Creating an Agritech Ecosystem
The Cornell Agricultural Systems Testbed and Demonstration Site (CAST) for the Farm of the Future is a cluster of three farms in New York State aimed at advancing data-driven solutions for food systems. CAST is developed and operated by a multidisciplinary team of researchers, extension specialists and educators from the Cornell Institute for Digital Agriculture (CIDA) and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
Our agritech ecosystem for the Farm of the Future integrates both commercially available and in-the-pipeline technologies and transformative practices. Field-crops and dairy systems are used as models of the US agrifood system to generate knowledge, experiences and opportunities with application to these and other agricultural sectors.
Supporting the USDA NIFA Farm of the Future
The Farm of the Future is a program of the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA NIFA). It seeks to foster the development and adoption of integrated technologies optimized to enhance climate-smart sustainability and farm profitability.
CAST exists to fulfill the USDA NIFA’s vision of a rural testbed for the Farm of the Future, supporting research, extension and education in precision agriculture, smart automation and data connectivity.
Leveraging the CIDA framework
The Cornell Institute for Digital Agriculture (CIDA) is a world leader in responsible digital agriculture. CIDA’s innovations join together agro-ecologies, artificial intelligence and machine learning, computing, robotics and people.
Under CIDA’s framework, and that of other Cornell initiatives, CAST leverages existing knowledge, resources and cross-disciplinary activities. This collaborative and interdisciplinary environment fosters research, outreach, teaching and stakeholder engagement.
Collaborating with the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) is a Historically Black University and an 1890 Land Grant Institution. It serves a diverse student body of graduate and undergraduate students.
In collaboration with the CAST leadership team, UAPB creates educational opportunities in Digital Agriculture to benefit students at UAPB and other institutions serving underrepresented minorities.
CAST for the Farm of the Future research is supported by the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative grant no. 2023-77038-38865 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture.