The Business of Blueberries

The latest information on blueberry production, markets, research and technology.

Author: U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council

The blueberry industry is like no other: passionate, resilient, and innovative. This podcast is your source for the latest information on the production, markets, research and technology related to the blueberry value chain. This is the Business of Blueberries.
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BerrySmart Field Insights: The Path To Autonomous Equipment
Episode 229
Friday, 13 March, 2026

In this episode of “The Business of Blueberries,” we welcome guest host Steve Mantle, founder and CEO of Innov8.ag and USHBC’s partner in the BerrySmart Field program, who’s joined by Charlie Andersen, CEO and founder of Burro, and Noe Toribio, customer success manager at Burro. Together, they discuss on-farm efficiency potential using autonomous robotics. They share the impact this technology can have on labor costs for producers and how that may affect the agriculture industry.“There’s a lot of areas in agriculture and beyond where there are no robots today and people are moving around doing work that requires movement, plus perception, plus manipulation … and inspecting things on sites and doing data capture. They're all things where there's a real need for robots, but the way to get them going isn't to try to do it all at once. It's to do it in a stepped or phased approach, which is kind of the genesis of Burro.” – Charlie AndersenTopics covered include: An introduction to Anderson and Toribio, and their work. The ideas that led to the creation of Burro, and the impact autonomous tractors can have for producers.An exploration of the evolution of autonomous tractors and what the future may hold.Crop ReportThe Blueberry Crop Report is an update on crop conditions and markets throughout important blueberry growing areas. Today you’ll hear from Brittany Lee in Florida, Derrin Wheeler in Georgia, Eliza Spreitzer in Michigan, T.J. Hafner in Oregon, Luis Vegas in Peru and Mario Ramirez in Mexico. This was recorded on February 26, 2026.