Interim Senior Vice President: UF/IFAS Vision is to Become Silicon Valley of Agriculture

Jim Rogers Florida, Research

By Clint Thompson A legislative success story this year for the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) will help pave the way for the future of agriculture. Rob Gilbert, interim senior vice president at UF/IFAS, discussed the financial backing that was provided to support the new artificial intelligence (AI) center at the Gulf Coast Research and …

Florida Budget’s Impact on Agriculture

Jim Rogers Agri-business, Florida

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a historic $116.5 billion budget last week for the 2023-24 fiscal year. Included were important victories for the agricultural industry, especially those in the specialty crop sector. The Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association (FFVA) sent an email to its members last week, outlying the impact from the budget on the state’s agricultural sector. The University …

Eyeing AI Advancement

Jim Rogers Technology

By Frank Giles Artificial intelligence (AI) has been around and in our collective conscious for a long time. The Steven Spielberg-directed movie by the same name is more than 20 years old. But, not until recently, has the talk of AI’s potential and dangers really ramped up. You may have played around with ChatGPT (chat.openai.com), which is a large language …

Putting Artificial Intelligence Within Reach

Jim Rogers Research, Technology

By J. Scott Angle, jangle@ufl.edu, @IFAS_VP It used to be that game-changing technology was out of the reach of all but the biggest producers. Artificial intelligence (AI), though, can fit the size of your phone and the size of your wallet if it’s done right. That’s why the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) has put …

Artificial Intelligence: Helps Detect Watermelon Disease Quickly, Accurately

Jim Rogers Research, Technology, Watermelon

The needs of Florida watermelon producers motivate Yiannis Ampatzidis to use artificial intelligence (AI) to detect pathogens early and accurately. One such disease, downy mildew, spreads like wildfire, said Ampatzidis, a University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) associate professor of agricultural and biological engineering. In newly published research, Ampatzidis used spectral reflectance —  the energy a …