Imagine a future where nursery growers can effortlessly manage their plants with cutting-edge automation technologies, using potting or weed-spraying robots instead of digging each hole or spraying each pot by hand. With the help of a $9.8 million grant from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), this vision is becoming a reality.

UF/IFAS will use about $1 million of the grant to lead research and development to tackle the nursery industry's labor challenges. UF’s role in this grant includes evaluating herbicide, pesticide and fertilizer application equipment and testing people’s perceptions of and willingness to adopt new automation-related strategies.

Chris Marble, associate professor of ornamental and landscape weed management at the UF/IFAS Mid-Florida Research and Education Center, said the grant will address critical labor challenges within the nursery industry.

“The big goal is to effect change. We want growers to adopt these different automation practices, but mostly, we want to give them information to even consider these changes in the first place,” he said. “We want them to take incremental steps, so they become more profitable and sustainable, and it helps the industry as a whole.”

The nursery industry, mainly container nurseries, faces significant hurdles due to labor costs and availability. Unlike more traditional agricultural sectors that have adopted mostly automation, such as peanuts, cotton or corn, nurseries deal with a diverse array of plants, making automation more challenging, he said.

The primary goal of the five-year grant project, led by North Carolina State University, is to explore and implement various types of automation – from timed sprayers to robots – within the nursery industry.

The project will examine the return on investment of large-scale potting machines, automated sprayers and other innovative technologies. He said that incorporating the expertise of economists, engineers and social scientists will provide comprehensive solutions that are both economically viable and widely adoptable.

UF/IFAS, via Marble, will lead the Extension efforts nationally, organizing field days across the country to demonstrate the benefits of automation. These events will provide hands-on experiences and showcase successful case studies to encourage adoption among nursery owners.

Another initiative within the project will be led by UF/IFAS professor Laura Warner of the agricultural education and communication department. This initiative will investigate the perceptions and barriers to adopting automation technologies. Understanding the concerns nursery owners and employees have with adopting new technologies, such as incompatibility with existing nursery infrastructure, is crucial for developing strategies that facilitate smooth transitions to automated systems for nursery owners and employees.

“Is there concern that different types of automation might cost someone their job? That’s what we want to find out,” Marble said.

We will explore incremental steps, from simple upgrades like switching from granular hand shakers to sprayers to large-scale implementations of potting machines.

Marble said automation decisions must be made case-by-case since each nursery has unique needs and concerns. Researchers are sensitive to these needs as they proceed with the study and will incorporate these challenges into their study results.

“Each nursery is so different,” he said. “You can go to a nursery up the street, and some automation might benefit them, but it might not make sense for the one next door.”