Kit Franklin and Raymond King play back and discuss Kit’s interview with Xiong talking about Tensorfield at FIRA USA 25 for the Brash Ag Podcast. Full podcast linked here.
The Tensorfield segment of the show is embedded in the player below.
Topics discussed include:
- Xiong’s career path from Cambridge engineering and finance into ag robotics and founding Tensorfield
- How labor-intensive hand weeding in specialty veg drove the search for automation
- Tensorfield using computer vision to target weeds and hit them with super-heated vegetable oil instead of herbicides
- Why hot oil is more energy-efficient and effective than hot water for thermal weed control
- Soil and organic-certification considerations, including oil breakdown and approvals for early trials
- Service-based pricing, and working with a major organic grower
- The wider role of ag-tech in attracting new engineering talent into agriculture