The University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and North Dakota-based Grand Farm came together Friday to break ground on the University of Georgia Grand Farm, an agriculture innovation partnership in Perry, Georgia.
UGA President Jere W. Morehead, Georgia Department of Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper, Georgia Sen. Larry Walker, Grand Farm Ecosystems Director Andrew Jason and CAES Dean and Director Nick T. Place addressed the crowd of more than 200 attendees.
“UGA Grand Farm serves as an opportunity to further strengthen what we’ve already started: building this relationship between the University of Georgia and industry and helping us connect top minds around the world in precision agricultural research,” Morehead said.
In his remarks, Morehead shared his excitement to see a future where UGA Grand Farm fosters innovation, attracts young people to the field of precision agriculture and serves as a hub for agricultural research.
“I have no doubt that in the years ahead, UGA Grand Farm will serve as the hub of a robust agricultural ecosystem that will aim to tackle the biggest problems we are facing in agriculture,” Morehead said.
Launching an agriculture innovation partnership
CAES and Grand Farm have come together to create a working innovation farm in rural Georgia, next to the Georgia National Fairgrounds. The roots of the partnership go back to 2019 when University System of Georgia Chancellor Sonny Perdue helped inaugurate Grand Farm during its launch ceremony in North Dakota while serving as U.S. secretary of agriculture.
The 250-acre project was announced in June 2024. The innovation farm will develop and demonstrate new agricultural technologies and automation, focused on Georgia’s specialty crops and Southeast agriculture, starting with the first field projects set to go live in 2025.
UGA Grand Farm will be a hub for research, education and sustainable agriculture practices, harnessing the power of precision agriculture, robotics and data analytics to increase productivity, conserve resources and ensure food security for future generations.
“This collaboration represents the perfect marriage of tradition and innovation,” Place said. “By bringing together the college’s world-class researchers and the UGA Institute for Integrative Precision Agriculture with Grand Farm’s cutting-edge technologies, we will revolutionize the way we feed and clothe the world’s population.”
University of Georgia President Jere W. Morehead (center) joins Grand Farm and UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences leadership, including CAES Dean and Director Nick T. Place (far left), and Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Tyler Harper (third from right), to celebrate the launch of UGA Grand Farm during a groundbreaking ceremony in Perry, Georgia. (Photo by Sean Montgomery)
Autonomous technology takes center stage
After the groundbreaking, attendees were welcomed to field and equipment demonstrations from UGA and UGA Grand Farm partners.
Among other technologies, demonstrations included solar-powered, autonomous robotic weeders; autonomous tractor retrofit kits that enable driverless operations for row crop farming; and a fully autonomous, solar-powered agricultural robot designed to spot-apply herbicides and scout fields to collect real-time data on plant health and stand counts.
“We are thrilled that today will be the start of highlighting the autonomous technology available to Georgia’s growers,” said George Vellidis, director of the UGA Institute for Integrative Precision Agriculture. “Through these partnerships and future field days, we look forward to helping farmers increase their efficiency by adopting these technologies.”
Founding UGA Grand Farm partners span the country and extend around the world. Partners include AquaSpy, Earnest Ag, Georgia Center of Innovation, Sabanto, Sentinel, Setatech, CroBio, EF Polymer, iCrop, Sentera, AgGeorgia Farm Credit and Wild Genomics.
Learn more about the future of UGA Grand Farm at ugagrandfarm.caes.uga.edu.
