August 16, 2022 • 19 mins
In this episode of "Let's Talk Farm to Fork", we're joined by Kyle Cobb from Advanced.Farm, who we will be talking to about how their robotic harvesting technology is helping reduce bruising and fruit damage while increasing yields.
https://advanced.farm/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Voiceover (00:02):
Welcome to let's talk farm to fork, the PostHarvest
podcast that interviews people,making an impact in the fresh
produce sector.
We'll take a deep dive into whatthey do and find out how they're
helping to reduce the amount offood lost or wasted along the
farm to fork journey.
But before we get started, didyou know that according to the
(00:23):
UN's food and agricultureorganisation, around 45% of the
world's fruits and vegetables goto waste each year?
If you would like to learn moreabout how you can practically
play your part in maximisingfruit and vegetable supplies,
whether you're a part of theindustry or simply a consumer
visit PostHarvest.Com and tryout their free online course
(00:45):
library today.
Now time for your host MitchellDenton.
Mitchell Denton (00:50):
Hello, and welcome to"Let's Talk Farm to
Fork", the PostHarvest podcastthat interviews people of
interest across the food supplychain.
Today on our show, I'm joined byKyle Cobb from Advanced.Farm,
who I'll be talking to about howtheir robotic harvesting
technology is helping reducebruising and fruit damage while
increasing yields.
So with no further delays, let'sget started.
(01:14):
Hi, Kyle, how are you?
Kyle Cobb (01:16):
I'm great.
Thank you.
How are you?
Mitchell Denton (01:17):
I'm great.
Thanks.
Before we get into the podcast,I just wanted to give you the
opportunity to tell us a littlebit about yourself and what you
do, and maybe just a little funfact.
Kyle Cobb (01:27):
Sure thing.
Yeah, my name's Kyle Cobb, I'mthe co-founder and president of
Advanced Farm Technologies basedin Davis, California.
I'll talk quite a bit about ourstory here in a minute, but to
my fun fact, my son was bornjust a few hundred feet from
where I met his mom, my wife.
Mitchell Denton (01:44):
Wow.
Wow.
And whereabouts was that?
Kyle Cobb (01:47):
That was at UCLA hospital just around the corner
from where my wife and I met atUCLA as undergrads at our first
campus job.
Mitchell Denton (01:54):
Oh, wow.
That's amazing.
So what was the time differencebetween meeting your wife and,
and having your child.
Kyle Cobb (02:02):
Okay.
So we met in 2003 and he wasborn in 2012.
So nine, nine years and three orfour cities in between and back,
right where we started.
Mitchell Denton (02:11):
Wow.
That's so crazy how thathappens.
Kyle Cobb (02:13):
Totally.
Totally.
Mitchell Denton (02:14):
That's awesome.
Well, before we get bogged downon on serendipity, let's talk
farm the fork.
So, continuing on from youtelling us what you do, would
you mind telling us a little bitmore about the history of
Advanced Farm and how yourinnovative technology works?
Kyle Cobb (02:31):
Sure.
Uh, Advanced Farm was started byme and three friends that
actually have quite a longhistory together.
I went to high school with ourco-founder and CEO, Mark
Grossman up here in NorthernCalifornia.
And then he went to universitywith our other two founders, who
are together are three verybright engineers and I
compliment them on the businessside with a background in
(02:53):
finance and marketing.
And we actually started abusiness together coming out of
school as undergrads back in2011, a business called
Greenbotics, where we didrobotic solar panel cleaning.
As the solar industry wasgrowing and booming they were
finding that as you buildprojects in the desert, they get
soiled and there isn't rain formonths on end.
(03:14):
So we needed to come up with alow water, low labour solution
to clean those panels.
So we built that business out ofa barn in Davis using our own
money, for a few years.
Uh, and then we ended up sellingthat company to one of our
customers called SunPower.
And we worked at SunPower for afew years, deploying robots all
over the world.
So there's power plants anddoing that also became really
(03:35):
inspired by what was around us.
And Davis is a big Ag town andwe have a lot of friends who are
farmers, and as you talk to afarmer, particularly here in
California, the theme of labourshortages and the expense of
labour continues to come up.
And that really inspired us andwe decided to take the skills
that we had in robotics andapply them to a new industry
here in farming.
(03:56):
And now what we like to say is,"We're building a 21st century
farm equipment company centeredaround automation and robotics."
Mitchell Denton (04:04):
Yeah, that's awesome.
I mean the labour shortageproblem is, is no different over
here in Australia as well.
We're in desperate need of someof that tech.
But I see that Advanced Farm hasbeen shifting its focus from
Strawberry harvesting to Appleharvesting.
