This weekly update showcases major developments in artificial intelligence for agriculture as farming companies and researchers push forward with new technologies that promise to make food production smarter and more efficient.

The week's biggest announcement came from Orchard Robotics, a California-based company that secured $22 million in Series A funding on September 3rd. Founded by Charlie Wu, a former Cornell student, the company has created what they call an AI farming platform that addresses a critical problem in agriculture. Wu explains that currently, only a small portion of crops get manual inspection, yet farmers use this limited sampling to make multi-million dollar decisions about labor, crop inputs, and farm management.

Orchard Robotics has developed a camera system that mounts onto tractors and uses artificial intelligence to analyze pictures of fruit crops. The system can make conclusions about plant health and provide farmers with much more precise data than traditional methods. The company works with leading apple and grape farms across the United States, and is expanding to include blueberries, cherries, almonds, pistachios, citrus, and strawberries. The new funding will help them double their team size and open a new office in San Francisco.

At the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Professor Sruti Das Choudhury is taking a different approach to agricultural AI with her research on explainable artificial intelligence. Her work focuses on creating AI systems that don't just provide recommendations to farmers, but also explain the reasoning behind their decisions. For instance, when an AI system recommends which crop to plant in a field after analyzing about 50 different factors like pH levels, rainfall, and temperature, the explainable AI will reveal which factors influenced the decision most and to what extent.

This transparency is crucial because it allows farmers to verify AI recommendations against their existing knowledge and experience. Professor Choudhury is leading two major projects in this area and has proposed a new semester-long course on artificial intelligence for agriculture and natural resources. She believes this research will make AI more trustworthy and help farmers understand why systems make certain predictions rather than accepting decisions blindly.

California received significant public investment to boost its agricultural technology sector. The Merced AgTech Alliance secured $9.2 million through California Jobs First to establish a regional innovation hub. This ambitious program aims to generate over 3,000 jobs, incubate 100 startup companies, and offer 250 internships over the coming years. The initiative includes plans for an AgTech Innovation Center at Merced College and startup incubation programs at Reservoir Farms.

Additionally, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources received $15.1 million to build a statewide agricultural innovation network connecting nine food-producing regions across California. Over five years, this initiative plans to support 200 startups, train 1,500 individuals, and create 2,000 new jobs in the agricultural technology sector.

However, research suggests that AI adoption in agriculture is proceeding more slowly than in other industries. According to surveys conducted by CropLife magazine and Purdue University, most agricultural technologies tend to grow slowly over time, gaining only a few percentage points each year. The 2024 Precision AgTech Buying Intentions Survey found that only 6% of respondents plan to spend more than $1 million on AI systems during the 2024 growing season, while 59% expect to spend less than $100,000.

This cautious approach contrasts sharply with the rapid adoption seen in other sectors, suggesting that farmers are taking time to evaluate these new technologies carefully before making significant investments.

In international news, South Korean scientist Dr. Minkyung Baek won the 2025 APEC Science Prize for her groundbreaking work in AI-powered protein design. Her research team developed RoseTTAFold, an AI tool that helps scientists understand protein shapes, which are the building blocks of life. This technology could accelerate vaccine development and help create new medicines, with potential applications in food safety and agricultural biotechnology. The prize, worth $25,000, recognizes the growing importance of AI-bio convergence in solving global challenges including those in agriculture and food systems.