Ag companies show off latest tech

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The AgTech Innovation Showcase aims to connect farmers with startups, explore new technologies and share real-world insights to shape future on-farm solutions.

It was held July 16 at the University of Illinois Research Park in Champaign as a collaboration of BioSTL, Illinois Farm Bureau and the research park.

The companies focused on smarter decision tools powered by AI, remote sensing and real-

time field data, biological and soil health solutions to improve productivity and sustainability, technologies around inputs and equipment to help reduce costs and maximize ROI, and farm management platforms that simplify operations, data and financial insights.

Nine startup companies gave rapid-fire presentations that were an introduction to each company’s product.

Attendees were then divided into groups and rotated through 15-minute sessions with the various companies.

One of the companies in attendance was DeepAgro, which uses artificial intelligence and computer vision to detect and classify weeds in real time, enabling target herbicide application on fallow land, corn, soybeans, cotton and peanuts.

According to Matias Nardi, U.S. country manager with DeepAgro, this technology can be retrofitted to any sprayer to help farmers reduce chemical use, lower costs and improve environmental sustainability in crop production.

Its SprAI technology is well proven in South America, Nardi said, and the first two machines are actively testing in the United States in Illinois and South Carolina.

He said some of the benefits of SprAI technology are saving up to 90% of herbicides, calibration only at installation, a module every 2 meters and regulation of detection sensitivity and application.

Another showcase innovator was DigiFarmz, a digital platform that “transforms agricultural data into actionable insights,” built on over 20 years of agronomic research.

Alex Chequim, founder and CEO of DigiFarmz, said the platform delivers real-time crop recommendations to boost yield, profitability and sustainability.

In its second wave, DigiFarmz introduced advanced scoring systems for risk mitigation and regenerative practices supporting access to credit and farm insurance.

The company is building its third wave which involves partnering with players across the ag industry to enable future connections between farmers and industries through traceable, value-added supply chains.

“Technology is the way that we deliver our solution, but we are really an agronomic solution,” Chequim said.

They have run trials of this system in South America, Paraguay, Argentina and also in the Corn and Soy Belts here in the United States, he said.

Sentinel Ag presented software that uses remote sensing, crop data and advanced forecasting to deliver application timing and rate guidance.

Bob Gunzenhauser, director of agronomy at Sentinel Ag, who has experience as an Iowa farmer, said the company uses crop data and imagery to monitor crop nitrogen and detect where there is a need for it using a sufficiency index.

Gunzenhauser said the software is based on technology developed at the University of Nebraska and is backed by six years of on-farm trial data showing $23 per acre profit improvement. He said it is used by National Corn Growers Association Yield Contest Class J winners.