Is the Future of Farming Hands-Free?

For some, the concept of hands-free farming is terrifying; for others, the prospect is game-changing and exciting. But, is fully autonomous farming really possible?In this episode we chat with Kit Franklin, senior lecturer in agricultural engineering at Harper Adams University in the UK, who in 2016 set out to prove an entire crop cycle could be done autonomously. The project was called Hands Free Hectare, which later expanded into Hands Free Farm after garnering worldwide attention and for producing what is believed to be the first crop to be planted, cultivated, and harvested - completely autonomously.While Kit started this farming experiment simply to prove robotic farming was possible, how transferable is his autonomous trial crop to the real world? And is it how we want to be farming our food in the future?In this episode, Kit discusses:The role autonomy can play in making small-scale farming viable and lowering chemical use.How media exposure of even a small scale project can change perceptions of agriculture and attract unlikely entrants to the industry.The key enablers required for autonomy to take off, and the business models that may bring it to scale.For more resources from this episode, visit our website.

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