Fruit picking robots to eliminate need for farm workers?

[Shaul]

It hasn’t happened yet, but is it inevitable that the need for farm workers to pick fruit will be eliminated? Perhaps next year?

How do big farmers hope to pick the next crop? With robots

 

[Subduction Zone]

Technology will do more to eliminate illegal immigration than Trump's wall will.

 

[Epic Beard Man]

Technology will do more to eliminate illegal immigration than Trump's wall will.

But it will also put many people in unemployment

 

[Subduction Zone]

But it will also put many people in unemployment

That is part of the price of progress. In this case those affected would be almost all migrant workers. I am far from being pro-wall. My state relies heavily on migrant workers. The example given would be used in the town just north of where I live. There are quite a few strawberry fields there and no locals are willing to do the work.

My point was that Trump's wall will do far less than technology will in regards to our supposed immigrant problem.

 

[Brickjectivity]

It hasn’t happened yet, but is it inevitable that the need for farm workers to pick fruit will be eliminated? Perhaps next year?

How do big farmers hope to pick the next crop? With robots

If it can be automated then any family can have a large fruit farm without any or many employees.

 

[Twilight Hue]

I think automation will be a huge thing in this and the next century. If a lot of jobs are going to be done by machines, what to do with people are going to be top priority. I see the possibility of minimum incomes being discussed.

 

[HonestJoe]

I think automation will be a huge thing in this and the next century. If a lot of jobs are going to be done by machines, what to do with people are going to be top priority. I see the possibility of minimum incomes being discussed.

This was a huge thing in the last century too and we managed to get through it one way or another. I mean, the topic here is harvesting crops but for many crops we’ve long had a single person driving a combine harvester which replaced whole teams of people cutting the crops by hand.

 

[Kangaroo Feathers]

I think automation will be a huge thing in this and the next century. If a lot of jobs are going to be done by machines, what to do with people are going to be top priority. I see the possibility of minimum incomes being discussed.

I'm looking forward to watching the pending lower-middle class conservative freakout when discussion of universal incomes become mainstream. IMHO, we're already at a point where UI should be implemented for the stability of advanced societies right now, but getting the "stuff the rest of you, I got mine Jack" types to even understand the concept, let alone agree to it, will be a years long uphill battle.

 

[Kangaroo Feathers]

It hasn’t happened yet, but is it inevitable that the need for farm workers to pick fruit will be eliminated? Perhaps next year?

How do big farmers hope to pick the next crop? With robots

The average farmer having the liquid capital to just up and invest in expensive experimental equipment, of course.

I'm sure farm automation is coming, but I'm fairly sure it will be the preserve of large agribusiness, and the cost offset will make traditional privately owned family farms more and more unviable.

 

[Revoltingest]

It hasn’t happened yet, but is it inevitable that the need for farm workers to pick fruit will be eliminated? Perhaps next year?

How do big farmers hope to pick the next crop? With robots

The average farmer having the liquid capital to just up and invest in expensive experimental equipment, of course.

I'm sure farm automation is coming, but I'm fairly sure it will be the preserve of large agribusiness, and the cost offset will make traditional privately owned family farms more and more unviable.

An almond farmer I met a couple years ago had already
mechanized to the point that he got rid of all hired labor.
It's a small family farm. Family now does all the work.
This came about because of rising cost, & falling productivity
of migrant labor.

 

[Sanzbir]

It hasn’t happened yet

Oh yes it did!! Green Revolution - Wikipedia

Robots already stole 50% of America's jobs nearly 100 years ago and people were still able to find something to do afterwards. I think we'll be fine going forward.

 

[metis]

In the process of using machines to make life easier for us all, what we've also done is to use them to eliminate jobs that people need. That's capitalistic materialism for ya.

 

[Quintessence]

In the process of using machines to make life easier for us all, what we've also done is to use them to eliminate jobs that people need. That's capitalistic materialism for ya.

