From the stone hoe to the moldboard plow, 12-row combine, no-till drill, and thermal-sensing irrigation, agriculture has long been an arena for technological innovation. Twenty-four years into a new millennium, we wonder: what tools and technologies will drive farming in the future? And more importantly, who will tomorrow’s farmers be?
These questions have animated Breyon Pierce’s work as a farmer and educator for a decade. A sixth-generation Black farmer from Surry County, Virginia, Pierce farms commodities with his dad on more than 1,000 acres and runs a value-added peanut farm business of his own. He teaches agriculture at a local high school where he introduces young minds to the applied science of farming, including aquaponic and hydroponic systems, small engines and robots, and agricultural drones. He is the recipient of a 2023 RAFI Farmers of Color Network Infrastructure grant.
“I understand the challenges to walk the whole field,” Pierce explains, “and get a birds-eye view.” Thus he monitors his own fields by drone, which enables him to diagnose crop stress, for example, a week before it’s visible on the ground. Such forewarnings allow earlier and more effective interventions in pest management and input application. Pierce shares his own drone footage in a class exercise to determine lime requirements.
It doesn’t hurt that flying drones gets students excited about farming. Eager to pilot one, Pierce’s charges take training and safety seriously. Students enjoy flying sessions at the football field and apply class credits towards their Part 107 unmanned aircraft certification. Their license, supported by the school’s targeted focus on workforce development, can of course be used for more than just agriculture.
Pierce himself has been captivated by agricultural technology since childhood. Growing up on the farm, he used to “wonder if robots would ever pull weeds for us.” Now 35, he can point to robotic flame weeders that recognize and destroy weeds as they pass down the rows. Eat your heart out, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Beyond the wow factor of remote-controlled farming robots, Pierce feels called to engage the next generation of farmers, to “prepare students to help us provide for the future.” The challenges of global climate change combined with an aging farming population indicate, he says, that agriculture will be increasingly remote controlled — a world of autonomous tractors and drones.
In addition to labor-saving technologies, “understanding the fundamentals, how Mother Nature works,” is a key part of teaching prospective farmers to adapt and innovate. Although living on the Chesapeake Bay gives him ready access to fresh-caught fish, Pierce makes the point that this may not always be so. He wants students to be prepared to raise fish inside aquaponics systems, under artificial lights in warehouses. They tackle such issues in his Biological Applications in Agriculture class. We need to see, and foresee, “societal trends and economic crises,” he explains. “And we need to keep farmers attentive and knowledgeable about how to produce.”
Furthermore, only with a sea-change in attitudes toward farmers can society continue to thrive, according to Pierce. “I want people to give a little more respect to our farmers. If someone is a farmer, you may think they aren’t educated, but we are a jack-of-all-trades. We go out here and raise crops, raise food, raise animals for people we don’t even know. We don’t get the financial security or respect we need. Have compassion. Our land is being taken away for solar panels, for industry. Without land, where will food come from?”
He reflects on his own place in a family legacy devoted to the land. “Being a sixth-generation farmer is a humbling experience. I’ve been chosen by the good Lord to be a good steward.”
Mary Saunders Bulan, RAFI’s former Farmer Services Director, runs a small herb, flower, and vegetable farm in Western North Carolina with her partner. Prior to joining RAFI, Mary was a college professor teaching agriculture courses, mentoring research, and managing campus farming programs. With a Ph.D. in Agronomy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a BA in International Relations from Brown University, Mary has served on the faculty at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, NC, and Unity College in Unity, ME.