Does this look like a completeoverhaul of your technology's
existing compounds, or is itmore of a lateral tweak and
(04:25):
adjustment with what you'veencountered with Strawberries?
Kyle Cobb (04:29):
Great question and it's one we get often, and to
your point, the labour shortagethat we see here in California
in strawberries, where it ismaybe one of the hardest jobs
that human can do, and certainlyone of the most expensive for a
grower to pay for.
That's not just the same forstrawberries, it's a universal
problem that we see inagriculture across crops, across
(04:49):
regions.
And I think, apples is anotherreally good example of that.
And in fact, tree fruit ingeneral is also very hard and
expensive to harvest, and we'vebeen making progress in
strawberry harvesting for a fewyears and I've always been
asked,"Hey, how does this applyto other applications, other
crops?" And one of the benefitsthat we have relative to some of
(05:11):
the others working on thisproblem is that we have
developed a lot of thetechnology from the ground up.
So we're not using much off theshelf.
We have our own drive system,our own robotic arm gripper,
stereo camera, all designed fromscratch and in the case of
moving to tree fruit harvesting,what we've been able to do
fortunately, is actuallyrepurposed a lot of those
(05:32):
components directly.
So taking the same engine block,the same drive system, a lot of
the same software and algorithmsfor detecting bright fruit and
how to pick it, and even thesame robotic arms just turned
sideways.
Mitchell Denton (05:45):
Yeah.
Kyle Cobb (05:46):
And now we're, uh, we're taking that same platform
to tree fruit.
And we expect to see similarsuccess to what we've seen in
strawberries.
Mitchell Denton (05:53):
Yeah, that's fantastic.
So then, what's been the biggestchallenge your team encountered
so far with your innovativeproducts?
Kyle Cobb (06:01):
I think if you were to ask me that question at
different times, uh, you wouldhear different answers just
based on, you know, howchallenging this problem is and,
and how it seems to change.
Early on I think, it was reallyaround picking fruit without
causing damage to the fruit orthe plant.
As we grew, it was finding waysto go faster.
(06:21):
And now I'd say the biggestproblem that we've started to
see is, or that we're, maybe I'dsay the next step change that we
expect to see as a company is,is just improvements in
reliability.
We've picked millions ofstrawberries, and we know that
we can pick them fast and cheap.
But now the question is, can wedo it at scale as we grow from
what we currently have?
16 machines out in the field tohundreds of machines.
(06:44):
And I think that's gonna be thenext real challenge that we
face.
Mitchell Denton (06:48):
Yeah, totally.
You mentioned before that someof the alternatives are using
off the shelf components.
Is there anything else that youwould say that separates your
technology from other harvestingalternatives?
Kyle Cobb (07:00):
I think from a philosophical design point of
view, that actually is a reallybig differentiator, I think
it's, it's tempting to try touse a tractor and attach a
standard off the shelf robotbehind the tractor, and think
that with some software and somevision system integrated that
you're off to the races.
But what you'll find prettyquickly is that for problems
(07:21):
that have never been solvedbefore you actually need new
solutions, it turns out.
And so that's why we boldlychose to redesign a lot of the
sub components.
And at the time of doing it, itwas.
I'd say a really hard decisionto make, because again, it's not
the easy route, but inretrospect, now that we're,
we're past a lot of thatdevelopment, it's proven to be
(07:42):
the right decision because wecontrol our own destiny in a way
from a technical point of view.
I think the other thing thatreally separates us is, we are
very practical and very focusedon being in the field.
We expect that everyone from asoftware engineer to, you know,
a business person is in thefield regularly or frequently
(08:03):
working through problems in thefield because it's so tempting
again, to sit in a nice,comfortable environment and
solve problems.
But often we find that if you dothat for too long, you start
solving the wrong problemsinstead of being in front of
customers and demonstrating thatyou care about what they're
actually going through and thatyou're working hard and long
(08:23):
hours to, uh, to get to asolution faster.
Mitchell Denton (08:27):
Yeah, absolutely.
I see that advanced farm hascollaborated with UC Davis's
strawberry breeding program.
Would you mind speaking moreabout what entails that program
and what field data you hope tocollect?
Kyle Cobb (08:40):
We're very fortunate to be here in Davis, which in
many ways is the centre of thefarming universe.
Certainly from a research pointof view, UC Davis is a leader
across many crop categories.
And to our delight, uh, UC Davisstrawberry breeding program is
also the world leader.
And so if you look at a lot ofthe other examples of crops that
(09:01):
have mechanised successfully,you see that genetics has played
a part in that.
