The Georgia Federal-State Inspection Service (GA FSIS) has issued a letter of support for See Produce's work developing AI-driven peanut inspection technology, backed by a commitment to help build and field-test the next stage of the machine. Clay Pirkle, President of GA FSIS, the organization that inspected over 1.85 million tons of Farmer Stock Peanuts last year, 53% of total U.S. production, employing and training more than 1,100 seasonal workers to do it.
The problem GA FSIS is looking to solve
President Pirkle's letter lays out the scale of the challenge plainly: peanut inspection still relies on "old school" technologies (belts, motors, screens) operated by seasonal workers who collect, sort, weigh, and visually inspect samples by hand during harvest. The Foreign Material Machine currently used industry-wide was designed over 60 years ago, and Pirkle notes it isn't very efficient at separation; workers still have to hand-sort the three material components into the correct bin. As he puts it, there is a tremendous need for enhanced technology to automate the process.
What GA FSIS found
GA FSIS has met directly with See Produce to evaluate its Beta Foreign Material Machine, which uses AI technology together with air valves and solenoids to separate a peanut inspection sample into the three sub-classes of material used to start the inspection process. After that review, Pirkle writes that GA FSIS has found the project to be viable.
What comes next
The letter commits GA FSIS to a real role in getting there: developing a working prototype for real-world testing in a Farmer Stock environment, with GA FSIS helping fabricate and build the prototype and providing both personnel and sites for testing.
