Tifton, GA |
From drones spraying crops to robots scouting fields, technology has become a constant presence in Georgia’s number one industry. To help growers make sense of what’s available — and what actually works — the University of Georgia recently hosted the inaugural Southeastern Specialty Crop Technology Conference, giving attendees a firsthand look at the latest research and development shaping the future of agriculture.
“The reason behind the conference is to bring growers, academia, students, and the industry together and see how we can bring these technologies to the Southeast — and how they can actually help growers be more efficient, more sustainable, and more economically successful,” said Luan Oliveira, Precision Agriculture Specialist with UGA.
The timing of the conference couldn’t be more relevant. Producers across the region are navigating record-high input costs while working with an ever-shrinking amount of available farmland — a combination that makes efficiency not just beneficial, but essential.
“Agriculture is at a real crossroads across the country, but particularly here in the southern United States. We have got to come up with ways to more effectively produce the food and fiber to feed a growing world,” said Dr. Michael Toews, Associate Dean for Extension at UGA. “This is the opportunity for us to introduce some of those technologies to our growers that will adopt them and allow us to get over that hurdle — and mind you, that’s on less and less land each year. So we have to get more and more efficient, as well as meet that growing population. It’s critically important that we continue this march forward.”
That march forward does come with a higher startup cost — which is exactly why events like this one matter. Producers can evaluate the latest data before committing to new technology, weighing both performance and return on investment.
“Agriculture is a highly scientific field, and it is critically important that we look at all these new technologies — not just from the perspective of how well they work, but the scalability, so that we can use them to feed a growing country,” Toews said.
Oliveira echoed that sentiment, noting that ROI remains one of the most pressing questions for growers considering adoption. “How reliable is it? What is the return on investment? When is the ROI? Is there an ROI? How much is the return on a machine like that?” he said.
For at least one technology on display, the numbers are starting to make a compelling case. Field robots like the Leaf Deck may move slowly — topping out at one to two miles per hour — but the savings they generate in chemicals, labor, and fertilizer tell a different story.
“What we’re talking about here is truly efficient — on chemical savings, on labor savings, on fertilizer savings. That’s the efficiency we’re talking about,” Oliveira said.
For UGA’s agricultural leaders, the conference also served as a reminder of just how far the industry has come — and how central technology has become to staying competitive.
“Agriculture and technology are almost synonymous. You have to be invested in technology in order to stay in business,” Toews said. “First and foremost, farmers are businessmen. In order to stay productive, you have to constantly be looking at what the next attribute is going to be that will allow your farm to continue to produce food and fiber for a growing world. Agriculture today is about sensors, controls, and satellites — we have some of the most cutting-edge approaches going on right now.”
For Georgia’s growers, the message from Tifton was clear: the technology is here, the data is growing, and the farms that embrace it will be the ones best positioned to thrive in the years ahead.