WHAT: Find out how artificial intelligence can help agriculture at this year’s Florida Ag Expo. The Expo, one of the largest in the state, will highlight the latest in technology, AI and farming innovation.

Check here for the Expo agenda.

Highlights:

• Learn how artificial intelligence can help in plant breeding and how it can help farmers cope better with weeds, diseases and pests and improve the taste of new fruit.
• Researchers will talk about strawberry and vegetable diseases, soil-based fertilizer recommendations and compact-bed soil geometry, which reduces the need for nutrients.

Best video and photo opportunities: 2:30 to 4 p.m. during the following tours:

• Watch a scientist use smart-spray technology to apply herbicides. He uses a camera mounted to a tractor to get images of precisely where the bad weeds are located. Then a machine sprays those weeds.
• Other researchers will venture into fields and greenhouses to show how they’re breeding tomatoes for machine harvesting.

Interview opportunities will be available with scientists, center director Jack Rechcigl and growers by contacting Brad Buck, bradbuck@ufl.edu.

The Expo also includes a large vendor show.

WHEN: 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Nov. 18.

WHERE: UF/IFAS Gulf Coast Research and Education Center, 14625 County Road 672, Balm, Florida.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact Brad Buck, bradbuck@ufl.edu.

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The mission of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is to develop knowledge relevant to agricultural, human and natural resources and to make that knowledge available to sustain and enhance the quality of human life. With more than a dozen research facilities, 67 county Extension offices, and award-winning students and faculty in the UF College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, UF/IFAS works to bring science-based solutions to the state’s agricultural and natural resources industries, and all Florida residents. Visit the UF/IFAS web site at ifas.ufl.edu and follow us on social media at @UF_IFAS.

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