It’s no secret, dear readers, that your humble blogger enjoys hearing about the march towards automation.  Technology trends towards making jobs safer, products cheaper, and allows for the refocusing of labor towards other ends.

Humans have limitations that machines can avoid, allowing for more productive hours in a day at a lower cost and without the risk of injury visited on human workers.

Farm labor is no exception.  The DIR regularly gives reminders and warnings to agricultural employers about the dangers of heat and dehydration.  Heat stroke, skin cancer, and a variety of orthopedic injuries from twisted ankles to ruined backs await the workers toiling on most of California’s square miles.

So meet Iron Ox, a California company that has launched America’s first autonomous robot farm.  The robot farm grows plants, monitors them for pests and disease, and then performs the harvest.  The space saving is intense too – 30 acres of real farming is supposedly equivalent to 1 acre of robo-farming.

So, what does that mean for us in California?  For the next few weeks (or months or years) probably not much.  But if this catches on, the company can produce more food with less: less space, less labor, less overhead.

How will a farm’s experience modification for its insurance rates change when it goes from having 200 season and/or regular agricultural employees to 15 engineers and technicians to monitor the machines and keep them running?

How will this shiny robotic future impact California’s next legislative reform?

Although California, unlike Texas and Oklahoma, won’t let employers opt out of the workers’ compensation system, technological advances are allowing employers to carve their own opt out – fewer workers and fewer injuries.

I, for one, welcome our robotic overlords, dear readers.  How about you?