Go onto any American farm today, and you’ll see some familiar sights. Rows of crops. Tractors tending to the fields.
You may even see a new machine attached to tractors today. It looks like this:
The company that manufactures this product calls it the See & Spray system.
It’s still in its early stages. But it’s already having a massive impact where it’s being rolled out.
The See & Spray uses a combination of robotics and 36 cameras that can scan 2,100 square feet at once. Machine learning allows it to identify weeds.
Then, utilizing dual tanks that can be used individually or in tandem, the weeds get sprayed.
Having two different tanks allows the See & Spray to essentially make two passes at once.
But the real story isn’t the time savings. It’s the cost savings.
BoomTrac technology keeps the sprayer arm within 10 inches of the target height. This improves spray accuracy and reduces herbicide wastage.
The See & Spray can reduce herbicide use by as much as two-thirds. That’s a huge cost saving for farmers.
But that’s not all.
The tractor can be operated remotely, with movement pre-programmed via AI-powered tools.
A farmer can use a computer or tablet to get a “seat” and monitor progress from the cameras. Or do that while being chauffeured around their field.
The See & Spray’s sensors allow monitoring of seed, water, fertilizer and pesticide levels while operating an autonomous tractor. It’s an incredible leap forward.
And all it costs? $25,000.
That’s not chump change, by any means. It’s $14,000 for the hardware and $11,000 for the installation.
That said, the See & Spray is an attachment that goes onto some of today’s top-of-the-line tractor models. So it’s not a standalone cost.
But this technology pays for itself quickly, especially given the costs of pesticides and herbicides.
And it’s easier on the land, too. Fertilizer runoff is affecting life downstream from farms, creating unintended effects.
In Florida, where I live, fertilizer runoff creates algae blooms. This makes waterways impassable and sucks out oxygen, which endangers fish and other unique species, like manatees.
All told, adding this $25,000 piece of technology to a farm is a giant leap forward for farmers, consumers and the environment.
The See & Spray is a sign that a new green revolution is already here.
And it’s powered by AI.
At a time when we hear so much about what AI will do in the next five or ten years…
And about the semiconductor factories breaking ground today that will be making chips by the end of the decade…
The good ole’ American farm is already putting this tech to work. Today.
That’s no surprise. History shows that farm technology tends to lead to other innovations elsewhere.
And that’s why AI farming is one of the most exciting areas investors are overlooking today.
Technology on the Farm: Doing More with Less
All technologies allow people to do more work. And the biggest technological benefits in human history have started on the farm.
For thousands of years, simple hand tools like scythes and plows were used for farming. Beasts of burden, such as oxen, were used to help plow fields.
The hours could be long during planting and harvesting season.
By today’s standards, it was beyond backbreaking labor. And it was also the human condition for all but a few elites for most of history.
With the rise of the industrial age, everything changed.
Steam-powered machines could do the work of dozens, then hundreds of humans. Gas-powered tractors eliminated much of the back-breaking labor.
Historians even credit farm technologies such as the cotton gin with ending institutionalized human slavery.
Today, fewer than 1% of Americans are employed directly on farms, and less than 2% in the broader agricultural space.
And the percentage of time and income that Americans have spent on food has dropped thanks to these technological improvements.
It’s been a true transformation in just a few generations. And it’s all thanks to technology.
And the next transformation has arrived.
AI Farming: The Next Green Revolution Has Arrived
Today, farming is the victim of its success…
Thanks to so many advanced technologies, few farmers are needed. That’s allowed for the growth of cities, modern corporations and thriving businesses outside of agriculture.
However, there are times when additional physical human labor is still needed on farms. That means we have occasional labor shortages.
Technologies such as robotics automation (like the See & Spray tractor) can solve this problem.
In the farming industry, automated robots can help reduce harvesting costs, enhance food quality, increase yields, streamline operations and decrease waste.
Tools such as drones can also be helpful on the farm. They can provide a crow’s eye view of where crops are. With AI-powered recognition software, they can identify trouble spots that may need more water or fertilizer.
They can take over most of the roles still needed by human labor. And they can help eliminate wastage.
That includes food that goes bad before it can be harvested and processed. But it can also include reduced fertilizer use.
Currently, fertilizer costs run an average of 20% of a farm’s costs, according to the USDA. For some crops, such as corn, it can be as much as 35%.
Even modest savings in this big cost can make a huge difference in a farm’s profitability.
How to Invest for the Next Green Revolution
AI-related stocks, particularly chipmakers, have already made a big move. But not AI farming stocks.
Since these technologies are still so new, the market is barely aware of their potential. Only a handful of farms are using these AI-powered tools today.
And globally? There’s been no rollout yet. So, the AI farming trend is likely to play out massively over the next few years, driving billions of dollars in cost savings for farmers.
Many third-world countries didn’t get modern gas-powered equipment or start to use fertilizer until the 1970s.
The result? Global crop yields surged nearly fourfold. All without substantially increasing the amount of land or labor required.
With today’s new AI farming tools, we could see similar gains.
Today, 40% of the world’s population earns its income substantially from agriculture.
That’s incredibly different than the 2% in the U.S. If 40% of America’s workforce was on farms, we’d have over 65.8 million farmers.
AI farming tools could mean the rest of the world uses far less human labor within just a few years. That means less back-breaking labor. And higher global incomes.
In turn, AI tools will help keep food prices from trending higher, and push down food inflation over time.
That’s good news for farmers, consumers and shareholders who own the right AI farming companies.
Charles Mizrahi, who’s already up 632.8%, 275% and 108.8% on AI stocks, recently revealed an AI play in agriculture for readers of his flagship service, Alpha Investor.
It’s a company with a history of farm innovation dating back over a century. They’re the company behind the new AI-powered tools like the See & Spray that are being rolled out on farms today.
It has invested in robotics and AI technology for decades. That’s allowed the company to get ahead of automakers for self-driving vehicles.
As the company’s VP of automation has stated: “This is super exciting. It’s not just driver assistance … the farmer can go and do something else. They can leave the cab and operate everything from an app.”
Shares of this stock are set to see some big gains as more farms embrace this technology … and potentially explode higher when the tech goes global.
And that’s just one area of AI that Charles recommends his readers invest in.
You can check out everything you need to know about the Alpha Investor AI investing strategy here — and see how to unlock Charles’ top AI stock names and tickers.
CEO, Banyan Hill, Money & Markets
Publisher: Source link