Microsoft Research has developed a new suite of farm-focused technology called Project FarmVibes, using artificial intelligence (AI) to improve farming methods.
The technology will be made available to researchers, data scientists and farmers to turn agricultural data into action and boost yields and reduce costs.
FarmVIbes.AI combines drone and satellite imagery with data from ground-based sensors. Its algorithms, which run on Microsoft Azure, can predict the ideal amounts of fertilizer and herbicide to use and where to apply them; forecast temperatures and wind speeds in fields, determining when and where to plant and spray; find the ideal depth to plant seeds based on soil moisture; and tell which crops and practices can keep carbon sequestered in the soil.
“Project FarmVibes is allowing us to build the farm of the future,” said Andrew Nelson, a fifth-generation farmer who has partnered with Microsoft Research to turn his 7,500 acres, located in Washingto