“The farmer is the only man in our economy who buys everything at retail, sells everything at wholesale, and pays the freight both ways.”

— John F. Kennedy

🚜 New in AgTech

Chatting Up the Crops

Agronomists and farmers are forging stronger bonds in today's dynamic agricultural scene, thanks to advancements in technology. Bushel, a software business for agriculture, is leading the charge in this digital transformation by using AI to cultivate these relationships using a conversational bot called Buddy. By streamlining agricultural procedures, increasing collaboration, and providing timely, actionable information, this AI helper hopes to empower agronomists and farmers equally.
The Bushel's Buddy chatbot was first shown at the June Buddy Seat Conference. The company is currently in alpha testing and plans to make it available to more people later this year. Buddy is a tool that agronomists can use to easily ask natural language enquiries about their customers. It is available through Bushel's customer relationship management (CRM) site. For instance, questions like "Which customers have past due invoices?" or "How much grain did this farmer contract last year?" are answered right away using data from both the CRM and the transactions. Built on large-language model (LLM) APIs, Buddy is enhanced with specialised math functions to handle calculations that typical LLMs struggle with, ensuring precise numeric answers.

Empowering Farmers

Buddy has a lot of potential that goes beyond just agronomists. Bushel is looking into ways to give farmers direct access to the chatbot via customer portals. This would allow growers to easily check their data, like contracts, invoices, and crop performance, on their own. This makes agricultural intelligence accessible to everyone, helping farmers make smarter decisions almost instantly.

Buddy is part of Bushel’s larger digital ecosystem that helps simplify the complicated parts of the agricultural supply chain. Their platform makes it easy to go digital with all those paper-heavy tasks, like signing grain contracts electronically, handling payments, and managing financial workflows. Bushel has rolled out a digital wallet that lets farmers set up FDIC-backed business banking accounts. This makes managing finances easier and helps create more transparency between farmers and agribusinesses.

AI’s Growing Influence in Agriculture

Bushel’s chatbot is a great example of the exciting wave of AI innovations that are changing the farming landscape around the world. South African virtual agronomists are offering localised crop advice, while regenerative agriculture chatbots are sharing biology-based guidance. It's pretty cool how AI tools are boosting both productivity and sustainability!

FarmingFirst shows us how AI-driven crop monitoring, smart nutrient management, and automated equipment are boosting yields and helping to save resources at the same time. Companies such as Advancing Eco Agriculture have introduced chatbots that draw on years of experience in regenerative farming, helping growers with practical, science-based advice. It looks like the rise in AI use is right on track with predictions that the global AI agriculture sector is set to almost triple by 2028.

Where it Matters

So, when it comes to academics, the blend of AI in agriculture really opens up some exciting research avenues. You’ve got agronomy, computer science, economics, and sustainability all coming together. Pretty cool, right? Looking into how AI changes advisory roles and connects with farmers can really help us design better technology and promote fair agricultural growth.

Investors can really take advantage of innovations like Buddy by Bushel. These solutions are all about finding new efficiencies in agricultural supply chains and improving customer management. These technologies help cut down on administrative hassles and boost data-driven insights, making it easier to build scalable business models that have great growth potential and a positive social impact.

The future of farming really hinges on closing those knowledge gaps, using technology that works for both agronomists and farmers. It’s a great idea for everyone in agriculture to get on board with AI-driven solutions like Buddy. They can really help improve how things run, make better decisions, and build stronger connections all along the supply chain.

Agribusinesses should really think about using AI-powered CRM tools. They can help you get real-time insights about your customers and enhance your service. Farmers might want to check out AI-enabled platforms. They can really help in taking charge of their data and boosting both financial and crop results. At the same time, it’s important for researchers and policymakers to back innovation that promotes accessibility and sustainability.

A farmer has twenty sheep, ten pigs, and ten cows. If we call the pigs cows, how many cows will he have?

A Field Full of Folly

There’s a new hired hand on the farm. It doesn’t complain about the radio station, never shows up late smelling of last night’s bonfire, and it absolutely will not stop to pet the border collie. This employee is John Deere’s autonomous RX9 tractor, a magnificent, driverless behemoth that’s currently stirring up more drama than a county fair pie-eating contest. An article from Future farming poses the question: “Is John Deere making a monumental mistake betting the farm on this autonomous vision?” And as I read it, I couldn’t help but picture Old MacDonald’s great-great-grandson, Mac, staring at his new RX9 with a mixture of awe and utter terror.

The Seduction of the Shiny Thing

Imagine Mac. He’s a savvy operator. He embraced auto-steer, he’s a wizard with his yield maps, and his drone collection is the envy of the district. The RX9 arrives not with a rumble, but with a soft, futuristic hum. It’s beautiful. It’s all sensors, cameras, and promises of 24/7 productivity.

Mac, feeling like a character in a sci-fi movie, programs his first job. The RX9 rolls out, perfect, unwavering. Mac, for the first time in his life, finds himself with spare time. He sips coffee. He contemplates the metaphysical nature of soil carbon. It’s glorious. This is the AgTech dream: efficiency! optimisation!

The Ghost in the Machine (or the Glitch in the GPS)

But then, it happens.

The RX9, in the far forty, encounters a phenomenon no algorithm could predict: a pheasant with a death wish and the erratic flight pattern of a poorly thrown paper airplane. The machine stops. It’s confused. It sends Mac an alert: “Obstacle detected. Intervention required.” Mac, who was midway through a nap, sprints across the field like a possessed man. He arrives, out of breath, to shoo away a bird that has already lost interest. The lesson? Technology is brilliant, but nature is gloriously, chaotically unpredictable. You can’t code for poultry-based anarchy.

This argument is the core of the debate. John Deere is betting on a fully autonomous future, a “go big or go home” strategy. The critics whisper: But what about the semi-autonomous middle ground? What about advanced driver-assist systems that still keep a human in the loop, like a super-powered co-pilot?

The Lesson from the Furrow

Here’s the thing. John Deere might not be wrong; they might just be early. They’re playing the long game, building the infrastructure for a world where every machine speaks the same digital language. They are the bold pioneer planting a new crop everyone is sceptical of.

The lesson isn’t to avoid autonomy. The lesson is to build technology that serves people, not replaces them. The most successful tech will be the kind that makes Mac’s life easier today, not just in some distant, fully automated tomorrow. A system that helps him steer straighter while he’s in the cab? Brilliant. A monitor that predicts a mechanical failure before it happens? Game-changing. These are the "semi-autonomous" stepping stones that build trust and prove value without making the operator feel like a redundant accessory.

John Deere’s RX9 is a breathtaking moonshot. It’s a statement of intent. But for most farmers, the real revolution isn’t about removing the driver. It’s about giving them a better, smarter, more capable partner in the cab.

So, is it a mistake? Check back in a decade. In the meantime, the rest of us should focus on solving the problems right in front of us, even if that problem is a particularly stubborn pheasant. The future of farming involves more than just machines working independently. It’s about the perfect, hilarious, and endlessly complex partnership between the farmer, his tech, and the wonderfully unpredictable world he tends. Want more takes on the tech that’s truly changing the field? Don’t be a stranger. Come on back now.

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