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Robot Bees, Tiny Crop Sensors & a Pig That Loads the Washer | Daily Farm Brief · Farm Tales Unplugged - Daily Farm Brief

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: Good morning, Farm Nation, and Hello Truck City.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: This is FarmTales Unplugged Daily Farm Brief for Thursday, October 15th.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: Brought to you by World TradeX empowering farmers.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Rick Cordonova.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: Today, tiny machines planted alongside your crop with a price target of one penny each.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: Then a pig that loads a washing machine, live shrimp from Indiana, and a quick harvest check.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: Plus, ducklings doing the weeding, flying robot insects that could help pollinate crops, wheat turned into threads, and a skunk doing a handstand.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: And if you enjoy this show, please give us a follow, like, or share.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: That would be fantastic.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: So grab your coffee, fire up whatever you're driving, and let's find out what was happening while you were busy actually working.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: Lead Story Planting a Field of Tiny Machines.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine planting tiny machines with your seeds, then asking them how the roots are doing.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Researchers at University of Pennsylvania and their partners are developing sensors that could go through a planter and into the soil.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: They respond to radio signals reporting moisture and chemical conditions underground.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: The price they're aiming for is about one cent apiece, and the materials are designed to break down afterwards.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: Above ground, the team is also developing tiny stickers for leaves, those changed to give a visual reading of conditions on the plant.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: A camera on farm equipment could read them as it passes.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: Sherry Kagan's team described the work in a report published Monday.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: The technology is still being developed, that penny price is a goal.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: But picture a field giving you a warning before the plants start looking sick.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: A pig that loads the washing machine.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: A pig pulled 10 socks off a person's foot and put them into a washing machine.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: His name is Pongo, his owner is Iris Brunn in Italy.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: Guinness verified the feat in 2024.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: His time was 1 minute 55 seconds.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: He also earned a record for performing 15 tricks in a minute.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: That is one smart pig.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: Now, from Italy to Indiana, there's a family raising saltwater shrimp in Indiana, and the water may be the strangest part of the story.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: Daryl and Carolina Brown started RDM Aquaculture in Fowler in 2010.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: They say they've been reusing their tank water ever since.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: That's 16 years of working with the water that keeps this unusual farm going.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: The Browns raise the shrimp indoors.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: Customers can buy them alive right at the farm door.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: Walk into a farm in Indiana and walk out with live saltwater seafood.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: The family also gives tours and teaches people who want to enter the business.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: Their website lists an online shrimp farming overview for tomorrow, October 16th.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: So if somebody wonders whether a shrimp farm belongs in corn country, the Browns have a working operation to show them.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: And now a quick harvest check from Tuesday's USDA report.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: Through Sunday, corn harvest was 33% complete.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: Soybeans were 46%.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: Both were behind their usual pace.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: Corn trailed by six percentage points, beans by four.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: Weather windows still matter.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: Now the ducklings that do the weeding.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: Meet a Vermont farmer whose weed control crew swims to work.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: Eric Andrus and his wife Erica built Boundbrook Farm on heavy wet ground in Ferrisburg.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: Eric turned to cold-tolerant rice and a Japanese method that puts ducklings into the flooded fields.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: The little birds eat and trample weeds.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: They also go after insects moving between the rice plants.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: The farm explains that the rice leaves are too abrasive for the ducks to enjoy eating.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: But timing matters.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: When the rice begins filling with grain, the ducks need to come out.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: Those developing grains are something they will eat.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: The family has been developing this system since 2010, and its website now lists 26 rice orders.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: Picture that field.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: Rice growing in Vermont with a flock of little ducks helping bring in the crop.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: And now the high-tech moment: robot insects that could pollinate crops.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: A flying robot that weighs less than a paper clip, and MIT researchers have made one perform 10 somersaults in 11 seconds.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: That's a machine with flapping wings powered by tiny artificial muscles.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: Researcher Kevin Chen and his colleagues are working towards robotic insects that could eventually help pollinate crops.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine a greenhouse where little flying machines move between flowers, delivering pollen.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: In experiments reported last year, an improved design could hover for almost 17 minutes.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: Later work gave the robots much faster, more agile flight, including those repeated flips.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: The team still wants to add tiny batteries and sensors so they can fly and navigate outside the lab.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: But the idea is remarkable.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: A mechanical hive, a crop of flowers, and a swarm of robotic bees helping get the pollination done.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: That future still needs work.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: The flying robot bees are already real.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: On this day in farm history, on this date in 1895, Henry D.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: Perky received a patent for turning grain into something that looks almost woven.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: The title was Bread and Method of Preparing Same.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: He cooked whole wheat, then pressed it through grooved rollers.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: The grain came out in fine threads that could be gathered into biscuits.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: Shredded wheat.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: A crop from the field became a completely different kind of breakfast.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: And more than a century later, you can still recognize what he was making.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: And now let's finish with the old farmer's almanac.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: Let's open the almanac and finish with a little animal that has a very dramatic way of saying, give me some room.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: A spotted skunk can do a handstand.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: It balances on its front paws, raises its back end and tail, and shows off its markings.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: That's a warning.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: Oklahoma State researchers studying the plain spotted skunk describe that upside-down display as a part of its defense.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: This belongs to the smaller spotted skunks, relatives of the familiar striped ones.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: And here's the almanac's useful point about skunks in general.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: They eat insects and grubs, including pests that can damage crops and gardens.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: Those little holes in the lawn can be signs of somebody digging for dinner.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, they also eat other things and can disturb plants.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: If you're stepping outside after dark, take a flashlight, give wildlife space, and let a skunk move away.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: Foot stamping and a raised tail are warnings worth noticing.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: And if you happen to see the smaller spotted variety lift itself onto its front feet, there's a reason for that performance.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: Even a quiet evening outside can offer a sight you never expected.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: Today, one cent crop sensors and a pig loading laundry, live shrimp from Indiana, a fresh harvest check, and Vermont ducklings helping grow rice.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: Robot bees and the man who invented shredded wheat and a skunk doing a handstand.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: And if you'd like more information about any of the topics we cover on our show, there's a matching blog for every episode we release.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: You'll find it on our website, farmtailsunplugged.com.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: To farm nation, have a safe and productive day.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: To Truck City, keep the shiny side up.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: The future of food starts with the people who grow it and depends on the people who move it.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: And there you have it.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: That's your FarmTales Unplugged daily farm brief for Thursday, October 15th.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: Brought to you by World TradeX empowering farmers.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Rick Portonova, and I'll see you Friday morning.