New technology in agriculture has the potential to benefit farmers and consumers alike. It could help automate farming processes and make them more efficient, leading to cost savings. Those savings, in turn, can be passed along to consumers in the form of less expensive products.
But due to strict rules in California, technology like driverless tractors is banned, leaving farmers stuck.
“It’s crazy,” Larry Jacobs told NBC Bay Area, who has been a farmer in California for 40 years. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
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The technology is there, but it’s off the table for California farmers
Advancements in farming technology mean there are now tree-shaking machines that can collect nuts faster than any human, NBC Bay Area reports.
There are also self-driving machines that can prepare soil for future crops and even fire lasers at weeds. “The stuff that’s not fun to do, that’s going to go away,” Jacobs told NBC Bay Area.
But if California farmers aren’t allowed to use this new technology, they’re going to face challenges.
“Our biggest problem is labor,” Jacobs told NBC Bay Area. “It’s challenging to get enough people to get all the work done.” Without the flexibility to use these tools to the fullest extent, food costs are likely going to increase, Jacobs warned.
The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition says that in 2017 there were 2 million farmers, but today that number is down to 1.9 million.
Part of the reason is that farmers are getting older. The average age of U.S. farmers was 58.1 as of 2022, according to the USDA, and more importantly, it’s trending older as time goes on, which means many people in this profession will be nearing retirement soon, with fewer younger farmers to fill the void.
California’s ban on autonomous agricultural equipment has been in place since the 1970s. The rules state, “All self-propelled equipment shall, when under its own power and in motion, have an operator stationed at the vehicular controls.”
The reason for this ban is to ensure that workers are kept safe. The state has also faced pressure from labor unions to ban autonomous farming equipment because of fear that it will lead to job loss and displaced workers.
The problem is that these rules were put in place before much of today’s technology was invented, leaving farmers stuck. Worse yet, anyone caught violating the state’s ban on autonomous equipment faces hefty fines.
The laws state, “Any employer who violates any occupational safety and health standard, order or special order and such violation is determined to be a General violation … may be assessed a civil penalty of up to $16,285 for each such violation.” Violations the state considers “serious,” however, could result in a $25,000 fine.
In 2022, stakeholders petitioned the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board to allow the use of driverless tractors and other autonomous agricultural equipment. The petition spoke to the fact that certain banned equipment could actually improve worker safety, not hinder it.
The state pledged three years ago to form a task force to review the issue. But that committee hasn’t issued any guidance since that time.
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Jacobs reiterated that not only can the use of this banned technology make operations more efficient, but the likelihood of injury is slim.
“There’s nothing for the robots to run into,” Jacobs explained. And without the help of technology, he said, “Crops are getting left in the fields because people don’t have enough labor to get it done.”
Driverless cars have been allowed in California for years and on roadways with other cars and pedestrians. Yet farmers can’t use similar technology on fields that aren’t occupied by vehicles and people.
And California’s outdated rules mean the state is lagging behind others: John Deere’s driverless tractors are already being used in 11 other states. But the company won’t even sell its self-driving tools in California because of the current ban.
Assemblyman Juan Alanis plans to work with lawmakers to try to lift the ban on autonomous farming equipment.
“The longer that we wait or we sit on our hands, we’re going to have other states, other countries that are going to move forward with this because we’re stubborn,” he told NBC Bay Area.
Food costs could rise if tech is off the table
In 2022, California produced 40% of the country’s vegetables, per the USDA. And the California Department of Food and Agriculture says the state produces nearly 70% of the country’s fruits and nuts. It’s also responsible for $8.13 billion in dairy products each year.
The problem is that the Bureau of Labor Statistics is expecting a major shortage of farm laborers in the coming years, as the California farmers have also flagged already. Between 2023 and 2033, employment in the farming industry is projected to decline 2%.
Roughly 88,000 farming jobs are expected to go unfilled each year in roughly the next decade due to workers switching to other occupations or retiring.
And, as recently as 2024, the U.S. Government Accountability Office itself found that agricultural technology offers many benefits — increased profits for farmers, a reduced need for fertilizers and better conservation of water. The report also found that these tools could have environmental benefits.
Just as importantly, these tools could help address the increasing labor shortage of the future and the one already identified today. If autonomous technology remains banned in California, it could lead to wasted crops, higher costs to produce crops and higher food bills not just for residents of the state, but consumers across the country.
“Farmers just can’t find people to fill these jobs and technology, like this, is absolutely essential to drive agriculture in the state forward,” Igino Cafiero, an engineer at John Deere, told NBC Bay Area. “This is about attracting the next generation of farmers.”
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