Autonomous Large-Scale Mowingand Agricultural Weeding
GPS
Laser
Intelligence
Need to decide between mowing and weeding
• Used framework from class #3 and 12 tips for customer interviews
Weeding – 6 interviews
• Bolthouse Farms, Large Agri-Industry in Bakersfield
• Rincon Farms, large grower in Salinas Valley• REFCO Farms, large grower in Salinas Valley• White Farms, Large Peanut farmer in Georgia• 2 Small organic farmers at farmers market
Found weeding in organic crops is HUGE problem; 50 - 75% of costs
Crews of 100s-1000
Back-breaking task
(Ilegal) labor harder to get
1-5 weedings per year/field
$250-3,500 per acre and increasing
Food contamination risk
Organic Weeding Value proposition• Labor costs are significant YES!; $250-3,500/ac each year; Weeding
is 75% of cost of producing the crop!• Traditional weed solutions can’t be used in Organic Duh!
• Only solution today is manual labor Crews of 100s-1000 are issue
• Market is very large 2.6 M organic acres in US. TAM $2.5B, Initial target market is $150M (veggies & specialty), size doubling every 4 yrs.
• Combination of Autonomous vehicles and video weed recognition would solve problem Problem is plant vs. weed recognition. No real need for autonomous vehicle, but real need for a solution
Mowing – 6 interviews
• Stanford Grounds– Supervisor – Maintenance – Lead operator (has crew of 6)
• Stanford Golf curse • Toro (large mower manufacturer) dealer • User of back-yard mowing system• More lined-up for later in the week
Labor is large part of ground maintenance
Three segments:• Golf courses • Stadiums • Parks
Each has 2-3 sub types (eg greens, fairways, rough in golf) uses different machines,
Weeding Value proposition• Are Labor costs are significant? For 100 acres in Stanford, crew of
6, $43 - $63/hr
Work in progress…
Decision to make – mowing vs weeding
Application If ROI is < 1 yr they will
buy
Labor costs significant?
Autonomous would solve
problem?
TAM
Mowing of large fields
Yes.Professionally
run organizations
Yes Yes Adjusted up toxxx
Weeding in Agriculture
Agri Industry: YES!
Large Growers: Yes
Small Growers: No
YES! for organic crops
They are spending $500/ac!
Not necessarily
Key need is weed vs. crop differentiation
TAM increased to $2.6 B (Total
organic)
Target Market (organic
specialty) 162 M/yr
18%/yr growth
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