I've been interested in setting up setting up some sort of micro farm in my flat (led based) for a few years. Anyone got some good resources for the novice micro farmer? (I like robotics/automation as well so if I could blend that in it would be cool)
The rise of the robot farmer
41–50 of 187 posts
Re: The rise of the robot farmer
#42Earlier quoted context omitted.
> frees up those who would have worked farm jobs to do higher-valued labor in the economy That's the ideal, in reality too many of these people live in areas where there are no other opportunities. They are also often fed the line that the job can be brought back. Put simply, we've observed generational shifts to higher-valued jobs in urban areas. A farmer, coal miner , etc who loses their job today is unlikely to re…
> A farmer, coal miner , etc who loses their job today is unlikely to re-skill & move to other industries Don't confuse what is the current outcome with what has to be the outcome. Those individuals might not reskill in todays environment because of a combination of receiving an insufficient amount of the value they produced in their wages (preventing them from having the resources to retrain themselves), as well as…
I don't disagree it can be done...
https://www.wired.com/2015/11/can-you-teach-a-coal-miner-to-...
I'm saying it can't be done at the current rate of change. There are just too many people caught off guard, compounded by technological & automation adoption too rapid for them to adapt.
I think you may underestimate the scale of the problem. Why so many people in the center of this country voted for a catchy tag-line on a baseball cap.
Re: The rise of the robot farmer
#43Related: Can someone from the industry share what is the current status of vertical farming? Is this considered the future or the verdict is not out yet? Any good people/startups/articles to check out?
Re: The rise of the robot farmer
#44I eagerly await the introduction of fully automated farming. Not, however, on farms. In my own garage. I see no reason I should simply let a "farmer" purchase the automation gear and then collect profit after wasting tons of energy in transportation. There's dirt, water, and sun at my house. There's no reason a robotic farming situation couldn't be shrunk down and made into something private individuals or small families could own to provide for their own food needs.
Re: The rise of the robot farmer
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
The immense productivity gains in agriculture have driven down food costs, which improves the standard of living of everyone. It also frees up those who would have worked farm jobs to do higher-valued labor in the economy.
In theory. In practice, this has lead to collapse of rural economies, rampant poverty, and epidemic drug usage amongst rural populations. As to driving food costs down, that's trivially disprovable. Loaf of bread in 1950: 12 cents. Adjusted for inflation that's $1.26 currently. A cheap loaf of white bread costs substantially more than $1.26. Edit: of course this gets downvoted, because econ gibberish is certainly mor…
First, my local stop n shop sells a loaf of white bread for $1.29 and that's not even a sale price. Second the average income has gone up by more than inflation as well so you would expect the cost of staples to go up accordingly.
Re: The rise of the robot farmer
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
The immense productivity gains in agriculture have driven down food costs, which improves the standard of living of everyone. It also frees up those who would have worked farm jobs to do higher-valued labor in the economy.
In theory. In practice, this has lead to collapse of rural economies, rampant poverty, and epidemic drug usage amongst rural populations. As to driving food costs down, that's trivially disprovable. Loaf of bread in 1950: 12 cents. Adjusted for inflation that's $1.26 currently. A cheap loaf of white bread costs substantially more than $1.26. Edit: of course this gets downvoted, because econ gibberish is certainly mor…
A cheap loaf of white bread costs substantially more than $1.26.
Actually that's about exactly what it costs at Walmart. I wanna say it's $1.28 but I'm not 100% sure. Granted that's literally the cheapest loaf of bread you can buy not an average nothing special loaf of bread.
Re: The rise of the robot farmer
#47> This is the one note of darkness that enters an otherwise optimistic conversation. “This technology could be used in a completely different way,” he says. “You could have entire states in America with no people in them. The potential for what we’re doing to be used in the wrong way is there.” What is inherently wrong or evil about this? If we could automate a state-size farm to feed everyone, isn't that a good thin…
It is an interesting exercise to imagine a state sized "farm state". Essentially you'd have one city (the capital of the state) consisting of folks who administered the state, people who maintained farm equipment, farm operators, and a police force for patrolling the state to protect the farms from people who might trespass or try to steal crops. "Farmers" would likely be more like DevOps folks who would sit in an of…
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Re: The rise of the robot farmer
#48> “I expected farmers to be quite luddite about the adoption of new technology,” he [Ben Scott-Robinson] says, as he packs Rachel away. I actually assume farmers are very welcoming of technology. They are hard workers and good business men. Usually technology makes them more efficient and more money.
I joined an AgTech firm 3 years ago - this is my commentary, not the view of my company or anyone else there. > I actually assume farmers are very welcoming of technology. The answer (at least in my experience) is a bit more complicated. > Usually technology makes them more efficient and more money. ...because this sentence isn't really true. Yes, farmers are hard workers and if they aren't adequate at business they…
Excellent comment. What AgTech firm did you join (I am in a somewhat related field)?
Re: The rise of the robot farmer
#49Now for a bit of hubris: anyone else reading this feel that building a robot that could do pest/weed control and harvesting is almost a triviality compared to say, fixing enterprise software to maximize customer purchases and ad revenue? What are we all doing? Seriously, why can't each of us take a year of our lives and automate all the most awful jobs in the world? Asking for a friend :-P
See the XKCD comic about pictures in parks and kinds of birds.
Hah thanks for that!
Still, image recognition is effectively a solved problem at this point for AI. Maybe there are still problems with notation and terminology that prevent widespread adoption?
Re: The rise of the robot farmer
#50I’m co-founder of the “space bots with lasers” company. Happy to answer any questions.
Cool. How does the laser kill the weed without risking starting a fire that might damage the crops?