The Smart Orchard

Tim Hammerich

News Reporter

There is so much happening on a farm, especially in perennial crops like apples or blueberries. Small microclimates and ecosystems develop around these trees and bushes. With that complexity comes a lot of data. A recent partnership between the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission and Innov8 Ag is explore the possibility of a smart orchard for farmers to collect and utilize all of this data. Here’s Innov8 CEO Steve Mantle.

Mantle… “So we kicked it off in late spring of 2020. And the focus really is around bringing together sensors, data from many different sources: from weather, from soil, from plant and tree specific sensors, yield data imagery data from all sorts of sources like satellite imagery and drones and equipment, labor, chemical, water. The list goes on bringing all that together in a commercial orchard. Validating data and benchmarking comparisons against different types and price levels, even of sensors. And then collaborating with researchers on the interrelation of that data with the goal to better harness and simplify those technologies for grower decision making.”

For more information, check out the recent episode of The Business of Blueberries podcast on any podcast platform.