3 Simple Ways to get Started in AI today
Cutting through some of the hype and talking about how AI can help your farm or ag business today - no fancy robots or million-dollar systems required. There are options for farmers in the AI world that don't break the bank or require a computer science degree.
Weather Prediction That Actually Makes Sense
Forget basic weather apps - the new AI-powered weather tools are like having a meteorologist in your pocket who actually understands farming. Tools like Climacell (now Tomorrow.io) and Weather Underground's AI features are game-changers. Here's what makes them worth your time:
Instead of just telling you "40% chance of rain" (what does that even mean?), these apps give you practical info like:
When your fields will be dry enough for equipment
Perfect spraying windows based on wind and humidity
Frost alerts that factor in your specific field locations
Soil moisture predictions that help with irrigation decisions
Cost-wise, you're looking at:
Basic features: Free to $20/month
Premium farming-specific features: $30-70/month
Enterprise solutions: $200-500/month (but really, the tiers below enterprise work should work great for most farms)
Potential value: What if you could save a few thousand dollars each season just by better timing the spraying using these apps. The $30 per month cost could pay for itself in one year.
Turn Your Paper Mountain into Digital Gold
We all have that filing cabinet (or barn corner) stuffed with old records. Here's the cool part - your smartphone can turn all that paper into searchable digital files using AI. Apps like Adobe Scan ($10/month) or Microsoft Lens (free with Office 365) make it super simple.
Here's a potential example: A dairy farmer with 15 years of herd health records in notebooks and it takes forever to sift through them looking for patterns to help with future management – or in most cases any knowledge they could help with stays buried.
However, in one afternoon, they could:
Snap photos of all the records – or get someone to help
Let AI convert the handwriting to text
Dump it all into Google Drive ($6/month for storage)
Now they can search years of records in seconds and spot patterns they never noticed before and even graph and have AI look for the trends less obvious but maybe more important. Total cost? Less than a tank of diesel fuel.
Pro tip: Start with just one type of record (like equipment maintenance or yield data) and expand from there. No need to digitize everything at once.
Plant Problem Detective in Your Pocket
You could have a plant specialist on staff to spot diseases, issues, or types of weeds. But too expensive. The next best thing? AI-powered plant apps:
Free options:
iNaturalist: Great for basic identification
Plant.id: Offers 10 free identifications
Paid options:
Plantix: $5-10/month, specializes in disease identification
Prospera: $15-30/month, includes more detailed analysis
A vegetable farmer can now with one of these apps catch a disease outbreak weeks earlier than they would have normally, using just the free version of Plant.id. Potential savings could be in the in protecting crop losses.
Summary
Those are a few options for farmers to get started in the AI world that don't require a lot of investment and allow you to get started with understanding and working with some of the newer AI enhanced solutions out there. In the next 30 days at least try one out with the minimum investment to explore its features and value for your situation and needs.