AI in Agriculture Symposium, Hackathon Set for September in Fayetteville
Inaugural event features eight experts from academia and industry
By John Lovett – Aug. 20, 2025
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The inaugural AI in Agriculture Symposium, hosted by the Center for Agricultural Data Analytics within the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, will highlight the latest in AI research and real-world applications for agriculture on Sept. 15.
The free event, featuring artificial intelligence and automation experts from academia and industry, will be offered online and in-person at the Don Tyson Center for Agricultural Sciences, 1371 W. Altheimer Drive, in Fayetteville. The experiment station is the research arm of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.
“AI is present in every field, and we would like to make sure our ag students and researchers have the opportunity to interact with people at the forefront of this field to foster collaborations and awareness of the potential of AI in agriculture,” said Samuel B. Fernandes, organizer of the event and an assistant professor of agricultural statistics and quantitative genetics with the experiment station.
The AI in Agricultural Symposium begins at 8:30 a.m. with a light breakfast and opening remarks from Jean-François Meullenet, senior associate vice president for agriculture-research and director of the experiment station.
Sessions begin at 9 a.m. Lunch will be provided at noon, and the event concludes at 5 p.m., followed by a reception and poster session until 7 p.m.
Featured speakers include:
- Girish Chowdhary, associate professor of agricultural and biological engineering, and computer science with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
- Rohit Sanjay, automation developer with Tyson Foods.
- Rich Adams, assistant professor of agricultural statistics for the Center for Agricultural Data Analytics, and the entomology and plant pathology department in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences at the University of Arkansas.
- Aranyak Goswami, assistant professor and computational biologist with the Center for Agricultural Data Analytics, and the animal science and poultry science departments for the Division of Agriculture and Bumpers College.
- Nicholas Ames, principal data scientist for Bayer Crop Science.
- Erin Gilbert, staff data steward for Bayer Crop Science.
- Alon Arad, director of artificial intelligence and analytics for Walmart Global Tech.
- Ana Maria Heilman-Morales, director of Agricultural Data Analytics at North Dakota State University.
Heilman-Morales will lead a roundtable beginning at 4 p.m. on the topic “AI as a bridge for multidisciplinary collaborations in agriculture.”
The deadline to register for in-person attendance is Sept. 7. There is no deadline to register for online attendance.
AI in Ag Hackathon
In addition to the symposium, Fernandes also highlighted the inaugural AI in Ag Hackathon, which gives graduate students from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff a chance to address real-world scenarios commonly faced in the ag industry. The hackathon takes place Sept. 13-14 in the Mullins Library on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville.
Fernandes said that while participants can win prizes for developing the best solutions, “most importantly, the top three teams will be given 5 minutes to present their solution at the Arkansas AI in Ag Symposium.”
Interested graduate students can find more details on the AI in Agriculture Symposium event page. The AI in Ag Hackathon is a collaboration between the Center for Agricultural Data Analytics, the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, and Bayer Crop Science.
The registration deadline for the AI in Ag Hackathon is Sept. 10.
To learn more about the AI in Agriculture Symposium, contact Samuel B. Fernandes at samuelbf@uark.edu or 479-575-5677. Dial 711 for Arkansas Relay.
To learn more about the Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website. Follow us on 𝕏 at @ArkAgResearch, subscribe to the Food, Farms and Forests podcast and sign up for our monthly newsletter, the Arkansas Agricultural Research Report. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit uada.edu. Follow us on 𝕏 at @AgInArk. To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit uaex.uada.edu.
About the Division of Agriculture
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation’s historic land grant education system.
The Division of Agriculture is one of 20 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on three campuses.
Pursuant to 7 CFR § 15.3, the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs and services (including employment) without regard to race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, sexual preference, pregnancy or any other legally protected status, and is an equal opportunity institution.
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