Case Study: Autonomous Weeding Robot Trial on a Strawberry Farm (3-Year Results)
Farm: Sunrise Berry Co. (50-acre organic strawberry farm, California) Robot Used: Naïo Oz (mechanical weeding) Trial Period: 2021–2024 Year 1 (2021): Testing the Waters Initial Challenges Labor Costs: Spending $800/acre on hand-weeding (~$40,000/year). Weed Pressure: Ragweed and purslane choked rows, reducing yields by ~15%. Robot Setup: Purchased 1 Naïo Oz ($110,000) with a 5-year loan ($2,200/month). First-Season Results ✅ Labor Savings: Reduced hand-weeding by 60% (↓$24,000/year). ⚠️ Learning Curve: Needed 2 weeks to train the robot on strawberry row spacing. 📉 Yield Impact: Slight 5% yield dip due to early calibration errors. Year 1 Net Savings: $12,000 (after loan payments). Year 2 (2022): Optimizing the System Adjustments Made Added GPS Row Mapping: Improved precision (↓ crop damage). Night Weeding: Ran robots after harve...