Uh, and we expect the same to betrue in strawberries where over
time breeders will start torelease what we call robot-ready
varieties that havecharacteristics that we like.
And so as part of thatpartnership, we've worked with
UC Davis to pull forward some ofthe early cultivars in their
(09:23):
breeding program that have someof those characteristics, and we
follow them over the course ofthe season, see how we perform,
make sure that they also havethe other qualities.
Such as yield that are importantto growers.
And the hope is that if wecontinue to do this
collaboration, that we will seethis convergence between
positive genetics and, you know,advancements in robotics that
(09:43):
lead to an autonomous harvestsolution sooner
Mitchell Denton (09:46):
Yeah.
Wow.
That's exciting.
So then what's the biggestrevelation you've uncovered
while working within the AgTechindustry.
Kyle Cobb (09:54):
For us, I think it's actually how clever growers are
and how, how good of problemsolvers they are.
You know, I think, uh, it's,it's funny to see the ways that
growers tackle problems today.
Mitchell Denton (10:08):
Yeah
Kyle Cobb (10:10):
With relatively limited resources and
oftentimes, we find that growersare not technologists, but, uh,
they've found some otherequally, uh, ingenious solution
to a problem that they'refacing.
And so I think for us, that,that also means that they're
very excited, uh, when we arefocusing on their problems and,
you know, we see a lot ofsupport from growers who are
(10:30):
really just thankful andgrateful to have the attention
of, of people with, you know,really high talent and robotics
to come to the field and try tosolve a new set of problems for
them.
Mitchell Denton (10:41):
Yeah, absolutely.
So then from where you stand,what would you identify as being
one of the biggest pain pointsin the food industry?
Kyle Cobb (10:49):
Certainly for us, the easiest answer is labour.
You know, it's, it's a reallypervasive challenge and I think
not only from a cost point ofview, but I think as a society,
we, we owe it to the workers whoare in frankly, some of the
toughest conditions you canimagine to doing some of the
hardest jobs that, you can do toprovide better alternatives to
(11:11):
that work.
And so I think, you know, wekeep that as a core tenant to
what motivates us.
And I think we have to come upwith something more sustainable,
especially on the harvest side,in order for us to continue to
have the diversity in our dietsand the options that we want, in
the produce aisle.
Mitchell Denton (11:26):
Definitely.
Definitely.
So has the COVID pandemic forbetter or worse, had any effect
on your day to day operations?
Kyle Cobb (11:35):
We've been very fortunate to see relatively
small amounts of disruptionduring COVID very early on the
California government deemedagriculture as an essential
industry.
And frankly, what that meant isthat we didn't stop.
And in some cases we even triedto accelerate to be there for
our growers in ways that wecouldn't be before.
(11:57):
And so for us, it meant that wewere able to make quite a bit of
progress by continuing our workin the field.
We've actually grown from about12 people to what we are now, 60
people from the start of 2020into the middle of 2022, let's
say.
So we're again, very fortunateto not have been as impacted and
(12:17):
in some ways you could say that.
It made investors and growers,even more conscious of the
challenges that can come upbeyond just the day to day
challenges.
Mitchell Denton (12:26):
Yeah great.
And also developing your owncomponents.
Would that have been affected bythe supply chain at all?
Or was it actually to yourbenefit?
Kyle Cobb (12:34):
No, we are seeing supply chain challenges like
everyone.
I think we have tried tomitigate those in the same ways
that everyone else has, youknow, buying early, finding
really reliable suppliers thatwe can work closely with.
But, I'm really hopeful thatwe're getting past it and it
hasn't stopped us or slowed usdown much, but I think if it
(12:56):
persists for, you know, anothercouple of years, then certainly
everyone will be impacted.
Mitchell Denton (13:00):
Definitely.
Definitely.
So when it comes to food lossand sustainable farming, what's
the biggest area your team arecurious about and why?
Kyle Cobb (13:10):
One of the insights that we try to convey to others
is that the entire fresh producesupply chain is designed around
the human worker, in most cases,the harvest worker.
And what that means is thatgrowers are asking that worker
to move quickly through thefield, make decisions very
quickly.
(13:30):
And oftentimes that results insacrifices that can lead to food
loss.
Just to give you one example,strawberries are picked by hand
in the field.
They're picked off the plant,put right into a clam shell, and
then that clam shell is neveropened again until it gets to a
consumer's shelf.
And that means that any berrythat wasn't quite good enough to
(13:52):
go in that clam shell, but maybedidn't really have anything
wrong with it, goes to a juiceline that is turned into juice.
