Meet Scotland’s first robot farmer
Droid can work 18-hr days – without a break
IT is Scotland’s first robot farmer – and has already shown it knows its onions.
In a move that could revolutionise life on the farm, a fully autonomous droid has started work in the fields of East Lothian.
Nicknamed Robbie, the hi-tech machine roams up and down, sowing seeds and using GPS technology to remember the exact position of every individual plant, before returning periodically to remove weeds.
The £65,000 FarmDroid – the first of its kind in Scotland and one of the first in the UK – has just begun its agricultural career at Chapel Farm, near North Berwick.
Farmer Angus Elder, who took delivery of Robbie this month, hopes it will remove the need for back-breaking sowing and weeding. Unlike farmworkers, the solar-powered robot can work day and night without the need for breaks, rests or holidays.
Robbie has sown the onion crop and is about to begin planting 12 acres of swedes.
Mr Elder hopes it will increase his 500acre farm’s efficiency and, after the initial expense, reduce costs and boost yields.
He said: ‘We’re organic so we’ve previously had to hand weed, so buying the droid makes sense because we are saving more money. It’ll make our lives a lot easier
‘We are saving money and the droid won’t need a holiday’
if it works – labour has been hard to get.’ Mr Elder explained how the FarmDroid uses GPS precision planting: ‘It works out where it is and essentially we map this bit of land and it’ll work within that area, quite similar to the lawnmowers that mow your garden for you.
‘It’s got a safety wire so if it hits something it’ll cut off.
‘It has GPS receivers so the one at the back drives and keeps everything straight.
‘We’ve got a base station on one of our buildings and it talks to that.’
He added: ‘Normally you’d be lying on an ironing board pulling weeds all day so this machine we are hoping can eliminate that by going in between the rows.
‘An eight-hour shift for nine people costs us £1,000 a day, so that’s 65 days of pay and you eliminate the hassle as well. The droid won’t need to take a holiday.’
Robbie can sow or weed up to 900 metres an hour for 18 hours a day.
Mr Elder said: ‘Agritech hasn’t been done much in Scotland but we thought we would give it a shot.
‘I found out about the robot on a trip to Holland when we saw a machine doing something similar.’
Having had the droid for two weeks, he said supplier OPICO had easily resolved any issues.
He said: ‘If I’m having trouble programming it, they can take control of it. I’ve phoned OPICO in Lincolnshire and they have logged into the machine. It wasn’t doing one of the beds last week and I said, “It’s missed out this bed and I’m not quite sure why, have I done something wrong?” and they said, “OK, stand back,” and it just took off up the field and did it.’
With so many vegetables to plant, Mr Elder said he would consider getting another droid if Robbie produces good results. National Farmers’ Union Scotland’s director of policy Jonnie Hall said: ‘This is a defining moment for the future of Scottish agriculture and adoption of agritech will be essential if farming is to deliver on the trio of objectives – food production, climate ambitions and biodiversity enhancement – simultaneously.’