these machines,” said Jason Gharigo of Haggerty.

Boyle said some experimentation was needed initially to set up the cultivator on the Oz.

“The robot has automation systems that allow it to correct,” Boyle said, explaining it will adjust till depth and if it’s off track.

Initially, the machine got stuck a lot, and he had to go into the field and adjust it using an app on his phone. Once adjustments were made, there have been fewer problems.

While many of the robots were imported from the U.S. and Europe, a home-grown industry was also on display. Besides the asparagus harvester, an orchard scanner that uses AI to assess the condition of the trees and make thinning recommendations was developed in Toronto, and Werkr Tractors is based in Kitchener/Waterloo. The latter product is an electric tractor with an optional autonomous mode.

“We’re right at the beginning of robotics in agriculture,” said Stan Baer of Werkr. “It’s going to look a lot different in 10 years than it does now.