TerraClear has developed a system that uses drones to map fields and problematic rocks using high-resolution imagery and specialized machine learning algorithms. Then, a skid steer-deployed smart implement traverses the field, lending speed and efficiency to the labor-intensive process of rock picking, which is traditionally done manually by hired hands in ATVs.
Devin Lammers is TerraClear’s fresh new CEO, having taken the helm at the Pacific Northwest startup just over three weeks ago. The former FBN interim CEO grew up on a bison ranch in South Dakota, where he witnessed firsthand the expensive, time-consuming headache large rocks can present for farming operations.
He says human rock picking crews will often miss anywhere from 60% to 70% of the rocks in a field while working at a slower speed than TerraClear’s rock picking machines. It’s an expensive and time-consuming service that is often needed annually, since buried rocks are continually exposed by rain and other erosive forces like snowmelt and wind.
Lammers’ immediate short-term goals in his CEO role are twofold:
- A full commercial launch of its service-oriented business model in 2025, primarily in Iowa, Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois, and the Dakotas.
- Connecting dots across the ag industry to help set up TerraClear’s sales and service distribution network. TerraClear has a manufacturing relationship agreement in place with Minnesota-based Loftness Specialized Equipment, and remains open to ag retail, coop, equipment dealer, and other potential partnerships.
The group exhibited its unique rock picking implement at this summer’s Farm Progress Show. That machine, which the company is calling its “TC Rock Picker”, has racked up over 10,000 acres worked this season according to Lammers, who describes the machines as looking almost like steel-ensconced velociraptors.
The startup is also working on a stepped-up version that will have increased load capacity and durability to handle the increasing demand for its services, called a TC100 Rock Picker.
Lammers says a decent operator can clear anywhere from 30-50 acres per hour with TerraClear’s machines and optimized route planning software, which is included with its image processing software. The startup is also keen on developing autonomy kits for future full automation.
And while rock picking and removal is the focus today, Lammers says the startup’s long term strategic goal is expanding its technologies into other on-farm applications, such as plant health monitoring and pest detection, using the same drone-based imaging and analytics platform it has developed to optimize its rock picking activities.
“We’re starting with rocks – we think it’s an interesting place to start since a competitive solution doesn’t really exist,” Lammers says. “And then our platforms can be made available to other capabilities as the imagery gets better, the analytics get better, and our ability to propose treatments gets better.”
The company is also exploring partnerships with large equipment manufacturers to integrate its technology into larger, more advanced agricultural machinery, although Lammers cannot comment specifically on those discussions yet.
“I would fully expect us to have dozens of service providers across the Midwest signed on over the course of this next year,” he adds.
Learn more about TerraClear’s rock mapping and picking service at TerraClear.com.
Check out the quick video below to catch the TC Rock Picker in action.
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