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An autonomous answer to ag labor challenges

Mississippi State University opens the Agricultural Autonomy Institute to drive economic development, open career doors, and train an ag workforce.

Pam Caraway, Farm Futures executive editor

November 30, 2023

3 Min Read
Remote cotton harvesting
Projects such as the end-effector robotic cotton harvester will now come under the umbrella of the Mississippi State University Agricultural Autonomy Institute. The newly established hub is dedicated to resolving labor challenges in agriculture and lifting Mississippi’s economic outlook. David Ammons

Hear ye’! Hear ye’! Or, perhaps: Hail! Let it be known the venerable institution known affectionately as Starkvegas seeks a new nickname: the Silicon Valley of Ag Autonomy. 

Mississippi State University this year raised its flag over the autonomous landscape by creating the Agricultural Autonomy Institute. Leaders believe it’s the first of its kind globally. 

“I really think that we’re first,” said Alex Thomasson, director of the Ag Autonomy Institute and head of the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering. “We’re going to have a lot of competition but it’s going to be awhile before there’s another institute.” 

The institute was officially established in June by a vote of the Mississippi Institutes of Higher Learning, and the university celebrated its grand opening in late October. Prior to the official designation, the Robert M. Hearin Foundation provided seed funding to operate the institute for three years. 

“Our chief goal is to make Mississippi the Silicon Valley for ag autonomy,” Thomasson said. 

Though they lead the pack aiming for such a goal, Thomasson said the work of the institute at MSU is already underway: robots to pick cotton, drones to scout insects and disease, self-driving tractors, and machines for gathering crop data are in development across the campus. Given that the National Science Foundation ranks Mississippi State in the nation’s top 5% of universities for agriculture and natural resources, many believe the institute is a natural evolution. Autonomous capabilities also can help resolve agriculture’s labor supply challenges and lift economic opportunities for the state, said Thomasson and the Ag Autonomy Institute’s Assistant Director Madison Dixon. 

Related:5 takeaways from Agritechnica 2023

Primary goals

Dixon outlined three primary focus areas for the institute: 

  1. Develop and train ag autonomy workers. They’re working to create a labor force for agricultural operations, particularly farmers. “We’re creating autonomous opportunities because labor is not there,” Thomasson said. 

  2. Attract manufacturers in this developing field to set up operations in Mississippi. Thomasson noted that that global agricultural autonomy market is expected to go from its $5 billion position in 2021 to $12 billion in 2026. 

  3. Create opportunities for autonomous research.  

As the projects roll out, Thomasson sees some intellectual property being licensed to private companies. Other projects may lead to public-private partnerships. Intensifying the income opportunity for the university and those involved in the research, Thomasson said, “is all about incentivizing researchers and other faculty on campus to create intellectual property.” 

Related:Nexat next up for ag equipment innovation

Becoming the “Silicon Valley of Ag Autonomy” isn’t a goal hotwired to social status and isn’t specific to the Starkville campus, Dixon said. It’s a goal designed to create opportunity across the state. 

“Mississippi suffers greatly from a brain drain. Residents find jobs out of state. Students graduate and move away,” Dixon said. “We want to train people, promote economic development, and promote workforce development. We want to train people and give them jobs to go to here in Mississippi.” 

Given that vision, Thomason said, success for the institute’s leaders doesn’t necessarily look like moving from a few offices in an existing building to a its own new brick-and-mortar altar to the age of autonomy. What it looks like is solving labor issues for farmers and related industry and improving opportunities for Mississippi residents. 

“Success is achieving our vision around economic development in Mississippi,” Thomasson said.

About the Author

Pam Caraway

Farm Futures executive editor

Pam Caraway became executive editor of Farm Futures in 2024. She has amassed a career in ag communications, including leadership roles in editorial, marketing and public relations. No stranger to the Farm Progress editorial team, she has served as editor of former publications Florida Farmer and Southern Farmer, and as a senior staff writer at Delta Farm Press.

She started her writing career at Northwest Florida Daily News in Fort Walton Beach. She also worked on agrochemical accounts at agencies Bader Rutter and Rhea + Kaiser.

Caraway says working as an ag communications professional is the closest she can get to farming – and still earn a paycheck. She’s been rewarded for that passion and drive with multiple writing and marketing awards, most notably: master writer from the Agricultural Communicators Network, a Plant Pathology Journalism Award from the American Phytopathological Society, and the Reuben Brigham Award from the Association for Communication Excellence.

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