Artificial intelligence is entering agriculture, but the most useful version will be practical and field-connected. For almond growers, AI and sensors can help organize information from soil moisture, aerial imagery, weather, evapotranspiration, pest pressure, nitrogen status, and yield history.
USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture describes AI applications in agriculture such as machine learning, data visualization, decision support systems, autonomous systems, and other tools that support food production. USDA ARS describes precision agriculture as observing, measuring, and responding to field variability so farm managers can make more precise resource decisions.
This is already relevant to almonds. UC Davis researchers have explored remote sensing methods to measure nitrogen levels in almond trees, with the goal of helping farmers make more targeted fertilizer decisions and reduce excess nitrogen application.
The future orchard will not be run by a screen alone. It will be run by people who know how to combine data with field experience. Sensors can show a pattern, but a manager still has to interpret it, walk the orchard, check the system, and decide what action makes sense.