Bosch Startup Deepfield Robotics is creating innovative technologies towards sustainable farming. These include connectivity solutions to support farmers in better decision-making and robotic systems for improving seed breeding and mechanical weed control. Specifically, the talk will highlight Deepfield 4D-scan, a robotic system for automated field testing which has the potential to revolutionize plant breeding. The system comprises detection, identification, and plant analysis. As a result, a “patient’s record” of each individual crop plant and weed is “filed” from sowing till canopy closure, including 3D reconstructed plant models.

The 21st Century has become a place where everything is linked to the flow of data.  Agriculture is no exception.  As the world demands to know where their food comes from and what it costs to produce it, Agriculture is challenged to adapt to an ever changing landscape of data collection, management and analysis.  At its core, however Agriculture has not changed fundamentally in thousands of years, soil, water, plants and climate determine success and failure.  How then do we reconcile the honored traditions of agriculture with the modern demands of information management? Giving the producer a set of tools to understand and sustainably manage the most critical element of his/her farming operation has to be the foundation.  That element is water. Water determines the health of the crop, the health of the soil and ultimately the health of the producer and his customers.  Knowing how to best manage water movement at a farm scale is also a tool that producers can use to find better markets, improve long term farm fitness and demonstrate to the public at large how they are stewards of water for society.

 The Aquamart project is beginning this fall in Nebraska to support producers in becoming more adept at water sustainability planning and management as a way to improve on farm fitness. As the largest user of water in the state as they improve their management of water they will improve the quantity, quality and aesthetics of water management for all stakeholders.  This project will provide quantification and data management for such objectives, helping the producer to find greater value for his/her conservation efforts and to show other water stakeholders the benefits of improved agricultural water management.   We are targeting at least 70,000 acres of crop land across the state to build Water Performance Zones (WPZ’s) to build farmer led monitoring networks, peer based technology learning and transfer opportunities and analysis of farm scale conservations contributions to watershed scale issues like aquifer health, water quality and/or flood control.  Aquamart will be the floor plan that will allow any water stakeholder in the state to connect to resources and issues at all scales to better understand the interconnected nature of human hydrology and to create leverage for a share sustainable water future for all Nebraskans led by the state’s largest industry, Agriculture.