James July-August 2025 web - Flipbook - Page 81
Agricultural and Environmental Sciences to create and manage a working innovation farm that would serve
as a testing ground and incubator for
agricultural companies. Agriculture
Commissioner Tyler Harper was
quick to throw his weight behind
the project, and Kemp— a noted
proponent of both agriculture and
his beloved alma mater— didn’t take
much convincing to add money to
his proposed budget to get the project off the ground.
Located on 250 acres just across
from the Georgia National Fairgrounds, UGA Grand Farm was officially announced in 2024 and broke
ground earlier this year. Its first field
trials are underway in this current
growing season, Kaytlyn Cobb,
regional assistant director for UGA
Grand Farm, tells James.
AquaSpy & iCrop
“One particularly exciting
project is with a startup called
AquaSpy, which is testing soil mois-
ture sensors that provide real-time
data to help farmers make more
precise irrigation decisions. Another
is with iCrop, a Brazilian AgTech
company that uses satellite imagery,
weather data, and field sensors to
improve crop health and productivity. We’re also engaging with
startups and companies developing autonomous equipment— yes,
including self-driving tractors and
robotic implements! These are the
kinds of technologies that could
change the way we farm, and we’re
excited to help evaluate and validate them right here in Georgia.”
Cobb says Perry is a perfect
home for the project for various
reasons. Its proximity to the Georgia
National Fairgrounds puts it next to
a wide range of ag expos, field days
and conferences. Its central location
within the state makes it easily accessible for farmers and researchers
from Rome to Valdosta. And Middle
Georgia itself represents a wide
range of the state’s agricultural pro-
duction systems, making it an ideal
home base for testing new technologies that can scale across not only
the Southeast but anywhere worldwide that shares a similar climate,
from Japan to Brazil.
For Walker the importance of the
partnership, like the new livestock
arena that will bear his father’s name,
comes back to the same place.
“The thing that I’m most excited about is, because of its location,
those young people across the
street at the Agricenter doing different things. They’re easily going to
be able to go across the street and
see what the future of agriculture
looks like. It’s the fact that ag isn’t
just plows and sows; it’s computers,
it’s AI, it’s robotics. It’s going to help
us get the next generation interested in a career in agribusiness or
agriculture.”
Patrick Hickey is the office manager, as well as
a staff writer, for James and James Magazine
Online.
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