5 ms·

Do you see any other areas in addition to mechanization that tech can be valuable? In other words, are there problems that software alone can help solve or is

Do you see any other areas in addition to mechanization that tech can be valuable? In other words, are there problems that software alone can help solve or is it simply down to replacing some of the manual labor with robotics and smarter machines?

jelliclesfarm 6y ago
I think we need a systems approach in Ag ..in both small or industrial farming..too. So we can achieve systems level results. Software can be helpful but it’s enhancements contribute very little to the profit margins. Take for example this cost analysis of orient eggplant for 2005(I picked this eggplant because it’s not a commodity crop grown by industrial Ag and is niche. In other words, it’s not like lettuce or strawberries or corn or soy) http://sfp.ucdavis.edu/crops/coststudieshtml/BpEggplantOrientalSJV2005/ http://sfp.ucdavis.edu/crops/coststudieshtml/BpEggplantOrien... Check the percent of labour costs and capital/equip costs wrt operating costs. Software will help as part of the bigger systems approach, but at the end of the day, the urgent problem we need to tackle is labour costs and labour availability.
- kitotik 6y ago
  Thank you. The systems approach does seem to be the only way to meaningful impact. “Simply” automating the existing systems doesn’t seem the right approach either.
- abakker 6y ago
  Systems example: farmers are paid per pound for tomatoes. They therefore want to water heavily before harvest so the tomatoes get as heavy as possible. Then they ship the heaviest possible tomatoes to a factory to be dehydrated into ketchup, sauce, and other canned goods. The energy loss comes in 3 different parts - water waste, extra fuel in shipping, and in energy to dehydrate. Everyone pays more. The system solution would be to price the tomato solids, not the water.
  - mschuster91 6y ago
    How are you going to reliably measure the solid content without destroying the tomato though?
    - evgen 6y ago
      Sampling. It is already the case that grains are tested and priced based on dry weight, it would not be hard to do the same for some of the larger veg crops.
      - jelliclesfarm 6y ago
        This point is moot. Canning tomatoes are different from market tomatoes grown for weight. Most tomatoes are harvested mechanically while green and unripe. They are gassed to ripeness.
    - jelliclesfarm 6y ago
      I don’t want to derail this thread but I just posted elsewhere(re: tomatoes) this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23781972 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23781972 And this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23781897 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23781897

jelliclesfarm 6y ago

I think we need a systems approach in Ag ..in both small or industrial farming..too. So we can achieve systems level results. Software can be helpful but it’s enhancements contribute very little to the profit margins. Take for example this cost analysis of orient eggplant for 2005(I picked this eggplant because it’s not a commodity crop grown by industrial Ag and is niche. In other words, it’s not like lettuce or strawberries or corn or soy) http://sfp.ucdavis.edu/crops/coststudieshtml/BpEggplantOrientalSJV2005/ http://sfp.ucdavis.edu/crops/coststudieshtml/BpEggplantOrien... Check the percent of labour costs and capital/equip costs wrt operating costs. Software will help as part of the bigger systems approach, but at the end of the day, the urgent problem we need to tackle is labour costs and labour availability.

kitotik 6y ago
Thank you. The systems approach does seem to be the only way to meaningful impact. “Simply” automating the existing systems doesn’t seem the right approach either.
abakker 6y ago
Systems example: farmers are paid per pound for tomatoes. They therefore want to water heavily before harvest so the tomatoes get as heavy as possible. Then they ship the heaviest possible tomatoes to a factory to be dehydrated into ketchup, sauce, and other canned goods. The energy loss comes in 3 different parts - water waste, extra fuel in shipping, and in energy to dehydrate. Everyone pays more. The system solution would be to price the tomato solids, not the water.
- mschuster91 6y ago
  How are you going to reliably measure the solid content without destroying the tomato though?
  - evgen 6y ago
    Sampling. It is already the case that grains are tested and priced based on dry weight, it would not be hard to do the same for some of the larger veg crops.
    - jelliclesfarm 6y ago
      This point is moot. Canning tomatoes are different from market tomatoes grown for weight. Most tomatoes are harvested mechanically while green and unripe. They are gassed to ripeness.
  - jelliclesfarm 6y ago
    I don’t want to derail this thread but I just posted elsewhere(re: tomatoes) this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23781972 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23781972 And this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23781897 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23781897