Developing Automation and Mechanization for U.S. Specialty Crops: A Review of USDA Programs
At $64.7 billion, specialty crops comprised one-third of U.S. crop receipts and one-sixth of receipts for all U.S. agricultural products in 2017. USDA funded $287.7 million towards 213 specialty crop automation or mechanization projects from 2008 – 2018.
Title VII (Research, Extension and Related Matters) of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, includes a request in Section 7610 to review programs of the USDA that affect the production and processing of specialty crops to be utilized by the Secretary of Agriculture to develop and implement a strategy to accelerate the development and use of automation or mechanization in the production or processing of specialty crops.
With the help of the USDA Office of the Chief Scientist, ERS researchers worked with national program managers at USDA agencies to develop an inventory of projects and programs that directly accelerate the development and use of automation or mechanization for specialty crops between 2008 and 2018.
Projects covered a broad spectrum of technologies, including job aid/machinery automation, machine learning/data analysis, mechanical harvesting/processing, precision agriculture, remote sensing/drones, and sensors. Funding amounts, projects, and technology categories are listed in a program inventory contained in an attachment to this report. Each identified program is designed differently to achieve unique objectives, and each addresses the development and use of automation or mechanization in specialty crops in some form.
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To learn more, read the report.
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