At the Commodity Classic, WHO radio’s Big Show host Bob Quinn interviewed TerraClear CEO Devin Lammers. Below is an MP3 for you to listen to along with a transcript of the interview where they discuss TerraClear’s technology, including Rock Maps and the TerraScout autonomous field scout.

Bob: At Commodity Classic. Today, we are talking with Devin Lammers. He is with TerraClear. And number one, you have probably the most interesting looking piece of machinery at the Commodity Classic. We like it in a kind of a one sentence summary. You guys find rocks in fields, which in the state of Iowa, we’re very good at producing. You find rocks in fields and identify where they’re at and go out and get them. Tell me a little bit more about your company, though.

Devin: Yeah. So we started with, you know, like, like you said, mapping technology allows us to fly drones, collect very high resolution imagery and then use our AMI models to detect those rocks and ultimately turn that into a mission plan for farmers they can use to be a lot more productive when they’re clearing that off the field. And so if you grow rocks, you know it’s one of the terrible jobs on the farm, and we’re trying to make that a lot easier.


Bob: You look like you have maybe a miniature version of a spraying unit here. And what are we looking at?

Devin: This is our new TerraScout field scout. And so as we think about the prospect of collecting very high resolution imagery across every millimeter of the farm. We got to do that with super high productivity and super low cost for growers. And so this is our platform that can do that with onboard compute and ultimately turn that imagery into all sorts of useful outputs, not just rocks. We’re now moving into weeds, and there’s opportunities for applications beyond that, like pest disease, population counts. And so this is really the platform that can move through the field continuously and do that across all those applications.

Bob: Well, that was what I was going to ask you, is what led you to detecting rocks? Not that we mind that, because, like, I say, in Iowa, it’s a huge problem. We usually pick it up with a piece of tillage equipment if we don’t find it on foot.

Devin: Well, it was, I’d say, was unproven, unsolved, and so is a big need that a lot you know, probably about farmers, or half of farmers have. And so it was a great place for us to really develop the core technology of, how do you, sense, decide and act on a farm? And so that’s what we’ve done over the last several years, is build that core stack of technology that allows us to be really effective for rocks. And now, with that capability, now we can extend that to a lot of other things on the farm.

Bob: So how does it work? What does a farmer get? And tell me the process.

Devin: Yeah. So in the case of rock maps, once we fly that field, we will produce a map in very short order, typically one to two days. And that is basically within our app (iOS, Android) just a mission plan with all location, the rocks and size and optimal picking route, so a grower can go out with, you know, it could be a side by side, or even some of our proprietary equipment that we’ve built to just be a lot more effective in clearing those rocks. But in the case of weeds, you know, we’re kind of moving beyond that to detect weed species and maturity, and then with that, we can actually turn that into a prescription with a tank mix and a rate, and then send that prescription to an existing sprayer to make that spot spray capable. And so the value there is, obviously, with existing install base of equipment, we can get a lot more precise and a lot more efficient with the inputs that were being used.

Bob: Seasonality wise. I mean, do you have a key season?

Devin: Absolutely. And you know, Spring is the season for picking rocks for a lot of growers, especially the Midwest, but we do a little work in the fall to kind of post harvest, obviously, as we’re getting to weeds and other applications that’s pushing us into the main growing seasons.

Bob: So when you say you send the information to a sprayer, are you working with anybody in particular? You know, we’re, we’re always open to working with every big OEM out there, and we’re a lot of the work we’re doing today is, you know, with existing sprayers out there and growers who have that equipment on farm. And so we’d love to, we’d love all the partnerships out there.

Bob: How can we find out more about you guys? TerraClear.com is our website, and so give us, give us a look, and we’re happy to have a conversation.