We see an opportunity toautomate also the post harvest
portion of strawberries, wherewe can disrupt a little bit of
that process, where it's notjust one touch in the field, but
it's, it's a sorting and packingprocess after harvest that can
(14:14):
help create new markets forconsumers, lower food waste, and
also provide more profitabilityto a grower.
And you can see that with ourautonomous strawberry packline
product.
Mitchell Denton (14:24):
That's exciting.
So continuing on this thought,is there a particular group or
innovation within the industrythat you're excitedly keeping a
watchful eye on?
Kyle Cobb (14:33):
Yeah, I think part of it's that I'm not a scientist
and so I get wowed easily byscientific innovations.
But, uh, yeah, one of the, oneof the areas in farming that I
think is so cool to watch is theadvances in genetics.
And there's a company that'sactually close to us in Davis or
the Davis area called,InnerPlant that has a special
(14:56):
way of modifying genetics ofcertain types of plants to show
markers for different thingsthat are happening in your
field.
So, let's say there's a diseasethat's impacting some of the
plants or, uh, water shortage atpart of the, part of the ranch.
That's just one company I thinkthat's playing in the genetic
space that, uh, that I, I admitI don't fully understand the
(15:18):
implementation, but I'm justreally impressed by the ability
to manipulate biology in a waythat can really change an
industry like agriculture.
Mitchell Denton (15:28):
Yeah, that's crazy.
I love that.
So what's one thing you wish youhad known when you began your
career in developing autonomousharvesting tech?
Kyle Cobb (15:37):
You know, I think the importance of good partners is
understated.
Good partners, not only on the,you know, co-founding side,
I've, I've been very fortunateto have those naturally, but I
think also good investmentpartners have helped us along
way down the road and, andfrankly, good grower partners.
We're very fortunate to have twocompanies, Yamaha and Kubota,
really traditional technologycompanies based in Japan that
(16:00):
have built businesses over ageneration or two.
That understand what it's liketo start with nothing in high
technology and build theirreliable global business, and
that sort of share our visionand what is possible in
agriculture and in robotics,frankly.
And I think that's, um, notsomething that every startup is
(16:22):
fortunate enough to have.
And I'd say equally on thegrower's side.
Uh, it's very important tofilter a early grower partner to
those that are really keen toadopt the technology who are
open minded about makingchanges, but who are also
willing to devote resources to,to our success.
So I think those things I'd sayin some way happened naturally
(16:45):
for us, but, uh, I'm really gladthat they did.
And, and I, I think I wouldencourage others who were
starting.
To find partners that reallyconform to their own timelines,
their own philosophies and kindof working styles.
Mitchell Denton (16:59):
Yeah, no, definitely.
So Kyle, we are coming to aclose, but before we do, I just
wanted to ask what is the majorpoint you really want the
listeners to take away from thisepisode?
Kyle Cobb (17:10):
I think the major point is that.
A couple things actually, firstwe should be very grateful for
all of the hard work that goesinto the diversity of the fresh
produce that we have availableat our fingertips all over the
world.
It's amazing the level of effortfrom the growers, from the
workers, you know, from thebreeders.
(17:31):
And hopefully now from the, uh,mechanical harvesting groups out
there working, that get thatproduce to the store.
And I think the, the secondthing is that we are entering
into a really interesting, andI'd say transformational point
in agriculture, that will bereally fun to watch over the
next decade or two.
(17:51):
And I'm just really excited forwhat the future holds and, and
anyone who's consideringstarting a business in this
space or working in this space.
I highly encourage you to do sobecause the challenges are
plentiful, but I'd say thereward is also quite large, both
from a personal and aprofessional point of view, and
they're just really wonderfulpeople to work with in this
(18:12):
industry.
And, and I'm, I'm excited to seewhat's next.
Mitchell Denton (18:16):
Yeah, I agree with you.
I'm, I'm really excited to seewhat the future holds, but
unfortunately this episode iscoming to an end.
So that's all for today'sepisode of"Let's Talk Farm to
Fork".
Thanks for listening.
And thank you, Kyle, for joiningme today.
Kyle Cobb (18:29):
Thank you so much for having me.
It's my pleasure.
Mitchell Denton (18:31):
If you'd like to know more about Kyle and
Advanced.Farm, check out thelink in the description of the
episode, make sure to subscribeto the podcast that you never
miss an episode, and don'tforget to leave a review and
share with your friends.
Until next time you've beenlistening to Let's Talk Farm to
Fork, a PostHarvest podcast.
Voiceover (18:46):
We appreciate you joining us for this episode of
let's talk, farm to fork, besure to rate, review and
subscribe.
