Snohomish County has launched a free technology lending library for small- and medium-sized farms, allowing growers to borrow autonomous robots that can carry, mow and tow; devices for monitoring soil moisture to optimize irrigation; and survey technology that analyzes soil properties across a field to guide fertilization.
“We are doing this at no cost to the farms,” Linda Neunzig, the agriculture coordinator for the county who came up with the library idea. “They’re not putting anything at risk, and there are so many benefits.”
Farming has slim margins and is facing challenging labor shortages, leading Neunzig to search for ways to help farms stay viable and in business. Technology was a clear answer, but it can be expensive, new applications are unfamiliar, and many of the tools available are targeting large-scale commodity agriculture.
