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Texas A&M’s new librarian never sleepsTexas A&M’s new librarian never sleeps

The AI-powered librarian, SWAT VEXA, helps researchers and farmers access over 7,000 ag studies via a smart chatbot interface.

Andy Castillo, Editor of Farm Equipment and Machinery

February 4, 2025

2 Min Read
Coiled rolls of black perforated plastic drainage pipe, field tile, sitting in farm field
DRAINAGE PROJECT? If you’re planning to tile a farm field soon, an IBM-powered AI tool from Texas A&M might be helpful. It sifts through thousands of peer-reviewed studies to compile answers in plain speech.JJ Gouin/Getty Images

Texas A&M University in College Station just hired a librarian for ag research who’s definitely into advanced technology. The librarian is actually a robot developed in partnership with IBM.

SWAT VEXA, for Soil and Water Assessment Tool Virtual Extension Assistant, leverages artificial intelligence to curate the Extension service’s collection of 7,000 peer-reviewed research papers via a chatbot interface.

The IBM-powered AI tool compiles the information in summarized responses to questions about land management, water, agricultural production, soil quality, policy, climate change and more.

“It’s very interactive, and it keeps a history of all your questions,” says Raghavan Srinivasan, director of Extension’s spatial sciences program. “Maybe a week from now, if you want to come back, you'll be able to further refine, improve or expand on your discussion. Our annual publication rate is about 600 papers every year. We will keep on adding as new research becomes available.”

For now, the tool is mostly intended to aid researchers, policymakers and Extension agents, with the bulk of information focused on water availability. About 10% covers climate change, and 5% focuses on ag economics.

Broader advice desired

“Today, smallholder farmers need more than traditional advice; they need scientifically precise, data-driven insights. Solutions such as SWAT VEXA democratizes access to critical environmental insights, enabling faster, more informed decision-making for communities facing agricultural challenges,” says Justina Nixon-Saintil, vice president and chief impact officer at IBM. “Through our sustainable agriculture solutions in the IBM Sustainability Accelerator, we have already over 65,000 direct beneficiaries. And with the implementation of solutions like this, we expect that this number will keep increasing.”

As a practical aid to farmers, the tool streamlines research, enabling them to quickly find relevant information about their regions. As it matures, Srinivasan says farmers and ranchers will be able to ask the chatbot regionally specific questions about agricultural practices like water management, farming techniques, environmental impacts and crops.

“They could ask questions like: ‘If the climate is going to change in my area, what kind of crops should I be growing?’” he says. “Or let’s say, ‘My soil is X, and I would like to grow something. What is most suitable?’ ”

The availability of information provided by the tool is based on research in the database, as it only draws answers from there. It was created with input from state and federal organizations including USDA, EPA, the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board, the Oklahoma Conservation Commission, and the United States Geological Survey, among others.

Srinivasan says they’re working to add more types of ag-specific research to the database via collaborations with other organizations.

“Our hope is to learn from this, and maybe this project could lead to broader and even global opportunities,” he says.

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About the Author

Andy Castillo

Editor of Farm Equipment and Machinery, Farm Progress

Andy Castillo started his career in journalism about a decade ago as a television news cameraperson and producer before transitioning to a regional newspaper covering western Massachusetts, where he wrote about local farming. Between military deployments with the Air Force and covering the news, he earned an MFA in creative nonfiction writing from Bay Path University, building on the English degree he earned from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. In his role at Farm Progress, Castillo covers agricultural technology, new machinery and the constantly evolving farm equipment marketplace.

Castillo splits his time between the open road and western Massachusetts with his wife, Brianna, a travel nurse who specializes in pediatric oncology, and their rescue pup, Rio. When not attending farm shows, Castillo enjoys playing music, snowboarding, writing, cooking and restoring their 1920 craftsman bungalow. You can find Castillo at farm machinery shows across the country.

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