Also, if you would like to learnmore about how you can
practically play your part inmaximizing fruit and vegetable
supplies, whether you're asupplier, consumer, or anyone in
between the farm to forkjourney, visit PostHarvest.Com
(19:09):
and try out their free onlinecourse library today.
Welcome to let's talk farm to fork, the PostHarvest
podcast that interviews people,making an impact in the fresh
produce sector.
We'll take a deep dive into whatthey do and find out how they're
helping to reduce the amount offood lost or wasted along the
farm to fork journey.
But before we get started, didyou know that according to the
(00:23):
UN's food and agricultureorganisation, around 45% of the
world's fruits and vegetables goto waste each year?
If you would like to learn moreabout how you can practically
play your part in maximisingfruit and vegetable supplies,
whether you're a part of theindustry or simply a consumer
visit PostHarvest.Com and tryout their free online course
(00:45):
library today.
Now time for your host MitchellDenton.
Mitchell Denton (00:50):
Hello, and welcome to"Let's Talk Farm to
Fork", the PostHarvest podcastthat interviews people of
interest across the food supplychain.
Today on our show, I'm joined byKyle Cobb from Advanced.Farm,
who I'll be talking to about howtheir robotic harvesting
technology is helping reducebruising and fruit damage while
increasing yields.
So with no further delays, let'sget started.
(01:14):
Hi, Kyle, how are you?
Kyle Cobb (01:16):
I'm great.
Thank you.
How are you?
Mitchell Denton (01:17):
I'm great.
Thanks.
Before we get into the podcast,I just wanted to give you the
opportunity to tell us a littlebit about yourself and what you
do, and maybe just a little funfact.
Kyle Cobb (01:27):
Sure thing.
Yeah, my name's Kyle Cobb, I'mthe co-founder and president of
Advanced Farm Technologies basedin Davis, California.
I'll talk quite a bit about ourstory here in a minute, but to
my fun fact, my son was bornjust a few hundred feet from
where I met his mom, my wife.
Mitchell Denton (01:44):
Wow.
Wow.
And whereabouts was that?
Kyle Cobb (01:47):
That was at UCLA hospital just around the corner
from where my wife and I met atUCLA as undergrads at our first
campus job.
Mitchell Denton (01:54):
Oh, wow.
That's amazing.
So what was the time differencebetween meeting your wife and,
and having your child.
Kyle Cobb (02:02):
Okay.
So we met in 2003 and he wasborn in 2012.
So nine, nine years and three orfour cities in between and back,
right where we started.
Mitchell Denton (02:11):
Wow.
That's so crazy how thathappens.
Kyle Cobb (02:13):
Totally.
Totally.
Mitchell Denton (02:14):
That's awesome.
Well, before we get bogged downon on serendipity, let's talk
farm the fork.
So, continuing on from youtelling us what you do, would
you mind telling us a little bitmore about the history of
Advanced Farm and how yourinnovative technology works?
Kyle Cobb (02:31):
Sure.
Uh, Advanced Farm was started byme and three friends that
actually have quite a longhistory together.
I went to high school with ourco-founder and CEO, Mark
Grossman up here in NorthernCalifornia.
And then he went to universitywith our other two founders, who
are together are three verybright engineers and I
compliment them on the businessside with a background in
(02:53):
finance and marketing.
And we actually started abusiness together coming out of
school as undergrads back in2011, a business called
Greenbotics, where we didrobotic solar panel cleaning.
As the solar industry wasgrowing and booming they were
finding that as you buildprojects in the desert, they get
soiled and there isn't rain formonths on end.
(03:14):
So we needed to come up with alow water, low labour solution
to clean those panels.
So we built that business out ofa barn in Davis using our own
money, for a few years.
Uh, and then we ended up sellingthat company to one of our
customers called SunPower.
And we worked at SunPower for afew years, deploying robots all
over the world.
So there's power plants anddoing that also became really
(03:35):
inspired by what was around us.
And Davis is a big Ag town andwe have a lot of friends who are
farmers, and as you talk to afarmer, particularly here in
California, the theme of labourshortages and the expense of
labour continues to come up.
And that really inspired us andwe decided to take the skills
that we had in robotics andapply them to a new industry
here in farming.
(03:56):
And now what we like to say is,"We're building a 21st century
farm equipment company centeredaround automation and robotics."
Mitchell Denton (04:04):
Yeah, that's awesome.
I mean the labour shortageproblem is, is no different over
here in Australia as well.
We're in desperate need of someof that tech.
But I see that Advanced Farm hasbeen shifting its focus from
Strawberry harvesting to Appleharvesting.
Does this look like a completeoverhaul of your technology's
existing compounds, or is itmore of a lateral tweak and
(04:25):
adjustment with what you'veencountered with Strawberries?
