Photo above: Dionne Toombs, NIFA Associate Director for Programs, USDA-NIFA, addresses attendees at the AI for Agriculture Summit and Visioning Conference. Photo by Phong Duong/UC Davis, AI Institute for Next Generation Food Systems (AIFS).
We’re facing a growing global population and challenging environmental conditions that demand agricultural innovation. Preeminent scientists gathered earlier this week to collaborate on solutions to this pressing worldwide problem of feeding a massive global population amid unprecedented environmental events.
The AI for Agriculture Summit and Visioning Conference — held July 29–31, 2024 at the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in Washington, D.C. — was a collaboration of experts from academia, industry, NGOs, and government agencies. These bright minds gathered together to create a long-term technical vision and implementation strategy for leveraging agricultural AI advancements.
Agricultural AI Institute researchers were joined by keynote speakers from:
- Microsoft
- IBM Research
- Bill & Melinda Gates Agricultural Innovations
- Association of 1890 Research Directors
- Native Agriculture Financial Services
- The Nature Conservancy
- Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research
- Western Growers Association
- U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
- USDA–National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA)
- National Science Foundation (NSF)
A white paper to share recommendations is forthcoming, based on collective knowledge from discussions held during the summit. Those best practices will lay the groundwork to prepare us for an ever-changing agricultural future.
“We need to find ways to collaborate among the institutes, and with the sector itself, so that all interests are at the table from the smallest farmer up to the largest corporate player. We all have a vested interest in making sure we get this right.”
– Keynote speaker Janie Hipp
Hipp is CEO/President of Native Agriculture Financial Services and a longtime lawyer. She spent over 40 years as an agricultural lawyer working across the United States, within research institutes and the land-grant system and as General Counsel for USDA.
Photo above: Attendees in a breakout session at the AI for Agriculture Summit and Visioning Conference. Photo by Phong Duong/UC Davis, AI Institute for Next Generation Food Systems (AIFS).
About the AI for Agriculture Summit and Visioning Conference
- Artificial Intelligence for Future Agricultural Resilience, Management, and Sustainability (AIFARMS)
- AI Institute for Next Generation Food Systems (AIFS )
- Institute for Agricultural AI for Transforming Workforce and Decision Support (AgAID)
- The AI Institute for Resilient Agriculture (AIIRA)
- AI Institute for Climate-Land Interactions, Mitigation, Adaptation, Tradeoffs and Economy (AI-CLIMATE)
About the AI Institutes
The National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture–National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA) began establishing AI Institutes in 2020 to serve as national nexus points for collaborative AI efforts spanning higher education institutions, federal agencies, industry, and nonprofits/foundations.
To learn more about all 25 AI Institutes, visit the AI Institutes Virtual Organization (AIVO) website at aiinstitutes.org
Learn More about the AI Institutes
The 25 AI Institutes will showcase their research at AI Institutes Expo Day on October 10, 2024 at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA.
This event is open to the public. Learn more about Expo Day at expo 2024.institutes.org.
