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We got a farm robot

We welcomed a farm robot to Bethany Farm. Here’s why small farms like ours are field-testing autonomous technology — and what it means for growers like you.

Dave & Nicky Schauder

10/13/20262 min read

Disclaimer

This Farm robot article may contain some affiliate links. The small commission we receive if you choose to purchase goes towards making this gardening education available for free! We do not affiliate for anything we do not personally use. Thanks so much for your support!

Suma Reddy introducing us to a pilot version of a farming robot

Gather, our farm robot...

An Introduction

Last Friday, Dave and I welcomed something new to Bethany Farm.

A robot.

When Dave powered it up for the first time, the chickens went running.

Why a Farm Robot?

From L: Ana Aghjayan, Nicky, Dave and Suma Reddy of Gather.ag

Most agricultural technology is built for large commercial operations. Very little of it is designed for small farms like ours. When Suma Reddy and her team reached out about piloting the robot she’s been building, I asked her why this project mattered to her.

Her answer: she wants to make farming possible for everyone.

Especially aging farmers.

The average age of a US farmer is now 58.1 years.

And especially small farms — farms bringing in under $350,000 make up 80 to 96% of all farms in America.

Your small garden matters. So does the farmer behind it.

Thanks to a grant from the American Farmland Trust, we are field-testing Gather’s platform right here at Bethany Farm to find out if this technology actually helps small farms.

We’ll track hours of use, slopes, weights lifted, and reliability, and share what we learn with other growers.

This doesn’t mean you need a robot.

Our entire garden — and our massive fence project — was built by hand, by our family.

But there will come a day when hauling the harvest and clearing the brush takes more than we have to give.

And Dave already has ideas. Mapping the property. Patrolling for deer. The possibilities are worth exploring.

We believe the most productive farms are often the smallest ones.

Change is made by many “little” people.

And that means even your garden can become a little bit more like the paradise it was intended to be

Register for Free!

Come See the Robot in Person!

We’re opening Bethany Farm for the Loudoun Fall Farm Tour on October 17-18.

Walk the property, see permaculture in action, meet the robot, and ask us anything about how we grew food in a tiny townhouse and how we are now growing it in three acres!

You might also like...

If you like appropriate technology in ag, you may also like the following

  • The SAGE app, an app Dave developed to help us design our gardens with permaculture in mind

  • Our Compost Tea Research, appropriate technology for cultivating a rich microbiome in our soils.