Kyle Cobb (04:29):
Great question and it's one we get often, and to
your point, the labour shortagethat we see here in California
in strawberries, where it ismaybe one of the hardest jobs
that human can do, and certainlyone of the most expensive for a
grower to pay for.
That's not just the same forstrawberries, it's a universal
problem that we see inagriculture across crops, across
(04:49):
regions.
And I think, apples is anotherreally good example of that.
And in fact, tree fruit ingeneral is also very hard and
expensive to harvest, and we'vebeen making progress in
strawberry harvesting for a fewyears and I've always been
asked,"Hey, how does this applyto other applications, other
crops?" And one of the benefitsthat we have relative to some of
(05:11):
the others working on thisproblem is that we have
developed a lot of thetechnology from the ground up.
So we're not using much off theshelf.
We have our own drive system,our own robotic arm gripper,
stereo camera, all designed fromscratch and in the case of
moving to tree fruit harvesting,what we've been able to do
fortunately, is actuallyrepurposed a lot of those
(05:32):
components directly.
So taking the same engine block,the same drive system, a lot of
the same software and algorithmsfor detecting bright fruit and
how to pick it, and even thesame robotic arms just turned
sideways.
Mitchell Denton (05:45):
Yeah.
Kyle Cobb (05:46):
And now we're, uh, we're taking that same platform
to tree fruit.
And we expect to see similarsuccess to what we've seen in
strawberries.
Mitchell Denton (05:53):
Yeah, that's fantastic.
So then, what's been the biggestchallenge your team encountered
so far with your innovativeproducts?
Kyle Cobb (06:01):
I think if you were to ask me that question at
different times, uh, you wouldhear different answers just
based on, you know, howchallenging this problem is and,
and how it seems to change.
Early on I think, it was reallyaround picking fruit without
causing damage to the fruit orthe plant.
As we grew, it was finding waysto go faster.
(06:21):
And now I'd say the biggestproblem that we've started to
see is, or that we're, maybe I'dsay the next step change that we
expect to see as a company is,is just improvements in
reliability.
We've picked millions ofstrawberries, and we know that
we can pick them fast and cheap.
But now the question is, can wedo it at scale as we grow from
what we currently have?
16 machines out in the field tohundreds of machines.
(06:44):
And I think that's gonna be thenext real challenge that we
face.
Mitchell Denton (06:48):
Yeah, totally.
You mentioned before that someof the alternatives are using
off the shelf components.
Is there anything else that youwould say that separates your
technology from other harvestingalternatives?
Kyle Cobb (07:00):
I think from a philosophical design point of
view, that actually is a reallybig differentiator, I think
it's, it's tempting to try touse a tractor and attach a
standard off the shelf robotbehind the tractor, and think
that with some software and somevision system integrated that
you're off to the races.
But what you'll find prettyquickly is that for problems
(07:21):
that have never been solvedbefore you actually need new
solutions, it turns out.
And so that's why we boldlychose to redesign a lot of the
sub components.
And at the time of doing it, itwas.
I'd say a really hard decisionto make, because again, it's not
the easy route, but inretrospect, now that we're,
we're past a lot of thatdevelopment, it's proven to be
(07:42):
the right decision because wecontrol our own destiny in a way
from a technical point of view.
I think the other thing thatreally separates us is, we are
very practical and very focusedon being in the field.
We expect that everyone from asoftware engineer to, you know,
a business person is in thefield regularly or frequently
(08:03):
working through problems in thefield because it's so tempting
again, to sit in a nice,comfortable environment and
solve problems.
But often we find that if you dothat for too long, you start
solving the wrong problemsinstead of being in front of
customers and demonstrating thatyou care about what they're
actually going through and thatyou're working hard and long
(08:23):
hours to, uh, to get to asolution faster.
Mitchell Denton (08:27):
Yeah, absolutely.
I see that advanced farm hascollaborated with UC Davis's
strawberry breeding program.
Would you mind speaking moreabout what entails that program
and what field data you hope tocollect?
Kyle Cobb (08:40):
We're very fortunate to be here in Davis, which in
many ways is the centre of thefarming universe.
Certainly from a research pointof view, UC Davis is a leader
across many crop categories.
And to our delight, uh, UC Davisstrawberry breeding program is
also the world leader.
And so if you look at a lot ofthe other examples of crops that
(09:01):
have mechanised successfully,you see that genetics has played
a part in that.
Uh, and we expect the same to betrue in strawberries where over
time breeders will start torelease what we call robot-ready
varieties that havecharacteristics that we like.
