The scientist called the grower with a proposition: Let me fly a drone over your grove and you’ll be able to see how many trees you have, and even the size of individual canopies.

Alex Gardinier, director of business development for Gardinier Florida Citrus, accepted. He recalls that when he received such easy-to-read metrics and maps from the flight data, he saw something else – the future.

It’s a future fueled by artificial intelligence. Dr. Yiannis Ampatzidis is among those at the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) that’s putting AI to use on Florida farms today, in this case by synthesizing millions of images into instantly actionable information.

AI will create a fourth agricultural revolution, achieving huge gains in farm productivity the way the introduction of tractors, synthetic fertilizers and genetics did in previous eras. The speed and success of that revolution depends on how well land-grant university innovators like Ampatzidis, of the UF/IFAS Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, work with South Florida growers like Gardinier.

The groundwork for the revolution has been laid by more than a century of UF/IFAS establishing credibility through its citrus science. Working with a UF/IFAS faculty member comes with assurance that growers’ data will be protected. Gardinier took up Ampatzidis on his offer because he trusts him and trusts his land-grant university.

“We always liked the idea of technology and incorporating genetics into agriculture which is what we were studying back then,” Leandro Neves, CEO of Rapid Genomics, said.

They now service clients around the world, from analyzing DNA for academic and pharmaceutical companies to providing information in vaccine detection and even helping maximize the best research for plant and animal breeding.

Next generation vector vaccines for poultry can be administered in the hatchery and are minimally interfered with by maternal antibodies, are safer to use than live attenuated whole virus vaccines and offer the potential for lifetime immunity for the bird. Dr. Richard Currie, CEO, Rapid Genomics, said that a pair of new diagnostic tests for HVT vector vaccine verification and virus exposure characterization have been developed to help poultry producers manage their vaccine administration programs and provide insight into the level of disease challenge present on their farms.

Benson Hill Biosystems, Inc. (PRNewsfoto/Benson Hill Biosystems) Genotyping is the process of determining differences in the genetic make-up (genotype) of an individual by using biological assays, or tests, to examine the individual’s DNA and comparing it to that of another individual or reference. It is often paired with “sequencing” – in which the base pairs that make up DNA are identified one at a time and in order – to analyze DNA.   

“This partnership will bring together Merck Animal Health’s unique broad vaccine product line and Rapid Genomics’ innovative vaccination verification test, to optimize and enhance disease outbreak management in poultry for improved animal health and welfare,” said Taylor Barbosa, DVM, Ph.D., ACPV, Executive Director, Global Poultry Marketing, Merck Animal Health. “As the poultry industry grows, there is an increased need for improving disease control to optimize productivity and we are committed to growing with the industry to bring innovative solutions to our customers.”