TULARE, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Autonomous drones, robotics, tractors, and plenty of hands-on demonstrations, were all on display on Tuesday at the 57th World Ag Expo.
“World AG Expo is to me is the epitome of, it’s almost like the Disneyland of agriculture,” said Stan Creelman, who is this year’s World Ag Expo Chairman.
Over one hundred thousand people are expected to be in attendance during the three-day event, drawing people from 60 different countries and over 48 different states.
Jeff Clack is a drone pilot based in Kentucky who specializes in pesticide spraying technology.
For years his company focused on ground applications, but now they’re reaching for new heights.
“This is an Agris t40 drone, it is a 40 liter or 10 ½ gallon drone liquid. It also has the capability of spreading dry material as well with a simple hopper change. The tank is removed, and the hopper goes in,” said Jeff Clack, who is a drone pilot for Bestway AG.
Clack says what makes this drone unique is that it allows farmers to get into fields that are too wet after a large storm, or to spray irregular fields without running over crops. And operating it is easy.
“We can plan this route through the controller, through an app on the phone, through the internet,” said Clack.
This drone is battery-powered and costs about $36,000
Also on display is an L5 autonomous harvester for picking strawberries.
The robot arm has a camera on it that scans the strawberry bed from different angles before dropping its arm down to pick the strawberry and place it in a bin.
At this point, it’s nowhere near as fast as a human being.
Aside from the technology, you can also attend over 90 seminars, take a drive in a new tractor, and eat some food.
The event is expected to pump over 35 million dollars into the Tulare economy, as visitors have hotels completely booked and restaurants packed.
If you weren’t able to make it out to the World Ag Expo on Tuesday you still have two more days to come out, with tickets costing $20 at the gate.
