The University of Florida’s Gulf Coast Research and Education Center (GCREC) celebrated its 100th anniversary while breaking ground on the new UF/IFAS Center for Applied Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture, a 40,000-square-foot, $40 million facility set to transform the future of Florida farming. UF/IFAS stands for the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, the statewide research and extension arm driving agricultural innovation.
The center aims to tackle Florida’s most persistent agricultural challenges, including labor shortages, rising production costs, pest and disease pressures and the need for more sustainable, efficient growing systems. Rather than relying on traditional labor-intensive methods, UF/IFAS plans to accelerate the shift toward robotics, automation and AI-driven agriculture.
UF/IFAS administrators said the facility will design, test and demonstrate a wide range of emerging technologies, including robotic harvesters, machine-vision crop analysis, real-time pest detection, targeted spray systems, automated farm data platforms and advanced plant-breeding analytics. These systems are intended to move rapidly from research to practical, field-ready tools that growers can implement immediately.
Dr. Nathan Boyd, professor of horticulture and associate director of the new AI center, emphasized the direct impact these innovations will have on local growers and residents. A leading weed scientist, Dr. Boyd integrates biological insight with AI-powered systems to improve pest identification, precision crop inputs and overall field decision-making.
When asked what the new center will mean for the Balm/Wimauma area, Dr. Boyd said, “There’s a lot. First of all, we’re working on making sure farming is sustainable. Farming is a part of this community, and we want to make sure it is in the future as well.”
“We’ll be hiring faculty here. We’ll be hiring staff. Things like machinists, engineers, those types of people are all going to be hired here. There’s a lot of new jobs that are going to be created,” Dr. Boyd said.
During the groundbreaking, FloridaCommerce announced that AgTech has officially been designated as a statewide target industry, reinforcing the state’s commitment to high-skill, high-tech job creation, especially in rural communities like Balm and Wimauma.
Construction is underway and will continue through 2027. When complete, the facility will accommodate up to 50 students at a time, positioning Balm as one of Florida’s most important hubs for agricultural research, technology, innovation and workforce development.
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