Meet Colin Raby: First to Create an Agricultural Consultant With AI

Helping Farmers Manage Crops and Weeds

LSU students and alumni have created a new, AI-powered tool called FarmSmart that puts decades of LSU AgCenter research right under the green thumbs of Louisiana’s farmers. With a few clicks on their smartphones or computers, farmers and gardeners can quickly access actionable intelligence on how to best manage their crops and get rid of weeds.

“Our goal is to be as good or better than the best agricultural consultants,” said Colin Raby, LSU alumnus and CEO of FarmSmart, which won LSU’s leading pitch competition, the J. Terrell Brown Venture Challenge, last spring and this week will compete in the SEC Student Pitch Competition on October 17, hosted by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

While there are several apps on the market that already do plant recognition based on photos, FarmSmart goes many steps further.

“You can upload a picture of a plant or weed, and our app won’t just identify them, but tell you how confident it is in its answer and provide alternatives—also, you can ask it any question about the plant, and it will provide recommendations based on the most up-to-date research, while citing the exact documents it pulled that answer from, so you can do your own fact-checking,” Raby said. “In short, we’re taking high-quality LSU agricultural research, synthesizing it using AI and large language models, and putting it in your pocket.”

When he’s not working on developing FarmSmart, Raby serves as one of the nation’s first congressional AI specialists in Washington, DC, helping the legislative branch of the U.S. government work more efficiently by improving workflows and advising on policy.

“Colin Raby and his team’s work in developing AI-driven solutions for Louisiana farmers is an early example of how we are leveraging this emerging technology to directly contribute to the state’s economy and the well-being of its people.”

Roy Haggerty, LSU Executive Vice President and Provost