And so as part of thatpartnership, we've worked with
UC Davis to pull forward some ofthe early cultivars in their
(09:23):
breeding program that have someof those characteristics, and we
follow them over the course ofthe season, see how we perform,
make sure that they also havethe other qualities.
Such as yield that are importantto growers.
And the hope is that if wecontinue to do this
collaboration, that we will seethis convergence between
positive genetics and, you know,advancements in robotics that
(09:43):
lead to an autonomous harvestsolution sooner
Mitchell Denton (09:46):
Yeah.
Wow.
That's exciting.
So then what's the biggestrevelation you've uncovered
while working within the AgTechindustry.
Kyle Cobb (09:54):
For us, I think it's actually how clever growers are
and how, how good of problemsolvers they are.
You know, I think, uh, it's,it's funny to see the ways that
growers tackle problems today.
Mitchell Denton (10:08):
Yeah
Kyle Cobb (10:10):
With relatively limited resources and
oftentimes, we find that growersare not technologists, but, uh,
they've found some otherequally, uh, ingenious solution
to a problem that they'refacing.
And so I think for us, that,that also means that they're
very excited, uh, when we arefocusing on their problems and,
you know, we see a lot ofsupport from growers who are
(10:30):
really just thankful andgrateful to have the attention
of, of people with, you know,really high talent and robotics
to come to the field and try tosolve a new set of problems for
them.
Mitchell Denton (10:41):
Yeah, absolutely.
So then from where you stand,what would you identify as being
one of the biggest pain pointsin the food industry?
Kyle Cobb (10:49):
Certainly for us, the easiest answer is labour.
You know, it's, it's a reallypervasive challenge and I think
not only from a cost point ofview, but I think as a society,
we, we owe it to the workers whoare in frankly, some of the
toughest conditions you canimagine to doing some of the
hardest jobs that, you can do toprovide better alternatives to
(11:11):
that work.
And so I think, you know, wekeep that as a core tenant to
what motivates us.
And I think we have to come upwith something more sustainable,
especially on the harvest side,in order for us to continue to
have the diversity in our dietsand the options that we want, in
the produce aisle.
Mitchell Denton (11:26):
Definitely.
Definitely.
So has the COVID pandemic forbetter or worse, had any effect
on your day to day operations?
Kyle Cobb (11:35):
We've been very fortunate to see relatively
small amounts of disruptionduring COVID very early on the
California government deemedagriculture as an essential
industry.
And frankly, what that meant isthat we didn't stop.
And in some cases we even triedto accelerate to be there for
our growers in ways that wecouldn't be before.
(11:57):
And so for us, it meant that wewere able to make quite a bit of
progress by continuing our workin the field.
We've actually grown from about12 people to what we are now, 60
people from the start of 2020into the middle of 2022, let's
say.
So we're again, very fortunateto not have been as impacted and
(12:17):
in some ways you could say that.
It made investors and growers,even more conscious of the
challenges that can come upbeyond just the day to day
challenges.
Mitchell Denton (12:26):
Yeah great.
And also developing your owncomponents.
Would that have been affected bythe supply chain at all?
Or was it actually to yourbenefit?
Kyle Cobb (12:34):
No, we are seeing supply chain challenges like
everyone.
I think we have tried tomitigate those in the same ways
that everyone else has, youknow, buying early, finding
really reliable suppliers thatwe can work closely with.
But, I'm really hopeful thatwe're getting past it and it
hasn't stopped us or slowed usdown much, but I think if it
(12:56):
persists for, you know, anothercouple of years, then certainly
everyone will be impacted.
Mitchell Denton (13:00):
Definitely.
Definitely.
So when it comes to food lossand sustainable farming, what's
the biggest area your team arecurious about and why?
Kyle Cobb (13:10):
One of the insights that we try to convey to others
is that the entire fresh producesupply chain is designed around
the human worker, in most cases,the harvest worker.
And what that means is thatgrowers are asking that worker
to move quickly through thefield, make decisions very
quickly.
(13:30):
And oftentimes that results insacrifices that can lead to food
loss.
Just to give you one example,strawberries are picked by hand
in the field.
They're picked off the plant,put right into a clam shell, and
then that clam shell is neveropened again until it gets to a
consumer's shelf.
And that means that any berrythat wasn't quite good enough to
(13:52):
go in that clam shell, but maybedidn't really have anything
wrong with it, goes to a juiceline that is turned into juice.
We see an opportunity toautomate also the post harvest
portion of strawberries, wherewe can disrupt a little bit of
that process, where it's notjust one touch in the field, but
it's, it's a sorting and packingprocess after harvest that can
(14:14):
help create new markets forconsumers, lower food waste, and
also provide more profitabilityto a grower.