To add, there are significant environmental and energy costs as well. Robots are energy-wasting machines that are energy-intensive to produce. I don't worry much about some "robotic future" because the way the compass is pointing right now seems to indicate such things are not sustainable. Then again, neither is human population and human civilization in general right now...

 

[Twilight Hue]

In the process of using machines to make life easier for us all, what we've also done is to use them to eliminate jobs that people need. That's capitalistic materialism for ya.

It will self correct. If there's no customers with no money to buy products and services, rest assured they will do something about it. Capitalism's not much good without spending consumers.

 

[Revoltingest]

To add, there are significant environmental and energy costs as well. Robots are energy-wasting machines that are energy-intensive to produce. I don't worry much about some "robotic future" because the way the compass is pointing right now seems to indicate such things are not sustainable. Then again, neither is human population and human civilization in general right now...

Why do you think robots are more energy intensive than humans?
I'd expect them to use less.
- They only consume energy when working.
- Humans consume it constantly, while working for only a small fraction of their lives.
- Humans are very energy intensive to manufacture, warehouse, fuel, & care for.
- Robots don't go on strike, don't steal, don't go on vacation, don't go home, & don't sit in jail after a drunken binge.

Robots are quite sustainable.
What isn't sustainable....human population growth.

 

[Quintessence]

Why do you think robots are more energy intensive than humans?

I didn't say robots are more energy intensive than humans, I said they are energy-wasting machines that are energy-intensive to produce. Robots do not grow on trees. Nor do they grow inside wombs. Their existence depends on non-sustainable artificial systems that bypass and ignore ecological realities for the sake of... hell if I know what the point of it is. Machines - robots or otherwise - are manufactured using mostly non-renewable resources without much if any consideration to end-of-life use. In ecological systems, nature just recycles everything and uses renewable sources. Humans ignore that constantly, and it would be so with robots as much as it is already with things like cell phones and computers. That isn't a sustainable model. It does not make sense to waste energy making energy-wasting machines when sustainable tech (or non-tech) already exists that does the same thing, especially in the present era. It's really too bad that appropriate tech movement was killed off. We need it now more than ever.

 

[TransmutingSoul]

Here in Australia no one takes those jobs. Partly because it is hard work and partly because the pay is not good. This lazy and economic attitude, helps these innovations become an option.

Regards Tony

 

[Revoltingest]

I didn't say robots are more energy intensive than humans, I said they are energy-wasting machines that are energy-intensive to produce. Robots do not grow on trees. Nor do they grow inside wombs. Their existence depends on non-sustainable artificial systems that bypass and ignore ecological realities for the sake of... hell if I know what the point of it is. Machines - robots or otherwise - are manufactured using mostly non-renewable resources without much if any consideration to end-of-life use. In ecological systems, nature just recycles everything and uses renewable sources. Humans ignore that constantly, and it would be so with robots as much as it is already with things like cell phones and computers. That isn't a sustainable model. It does not make sense to waste energy making energy-wasting machines when sustainable tech (or non-tech) already exists that does the same thing, especially in the present era. It's really too bad that appropriate tech movement was killed off. We need it now more than ever.

The typical human consumes far more non-renewable resources & energy than a robot.
Remember that each human needs a home, transportation, communication
devices, food, etc, etc. over its lifetime (most of which isn't working).
A robot is built once, & thereafter needs nothing other than energy
occasional repairs.
Just look at these dedicated honest workers (who can be painted in any color)....

No transportation (car, or bus) cuz they remain on the job.
No food, no vacation travel, no entertainment, no house, etc.
No break room, no union hall to build, maintain & heat.
Robots are on the whole very sustainable compared to humans
with their cars, houses, TVs, pools, RVs, motorcycles, monster
trucks, boats, kitchens, bathrooms, sofas, hot tubs, etc.

 

[Quintessence]

The typical human consumes far more non-renewable resources & energy than a robot.

You're still arguing a point that doesn't reflect what I've actually said. I'm not sure why.

 

[Revoltingest]

You're still arguing a point that doesn't reflect what I've actually said. I'm not sure why.

I believe that I'm directly addressing your posts & your intent.