CLUE Wins $9.8 Million Ag Grant for Nursery Automation Research

Researchers with the UF/IFAS Center for Land Use Efficiency (CLUE) have been awarded part of a nearly $10 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to study ways to use automation and robotics to address the labor shortage in the nursery crops industry. Along with partner universities and the USDA, UF scientists will develop sustainable solutions for labor, efficiency, automation and production (LEAP).

Representing CLUE on the LEAP project are Dr. Chris Marble, associate professor in ornamental and landscape weed management, and Dr. Laura Warner, professor and Extension education specialist in translating behavioral theory. Dr. Marble will lead the project’s outreach team as well as evaluate herbicide application technologies, and Dr. Warner will lead the behavioral adoption team, exploring factors that influence adoption of automated nursery technologies.

Labor, Efficiency, Automation, and Production: LEAP Nursery Crops Toward Sustainability

Under a previous USDA-SCRI grant, LEAP researchers found that a lack of workers is the most critical sustainability challenge facing nursery crops producers. Nursery crop production is a labor-intensive industry that includes potting, pruning, staking, scouting, weeding, taking inventory, harvesting, and loading orders. The industry relies heavily on full-time workers augmented by seasonal employees. But both kinds of workers are increasingly hard to find. The team previously reported that compatibility (with existing infrastructure, values, and goals) is among the most important factors informing decisions to adopt these technologies. You can learn more about the first stage of the LEAP project here.

Despite the acknowledged advantages, overall adoption of innovations in nurseries (like automating repetitive tasks) is low. Producers say currently available technologies aren’t designed specifically for nursery crops, and they’re not sure if these mechanisms are even financially feasible.

The researchers’ goal is to develop new automation and ways to stimulate the use of current technologies. They’ll also study other factors, including consumer preferences and the effect of labor retention and re-allocation as a buffer against ongoing labor scarcity. Part of the team’s innovation is the emphasis on social sciences to ensure new technologies meet nursery growers’ needs and improve adoption of the emerging innovations.

The team will collaborate with producers, local Extension staff, and allied industries to encourage and accelerate the adoption of these technologies, with the goal of a sustainable US nursery industry that is more resilient to labor shortage and a major impact in the economic growth of agricultural communities.

The grant team will be led by North Carolina State’s Anthony LeBude, and includes scientists from the University of Tennessee, Oregon State University, Texas A&M University, and UF, as well as the USDA.