And you can see that with ourautonomous strawberry packline
product.
Mitchell Denton (14:24):
That's exciting.
So continuing on this thought,is there a particular group or
innovation within the industrythat you're excitedly keeping a
watchful eye on?
Kyle Cobb (14:33):
Yeah, I think part of it's that I'm not a scientist
and so I get wowed easily byscientific innovations.
But, uh, yeah, one of the, oneof the areas in farming that I
think is so cool to watch is theadvances in genetics.
And there's a company that'sactually close to us in Davis or
the Davis area called,InnerPlant that has a special
(14:56):
way of modifying genetics ofcertain types of plants to show
markers for different thingsthat are happening in your
field.
So, let's say there's a diseasethat's impacting some of the
plants or, uh, water shortage atpart of the, part of the ranch.
That's just one company I thinkthat's playing in the genetic
space that, uh, that I, I admitI don't fully understand the
(15:18):
implementation, but I'm justreally impressed by the ability
to manipulate biology in a waythat can really change an
industry like agriculture.
Mitchell Denton (15:28):
Yeah, that's crazy.
I love that.
So what's one thing you wish youhad known when you began your
career in developing autonomousharvesting tech?
Kyle Cobb (15:37):
You know, I think the importance of good partners is
understated.
Good partners, not only on the,you know, co-founding side,
I've, I've been very fortunateto have those naturally, but I
think also good investmentpartners have helped us along
way down the road and, andfrankly, good grower partners.
We're very fortunate to have twocompanies, Yamaha and Kubota,
really traditional technologycompanies based in Japan that
(16:00):
have built businesses over ageneration or two.
That understand what it's liketo start with nothing in high
technology and build theirreliable global business, and
that sort of share our visionand what is possible in
agriculture and in robotics,frankly.
And I think that's, um, notsomething that every startup is
(16:22):
fortunate enough to have.
And I'd say equally on thegrower's side.
Uh, it's very important tofilter a early grower partner to
those that are really keen toadopt the technology who are
open minded about makingchanges, but who are also
willing to devote resources to,to our success.
So I think those things I'd sayin some way happened naturally
(16:45):
for us, but, uh, I'm really gladthat they did.
And, and I, I think I wouldencourage others who were
starting.
To find partners that reallyconform to their own timelines,
their own philosophies and kindof working styles.
Mitchell Denton (16:59):
Yeah, no, definitely.
So Kyle, we are coming to aclose, but before we do, I just
wanted to ask what is the majorpoint you really want the
listeners to take away from thisepisode?
Kyle Cobb (17:10):
I think the major point is that.
A couple things actually, firstwe should be very grateful for
all of the hard work that goesinto the diversity of the fresh
produce that we have availableat our fingertips all over the
world.
It's amazing the level of effortfrom the growers, from the
workers, you know, from thebreeders.
(17:31):
And hopefully now from the, uh,mechanical harvesting groups out
there working, that get thatproduce to the store.
And I think the, the secondthing is that we are entering
into a really interesting, andI'd say transformational point
in agriculture, that will bereally fun to watch over the
next decade or two.
(17:51):
And I'm just really excited forwhat the future holds and, and
anyone who's consideringstarting a business in this
space or working in this space.
I highly encourage you to do sobecause the challenges are
plentiful, but I'd say thereward is also quite large, both
from a personal and aprofessional point of view, and
they're just really wonderfulpeople to work with in this
(18:12):
industry.
And, and I'm, I'm excited to seewhat's next.
Mitchell Denton (18:16):
Yeah, I agree with you.
I'm, I'm really excited to seewhat the future holds, but
unfortunately this episode iscoming to an end.
So that's all for today'sepisode of"Let's Talk Farm to
Fork".
Thanks for listening.
And thank you, Kyle, for joiningme today.
Kyle Cobb (18:29):
Thank you so much for having me.
It's my pleasure.
Mitchell Denton (18:31):
If you'd like to know more about Kyle and
Advanced.Farm, check out thelink in the description of the
episode, make sure to subscribeto the podcast that you never
miss an episode, and don'tforget to leave a review and
share with your friends.
Until next time you've beenlistening to Let's Talk Farm to
Fork, a PostHarvest podcast.
Voiceover (18:46):
We appreciate you joining us for this episode of
let's talk, farm to fork, besure to rate, review and
subscribe.
Also, if you would like to learnmore about how you can
practically play your part inmaximizing fruit and vegetable
supplies, whether you're asupplier, consumer, or anyone in
between the farm to forkjourney, visit PostHarvest.Com
(19:09):
and try out their free onlinecourse library today.
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