FarmWise and RDO Equipment partner to automate weeding for specialty crops

While many companies are trying to enter the agricultural robotics market, they will need to scale to be commercially successful. FarmWise Labs Inc. and RDO Equipment Co. today announced an exclusive partnership for RDO to deliver FarmWise’s Vulcan precision weeding and cultivation implement to vegetable growers in the Southwest U.S.

“We are excited to join forces with RDO, a company that embodies the same vision and relentless focus on their customers,” stated Tjarko Leifer, CEO of FarmWise. “This partnership takes FarmWise’s commercial and customer support capabilities to the next level and reinforces RDO’s leadership in the adoption of productivity-enhancing technologies.” 

Salinas, Calif.-based FarmWise sells its technology to farmers through Vulcan, a tractor-pulled smart implement that it said mechanically removes weeds with high precision, reliability, and speed. The company claimed that it can save farmers $200 or more dollars per acre by applying its proprietary artificial intelligence to some of the most challenging and high-value use cases on the farm.

FarmWise helps shorthanded farmers

FarmWise said Vulcan addresses the constrained and increasingly costly hand labor for weeding on the farm. It said its latest product combines precision and productivity.

Taylor Farms and Barkley Farms are two of the leading produce companies in the Southwest that have adopted Vulcan as part of their operations.

“For Taylor Farms, Vulcan builds on the foundation of success we have experienced working with FarmWise since 2019,” said Ted Taylor, president of agricultural operations at Taylor Farms. “We purchased our first Vulcan last December and today run two of them.”

“We have weeded over 2,100 acres already this season,” he added. “We are seeing strong value in our fields and expect Vulcan to be a significant part of our operations going forward because it helps address labor challenges in today’s agriculture.”

FarmWise’s Leifer will join Jason Schoettler, co-founder and managing director of Calibrate Ventures, in a session on “What’s Next for Agricultural Robotics?” at RoboBusiness 2024, which will be on Oct. 16 and 17 in Santa Clara, Calif.

Register now.

RDO to sell and support Vulcan weeder

Founded in 1968, RDO Equipment is a dealer in intelligently connected agriculture, construction, environmental, irrigation, positioning, and surveying equipment from leading manufacturers, including John Deere, Vermeer, and Topcon. The Fargo, N.D.-based company has more than 80 locations across the U.S. and partnerships in Africa, Australia, Mexico, and Ukraine.

With this agreement, RDO said it will bring Vulcan to more growers within existing and new regions as an exclusive sales and field support partner to FarmWise.

“When we learned about FarmWise’s Vulcan implement and its learning AI that can improve cultivating efficacy for different crops in varying field conditions, our team saw that this product fit perfectly into our commitment to helping growers do more with less without decreasing their longstanding history of quality,” said Richard Arias, vice president of Southwest agriculture at RDO.

“Our product specialists are excited to work alongside growers to mechanize weed management that reduces hand labor and costs to optimize weed control in their fields and improve crop uniformity and yield,” he said.

With RDO’s long history of effective customer support and large service network, Vulcan is poised to expand its offerings for current and new specialty crops, said the partners. FarmWise and RDO said they are “committed to continuing to develop chemical-free weed-removal options that provide farmers with real savings.”