Barnstorm Agtech

Barnstorm Agtech, founded in January 2020, is a Canadian agricultural robotics company focused on developing autonomous farming solutions. The company was co-founded by Parker Wells, a fourth-generation farmer managing 6,000 acres in Saskatchewan, and Mitchell London, a robotics expert and serial entrepreneur with ties to Carnegie Mellon University's driverless vehicle and space robotics projects. The venture was born directly from the pain points Wells experienced, namely the high-risk concentration in large, expensive tractors and the persistent labor shortages in rural areas.

Barnstorm Agtech is pioneering a "Farming as a Service" (FaaS) business model, intending to deploy fleets, or "swarms," of smaller, autonomous tractors to perform essential agricultural tasks. This service, referred to as "Barnstorming," will initially target farmers in the U.S. Midwest and Canadian Prairies, offering services like tillage, seeding, and spraying. This model provides farmers access to advanced technology without the substantial capital investment, offering a low-risk way for them to supplement their operations, especially during narrow time windows for fieldwork. The company has established business operations in the US, Canada, and India, with a research and development center in Pune, India, focused on low-cost manufacturing and maintenance.

The company's core product is the "Barnstormer," a driverless robotic vehicle comparable to a compact utility tractor. These robots are designed to work in coordinated swarms and feature a unique form factor tailored for efficient multi-vehicle transport. Key characteristics include dynamic geometry with adjustable ground clearance and variable track width, allowing them to service both broadacre and specialty crops. The platform is being developed as an open system, featuring programming APIs and a telemetry stack to enable seamless integration with other modern precision farming solutions and third-party implements. Significant funding milestones include a $1 million seed round in 2021 and a $350,000 grant from the Government of Saskatchewan's Agtech Growth Fund.

Keywords: agricultural robotics, Farming as a Service, FaaS, autonomous tractors, swarm farming, precision agriculture, AgTech, driverless tractors, farm automation, Canadian Prairies farming, US Midwest agriculture, tillage services, seeding services, spraying services, robotic swarm technology, compact utility tractors, Parker Wells, Mitchell London, farm labor shortage, sustainable agriculture