by: J. D. Heyes
NaturalNews.com
July 24, 2013

(NaturalNews) In the latter part of the 20th century, automation - the introduction of machines and "robots" designed to make mass production more effective - began taking over for human workers in American factories. With automation came efficiency, but that efficiency cost the country as well in terms of good-paying jobs.

Now, apparently, the same technology is about to take over America's fruited plains - robots, it seems, are all the rage down on the farm, and their introduction and spread will make human farm work a thing of the past.

Migrant workers are in shorter supply, making bots attractive

Per The Associated Press:

On a windy morning in California's Salinas Valley, a tractor pulled a wheeled, metal contraption over rows of budding iceberg lettuce plants. Engineers from Silicon Valley tinkered with the software on a laptop to ensure the machine was eliminating the right leafy buds.

The engineers were testing the Lettuce Bot, a machine that can "thin" a field of lettuce in the time it takes about 20 workers to do the job by hand.

Welcome to the future of agriculture, ladies and gentlemen.

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