SoylentNews

Phoenix666 [soylentnews.org] writes:

A Japanese firm said on Monday it will soon open what may be the most futuristic farm yet: operated by robots [csmonitor.com], with their human assistants donning lab coats instead of overalls, and vegetables growing vertically on ceiling-high metal shelves instead of horizontally over bucolic fields.

Spread [spread.co.jp], a cutting-edge food producer based in Kyoto, says its roughly one-acre indoor farm will start operating in 2017, producing 30,000 heads of pesticide-free lettuce [msn.com] a day initially. By using efficient lighting and watering, and shrinking the number of human employees, Spread will significantly reduce its costs, at least by half on labor.

The only job carried out by human farmers will be planting the seeds. All other tasks – from re-planting young seedlings to watering, trimming, and harvesting crops – are to be managed by machines.

"困ったな, ロボットは仕事 を 取った!" ("They took er jerbs!")

Original Submission