b'A NEW TOOL HELPING YOU IN THE REALM OF RETAIL SEED SALES.RISE OF THE MACHINES: HOW ROBOTS ARE CHANGING THE SEED WORLDWe find out from three experts about how machine learning, artificial intelligence and robotics are making for a more sustainable industry.Marc ZienkiewiczHow dominant is machine learning becoming on theMoores Law states that we can expect the speed world ag stage?and capability of our computers to increase every Everywhere I go in the world, whether its forcouple of years, and we will pay less for them.small landholders or large landholders, theThe more data and connectivity we have, the opportunity for robotics, machine learning andmore data we generate, and the more we need Rob Saik even AI is growing exponentially. We comealgorithms to deal with this vast amount of data. Speaker,from the era of muscle, which is an exchange of Author, CEO ofcalories of horses and oxen and human beingsHow does this technology convert to the field? AGvisorPRO to make food. Were living in an era of machinesRobotics is important because it plays a role Sylvan Lake,now, but concentrating on how to do thingswhen the Three Ds are presentthat is, when Alta. more agronomically sound. Agriculture must bethings are dangerous, dirty and dull. Robotics infinitely sustainable, and the only way we canreally fit in here. If robots can do work in seed feed the planet is through intensive, sustainableproduction, then it frees up some of the labour intensification.and that labour allows us to have a better family life. Im thinking of technology like Why does the discussion about robotics in ag seem toOMNiPOWER, formerly called DOT. be accelerating?While the use of chemistry in agriculture goesThoughts on the future?back a very long time, it really began in the 60s,Ive never met a farmer yet who wants to spray 70s and 80s. The real big change in agricultureon more chemical or use more fertilizer. I think happened in the mid-90s, when we had geneti- the future of food could be organic, but it would cally engineered herbicide tolerant crops usher- have to be genetically engineered organic (GEO) ing in the era of Agriculture 4.0. This helpedbecause when you think about fighting disease shape what is beginning to happen in what I callor insects on a crop, genetic engineering is key. Agriculture 5.0, which is really the convergence of technology, all slamming together withoutWhat are some challenges you see coming?isolating one technology over the other. Key considerations for robotics and agriculture, of course, are safety and perception. In-between What are some examples? field transport is still an issue. Insurance, of Theres no separation today of GPS, auto steer,course, needs to be dealt with, and regulations sensor technology, precision ag, artificial intel- about how we deal with the regulations of robots ligence, even augmented intelligence and data.and agriculture is not yet resolved. Do we put They all come together in convergence. Whatsthem in the same classification as a Tesla? Or can driving convergence is Moores Law, which referswe put those regulations under farm implement to Gordon Moores perception that the numberregulations? of transistors on a microchip doubles every two years, though the cost of computers is halved. 26GERMINATION.CASEPTEMBER 2022'