To the editor:

The future of farming isn’t on the horizon; it’s already here. That message was made clear at this year’s Farmfest, which hosted a panel featuring a local content creator and representatives from Corteva and TerraClear. Their conversation demystified the emerging benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) for farmers and raised some valuable points for our state’s agricultural community to take note of. Throughout the conversation, one central message was clear: our state’s farmers should not fear AI; they should embrace it. As the panelists discussed, AI can revolutionize operations, improve productivity, and free up valuable time that farmers need to contend with the mounting pressures of increasingly unpredictable weather, labor shortages, and global supply chain bottlenecks. In this environment, every minute saved and every extra set of hands is vital, and AI could be key to alleviating many of our biggest challenges.

In this vein, it’s proving its worth. In research settings, it’s being employed to improve yields through genome analysis, while at the University of Minnesota, it’s being researched for use in coordination with satellites to detect destructive aphid infestations, giving farmers more time to act. Outside research settings, autonomous tractors and advanced AI-powered sensors are propping up smaller farms and filling labor gaps. As the excitement surrounding AI grows, I’m glad to see Farmfest host a conversation highlighting its immense potential to transform the agricultural industry. I hope those who joined, including policymakers, will take it as an opportunity to recognize the growing importance of emerging technologies in our food production and how they could help us mitigate the challenges of our time.

Steve Veverka

Marshall