Why Kubota Bought Bloomfield Robotics

Tim Hammerich
News Reporter
Bloomfield, a company that helps specialty crop growers improve the health and performance of their crop on a per-plant basis, was recently acquired by Kubota. Bloomfield CEO Mark DeSantis says it was a smooth transition because both companies believe the future of agriculture will involve a lot more robotization, automation, and digitization.
DeSantis… “So when you think of autonomy, you think of companies like Burrow and other companies who have these autonomous tractors and autonomous vehicles that are crawling around farms now. The technology is pretty mature. It's evolving, but it's pretty far along. Um, then there's robotization. To me, robotization is still a ways off where you have a robot picking an apple and not crushing the apple or you know, running over something or, or what have you. Digitalization is evolved. Digitalization is essentially perception. So I'm going to be able to look at a thing and know that's an apple, its color, its size, where it physically is. I know it's, you know, two feet away. So that perception piece and turning that plant and everything on it into a digital artifact. Well, Kubota has been thinking about this and pursuing this and they envision a time when a farm will be completely digitalized. And the farmer will be, in a sense, like a prime contractor, managing the work of this outsourced resource.”
Again that’s Bloomfield CEO, Mark DeSantis.