April 2024 - 9

IRRIGATION & WATER MANAGEMENT
Because it brings images of " magic and unrealistic
expectations, " Fern said he hesitates to use the term
" AI " when talking about AgAID. The project is focused on
developing tools for farmers and crop advisors to make
better decisions.
Fern said the test bed should be built and ready for use
by this summer.
Georgine Yorgey, associate director of WSU's Center
for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources,
is co-lead of Extension and workforce development
on AgAID.
Yorgey said the on-farm research team is looking at
fruit dormancy and the need for frost protection data
for spring decisions and soil moisture data for deficit
irrigation decisions.
" That project is trying to move forward the frontiers
of data science and AI, " she said. " To some extent, the
project is trying to grapple with the issue of how do we
make sure there's enough input to make these tools
more likely to be useful and usable? These are the same
issues raised about AI use in agriculture that are raised
around AI use in all other facets of our life. "
The labor component of the AgAID focuses on the
ability of human-AI partnerships to ease the labor
shortage and rising labor costs, and the need for skilled
labor to operate AI machines on the farm.
Lav Khot, left, associate professor in Washington State
University's (WSU) Department of Biological Systems
Engineering, gave a presentation on the expanding
applications of drones in agriculture during a WSU
Drone Day.
For example, research into AI-enabled robots are
" learning " to thin blossoms and prune fruit trees during the
dormant stage in winter. Pruning, thinning and harvesting,
some of the most labor-intensive tasks in the fruit industry,
are considered the " Holy Grail " of automation to tackle.
The University of California-Merced, Heritage
University, Wenatchee Valley College and Kansas State
University are also participating in the research, and
universities in Chile, Australia and the Netherlands are
also collaborators.
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April 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of April 2024

Editor's Letter
Irrigation & Water Management: On-farm AI
Plant & Soil Health: Making the grade
Grower Profile: Carmel Valley winegrapes
IFTA Conference: Orchard insights
IFTA Conference: Tree fruit honorees
Mid-Atlantic Fruit & Vegetable Convention: Industry professionals receive honors
Business: The surprising challenge
40 Under Forty Fresh Views: Lessons learned
Farm Market & Agritourism: Complementary markets promote local agriculture
Classifieds
Advertiser Index
April 2024 - 1
April 2024 - 2
April 2024 - 3
April 2024 - Editor's Letter
April 2024 - 5
April 2024 - Irrigation & Water Management: On-farm AI
April 2024 - 7
April 2024 - 8
April 2024 - 9
April 2024 - Plant & Soil Health: Making the grade
April 2024 - 11
April 2024 - 12
April 2024 - 13
April 2024 - Grower Profile: Carmel Valley winegrapes
April 2024 - 15
April 2024 - 16
April 2024 - 17
April 2024 - IFTA Conference: Orchard insights
April 2024 - 19
April 2024 - 20
April 2024 - 21
April 2024 - 22
April 2024 - 23
April 2024 - IFTA Conference: Tree fruit honorees
April 2024 - 25
April 2024 - Mid-Atlantic Fruit & Vegetable Convention: Industry professionals receive honors
April 2024 - 27
April 2024 - Business: The surprising challenge
April 2024 - 29
April 2024 - 40 Under Forty Fresh Views: Lessons learned
April 2024 - 31
April 2024 - Farm Market & Agritourism: Complementary markets promote local agriculture
April 2024 - 33
April 2024 - Classifieds
April 2024 - Advertiser Index
April 2024 - 36
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