agBOT Challenge Gets Underway

(Image courtesy of the agBOT Challenge.)

An agriculture innovation competition that brings together students and industry stakeholders kicks off for the third year Thursday in Parke County. The agBOT Challenge, which is held at the 600-acre Gerrish Farms in Rockville, involves the development and demonstration of ag-focused technology by college and university teams. Events within the three-day challenge focus on autonomous, plant identification, harvesting and weed eradication solutions.

Gerrish Farms Chief Executive Officer Steve Gerrish founded the agBOT Challenge and he compares the competition to a "pre-commercial battleground" where teams can demonstrate their ideas in a less marketplace-driven environment than other events with a higher profile.

The featured competitions this year include an autonomous weed and feed challenge and a harvest challenge to pick a ripe watermelon. You can connect to more about the agBOT challenge by clicking here.