Blue River Technology builds intelligent machinery for agriculture, applying computer vision and machine learning to help farmers manage crops and reduce chemical inputs. Founded in 2011 by Stanford University graduate students, the company was acquired by John Deere in 2017 and continues to operate with a startup mentality within the larger organisation.
The company's flagship product, See & Spray, uses computer vision and machine learning to distinguish crops from weeds at speed, enabling herbicide to be applied only where it is needed. The company reports that this approach can reduce chemical use by up to 90%. The work is granular by design: analysis proceeds pixel-by-pixel and plant-by-plant, with the cumulative effect of small improvements at scale. The technology is aimed at food production worldwide.
Technical work spans computer vision, machine learning, deep learning, robotics and data science. The company describes itself as a mission-driven team of innovators with a collaborative culture, operating across the agriculture, farming and AgTech sectors. More information is available at https://bluerivertechnology.com/.
