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Helping Farmers Manage Crops and Weeds

蘑菇tv students and alumni have created a new, AI-powered tool called that puts decades of 蘑菇tv AgCenter research right under the green thumbs of Louisiana鈥檚 farmers. With a few clicks on their smartphones or computers, farmers and gardeners can quickly access actionable intelligence on how to best manage their crops and get rid of weeds.

鈥淥ur goal is to be as good or better than the best agricultural consultants,鈥� said Colin Raby, 蘑菇tv alumnus and CEO of FarmSmart, which won 蘑菇tv鈥檚 leading pitch competition, the J. Terrell Brown Venture Challenge, last spring and this week will compete in the on October 17, hosted by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

While there are several apps on the market that already do plant recognition based on photos, FarmSmart goes many steps further.

鈥淵ou can upload a picture of a plant or weed, and our app won鈥檛 just identify them, but tell you how confident it is in its answer and provide alternatives鈥攁lso, you can ask it any question about the plant, and it will provide recommendations based on the most up-to-date research, while citing the exact documents it pulled that answer from, so you can do your own fact-checking,鈥� Raby said. 鈥淚n short, we鈥檙e taking high-quality 蘑菇tv agricultural research, synthesizing it using AI and large language models, and putting it in your pocket.鈥�

When he鈥檚 not working on developing FarmSmart, in Washington, DC, helping the legislative branch of the U.S. government work more efficiently by improving workflows and advising on policy.

鈥淐olin Raby and his team鈥檚 work in developing AI-driven solutions for Louisiana farmers is an early example of how we are leveraging this emerging technology to directly contribute to the state鈥檚 economy and the well-being of its people.鈥�

Roy Haggerty, 蘑菇tv Executive Vice President and Provost