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Onion grower tells committee AI sprayers cut pesticide use by up to 91 percent
Summary
Brian King of Fagerberg Farms told lawmakers that plant‑by‑plant AI sprayers and laser weeders sharply reduced pesticide use on his 3,000‑acre operation and can yield rapid payback for specialty producers — but high costs limit adoption for commodity crops.
Brian King, farm manager at Fagerberg Farms in Eaton, told the Water Resources and Agriculture Review Committee that precision AI sprayers and laser weeders have materially reduced pesticide use on his operation.
King described using an EcoRobotics Aura sprayer that uses cameras and AI to detect plants and weeds and to individually operate 156 nozzles across a 20‑foot swath. "The first pass across our crop this year resulted in 53% less pesticide use. Our second pass resulted in 91% less pesticide use," he said, adding that the sprayer enabled safer applications during wind and reduced phytotoxicity to crops.
He also described Carbon Robotics’ laser weeder — a machine that uses cameras and lasers to remove weeds with sub‑millimeter accuracy. King said a 40‑foot laser model currently costs about $1.6 million, limits acres covered per hour (roughly 3 acres/hour) and carries a longer ROI (5–6 years), while a $300,000 AI sprayer had roughly a seven‑month payback on his operation when lower labor and chemical costs are included.
Committee members asked about the lifespan and capital cost tradeoffs. King said his farm’s thicker drip tape (11 mil vs. common 4 mil) raised upfront per‑acre cost by a few hundred dollars but reduced replacement frequency and plastic waste; he estimated the farm’s tape cost at about $1,100 per acre (excluding infrastructure).
King emphasized that automation decisions are often driven by labor constraints, higher input costs and farm scale. "Any automation decisions that we make, it's not to replace jobs, it's to fulfill jobs that we can't find and fulfill right now," he said.
The presentation illustrated how emerging technologies can reduce chemical inputs and water use but also highlighted price and scale barriers for adoption in commodity production.
No committee action was required; the presentation was for information and to inform future policy conversations on technology adoption and agricultural labor.
