Artificial intelligence is making waves in health care, energy and education across the Capital Region—but what about agriculture?  That’s the question posed to FarmSmarter Growing Technologies co-founders Colin Raby and Grant Muslow during an honors large language model class at LSU in fall 2 023.  Raby, an LSU alumnus, and Muslow, an LSU graduate student, teamed up with biological engineering student Julius Pallotta and fellow LSU alumnus Cole Lacombe to create FarmSmarter—an AI-powered assistant designed to identify plants, diagnose issues, and deliver tailored recommendations to farmers and growers using the latest agricultural research.  “It seemed like the worlds of agriculture and the cutting edge of AI weren’t really talking to each other,” Raby tells Daily Report. “The agricultural consulting process looks exactly like it looked in 1950, with people just going through best practices booklets and taking the advice of whoever pays to present their new pesticide or herbicide at an annual conference. We saw that there was a huge opportunity to use modern technology to make it all work better, faster and save money to get high-quality answers.”  The team launched the first version of FarmSmarter in late February. Available on desktop and as a mobile app, the virtual assistant can identify plants, insects, and fungi, as well as diagnose crop diseases using user-submitted photos and descriptions. It also offers insight into environmental impacts and recommends safe practices for pesticide and herbicide use.  Though still in its early stages, FarmSmarter has gained momentum on the pitch competition circuit. The Baton Rouge startup won the 2024 J Terrell Brown Venture Challenge at LSU, was a top 10 finalist in the Baylor New Venture Competition, and recently competed in the Louisiana Pelican Cup at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. The team has advanced to the final round of the Arkansas Governor’s Cup and will pitch this month at the Rice Business Plan Competition in Houston.  With additional funding, the team plans to expand its capabilities, grow its staff, and roll out new features—including a soil analysis tool and a historical data tracker to monitor trends and performance over time. ...read more read less