AI & Agriculture News — 2026-09-23 (Wed)

Overview

On the production side, movements related to precision agriculture are noticeable, such as John Deere's expansion of its agricultural machinery and data business and the AI/sensor award at EuroTier. There are no headlines about food safety, and no early warning information on supply chains about food security. In the livestock industry, it was reported that AI is being used to predict the milk yield of dairy cows and to combat bird influenza.

Precision agriculture/yield

- It was reported that John Deere is strengthening its expansion into agricultural data and AI businesses based on its dominance in the agricultural machinery market (no mention of crops or scale) [vernonreporter.com]. - Precision Farming Dealer introduces new material (AEM) that explains how AI-equipped agricultural machinery supports farm productivity (target crops and scale are not specified). - It was reported that crop monitoring using satellites and AI is progressing in Africa, and agricultural data collection is accelerating (no specifics on target countries or crops) [africasustainabilitymatters.com]. - RAND maps the ecosystem of AI-related industries (including agriculture) in the Netherlands and the UK.

Food safety

No applicable information

Food crisis/supply

No applicable information

Pest and crop protection

- Reports that a new AI model detects tea leaf diseases with 91.7% accuracy under harsh field conditions (Bioengineer.org). Target crop: Tea, Target: Disease detection model.

Livestock/Fisheries

- Announced that a hybrid AI model predicts milk yield of heat-stressed dairy cows with high accuracy (Bioengineer.org). - South Korea's Gyeonggi Province uses AI and digital twins to prevent the spread of bird flu (Seoul Economic Daily). - Livestock technologies related to AI, sensors, and smart agriculture received attention at the EuroTier 2026 awards (foodagribusiness.world, no details on target fields). - In Spain, a new AI tool was announced to centralize the purchasing of feed and fertilizer for dairy farms (Demócrata).

Agricultural policy/regulation

- U.S. Illinois Governor Pritzker established an "AI cabinet" to consider AI policy in response to requests for stronger AI regulations (Capitol News Illinois). - IFPRI published a paper on building "control and trust" for farmers in the transition to generative AI (target: support for farmers when introducing generative AI). - Gates Notes from the Gates Foundation communicates the importance of current choices in the AI era (no specific reference to the agriculture and food sectors). - U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent spoke on CNBC about negotiations with China, energy exports, AI incident response lines, etc. (no direct mention of the agricultural sector). - *Investment decision articles regarding MOO (agriculture-related ETFs) are omitted from this report as we do not cover market forecasts.

Japanese movements

- A touch sensor company in Shiga Prefecture has decided to begin bankruptcy proceedings due to the spread of generative AI. There was also a track record of shipments to major automobile manufacturers (Kyoto Shimbun Digital). There is no direct reference to the agriculture/food sector. - Global market analysis report for AI sensors (vision, audio, motion, environment, multimodal) released (Newscast.jp, no mention of the agricultural sector). - World market analysis report for AI servers (training/inference) released (atpress.ne.jp, no mention of the agricultural sector). - Regarding the necessity of "AI governance," WBCSD/CMS analysis was introduced in Sustainable Japan (not specific to the agricultural sector). - It was reported that South Korea's Soulbrain's operating profit increased sharply due to the expansion of AI memory (not related to the agricultural field).

There were no headlines reporting on domestic specific movements directly related to the agriculture and food sectors.

Remarks from VIPs

- U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent: Mentioned trade talks with China, energy exports, "AI incident response line", and Americans' distrust of legacy media on CNBC (no direct mention of the agricultural sector)

Energy News Beat

. - Illinois Governor JB Pritzker: In response to calls for stronger AI regulations, established a state "AI cabinet" (no direct reference to the agricultural sector)

Capitol News Illinois

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AI video/commentary

No applicable information

Overview

On the production side, a proposal by the World Bank and a Zambian entrepreneur to utilize AI/satellite data in Africa was reported, as well as specific research results that reduced water usage in greenhouse cultivation by 79%. In terms of food safety, there was talk of predicting recalls in the medical device field, but there was no direct reference to the food field. There are no reports of specific developments regarding the food crisis or supply chain.

Precision agriculture/yield

- In the Midwest of the United States (in the Alliance Times-Herald jurisdiction), a solicitation of opinions on the use of AI agriculture has begun targeting producers and students (scale and target crops not specified). - The World Bank proposes to African countries the development of a "national data infrastructure" to support the use of AI in African agriculture. - Zambian entrepreneur Thomas Lungu introduces AI and satellite data to agriculture (target crops and scale not specified). - It was reported that AI attracted attention at the China-ASEAN Expo 2026 (no specific agricultural application details were mentioned). - Reported that a research model reduced water usage by 79% in greenhouse cultivation under supply constraints (target crops not listed).

Food safety

- Report that AI could reduce medical device recalls by one-third (Mirage News). However, the target is the medical device field, and there is no mention of recalls or inspections of food and agricultural products.

Food crisis/supply

No applicable information

Pest and crop protection

- Coller AI Competition finalist list announced (Mirage News). There is no detailed description of the target disease or control technology.

Livestock/Fisheries

- Reportedly, livestock management technology company Halter's AI "Clank" has reduced engineering (development) time (channellife.co.nz). There is no mention of early detection of disease.

Agricultural policy/regulation

- India: Sridhar Vembu argues that India should have its own AI strategy (Rediff). - China: Analysis article (Ideas for India) on AI strategy for BRICS countries ("open weight closed loop"). - Kenya: President Ruto said that AI is accelerating the transformation of the economy, labor market, and institutions (his own Facebook post). - The article "One AI, Three Different Harms" points out that the international AI rules in the medical field are divided (Devdiscourse). There is no direct reference to the agriculture/food sector.

Japanese movements

- The release of analysis reports on the "World Market for AI Computing Power Servers" and "The World Market for Near-Memory AI Accelerator Chips" was announced for the domestic market, but both were surveys of the semiconductor and server markets, with no specific mention of the agriculture and food fields. - Article "El Niño phenomenon and AI influence economic growth disparity in Asia" (Vietnam.vn). There is no direct reference to the agricultural and food sectors in Japan. - South Korean crowdfunding company Wadi's announced that it has reduced the waiting time for manufacturers to publish their funding projects from about 4 days to less than 1 day by switching to a full-process AI monitoring system. It is not a movement within Japan, and there is no direct reference to the agricultural and food sectors.

Remarks from VIPs

- Sridhar Vembu: Argued that India needs to have its own AI strategy (no title listed). - William Ruto (President of Kenya): ``Technology is transforming the economy, labor market, and institutions, and AI is accelerating that transformation.''

AI video/commentary

No applicable information