{"id":3104,"date":"2025-06-18T07:00:28","date_gmt":"2025-06-18T14:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/magazine\/?p=3104"},"modified":"2025-06-27T12:34:33","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T19:34:33","slug":"byte-by-byte","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/magazine\/byte-by-byte\/","title":{"rendered":"Byte By Byte: The AI Farming Expert With One Foot in the Field and the Other in the Cloud"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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Byte By Byte: The AI Farming Expert With One Foot in the Field and the Other in the Cloud<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n
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\n\n \n Kirk Stueve ’03<\/strong> is combining his farming roots with his USC Dornsife education to help shape a more sustainable future through smart farming technology.\n\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n By<\/span>Katharine Gammon<\/a><\/strong>\n \n June 18, 2025<\/span>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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\u201cI don\u2019t really have a career, and that\u2019s been my career,\u201d Kirk Stueve \u201903 says with a laugh.<\/strong> But the truth is more complex: The USC Dornsife alumnus has carved an unusual path that spans the digital realm of artificial intelligence, the people-focused world of consulting and the hands-on work of his family\u2019s Midwestern farm.<\/p>\n

With a master\u2019s degree in environmental studies<\/a> and geographic information science<\/a> (GIS), Stueve works as a product scientist at a leading AI company where he develops remote sensing and artificial intelligence products for farmers. He also helps run his family\u2019s corn and soybean operation and mentors young scientists \u2014 cultivating crops, data and future leaders alike.<\/p>\n

High Tech, Deep Roots <\/h2>\n

The family farm \u2014 \u201ca classic northern Midwest farm, in the middle of nowhere\u201d \u2014 has always been a touchstone in Stueve\u2019s life. The surrounding county has a population of about 3,000 people and its fertile soil \u2014 a gift from an ancient glacial lakebed \u2014 makes it one of the most productive and flattest places on Earth. \u201cYou can see for miles and miles,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd there are a lot of fond memories there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stueve was driving tractors by age 5 and for a long time couldn\u2019t imagine a future beyond farming. \u201cThat way of life just gets etched into your mind,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

But in his 20s, Stueve felt ready for a bigger challenge. After earning an undergraduate degree in biology, he was accepted to USC Dornsife\u2019s master\u2019s degree program in environmental studies and GIS \u2014 a unique blend of environmental science, policy and geospatial data analysis. The chance to move to Los Angeles and experience life beyond the farm added to the appeal.<\/p>\n

While Stueve missed the Midwest\u2019s changing seasons, he found inspiration in his studies. \u201cThey were a really cool blend of science, technology and policy, all centered on sustainability,\u201d he says. \u201cUSC Dornsife was the obvious choice, and it\u2019s still paying off in ways that I never expected.\u201d That includes helping him integrate different strands of learning, enabling him to nimbly pivot among his diverse roles \u2014 professor, mentor, scientist and farmer.<\/p>\n

Farming the Future<\/h2>\n

These days, Stueve works as a product scientist and consultant at Ceres AI. The Oakland, California-based agricultural technology company leverages AI and image recognition technology to help acquire, manage and insure farmlands while reducing environmental harm and increasing profits. The role is a great fit for Stueve\u2019s rare blend of on-the-ground agricultural knowledge and tech savvy. It also allows him to return home for two to three weeks each spring and fall to plant and harvest crops on his family farm.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a little bit of an anomaly there,\u201d he admits with a laugh. Straddling both worlds isn\u2019t always seamless, but it\u2019s given him a rare perspective \u2014 one foot in the cornfield, the other in the cloud.<\/p>\n

Since sustainability is now baked into the goals of companies ranging from start-ups to multinationals, Stueve uses his expertise to help meet those ambitions. He says there\u2019s still a shortage of people who truly understand sustainability, economics, environmental science and cutting-edge technology like AI \u2014 let alone how to connect the dots between them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s an urgent need, now more than ever, to find people who can bridge those divides,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to be able to speak farmer and speak science.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That bridge now extends to the next generation. Stueve has taught GIS, remote sensing and agroecology at a number of institutions, among them Saint Paul College and Johns Hopkins University. This year, he joined the USC Dornsife Alumni Mentorship Program<\/a>, where he is helping students find meaningful ways to help solve global environmental challenges.<\/p>\n

Stueve\u2019s mentee, global geodesign<\/a> major Shivi Anand, says he\u2019s opened her eyes to emerging career paths in geospatial technology and provided hands-on learning opportunities that have shaped her academic and professional aspirations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks to Kirk, I\u2019ve discovered a new application of geospatial technology that could be a promising career path for me,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Cultivating Crops and Code<\/h2>\n

Stueve\u2019s use of AI and precision technologies is helping make agriculture more environmentally friendly while boosting yields. His passion for land stewardship runs deep, shaped by a lifetime on the family farm where sustainability was a daily practice, not just a goal.<\/p>\n

The developed world is not doing a very good job of growing food sustainably, he says. \u201cThe quickest way to propel us in the right direction is to leverage the latest science and technology to grow and do more with less. The latest advances in these fields have given us an unprecedented opportunity to change the world in a positive way that I don\u2019t think anybody thought was possible even five years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

One part of the solution, Stueve explains, involves using technology to identify the most productive areas for farming. This helps reduce pressure on environmentally sensitive lands \u2014 including those that provide habitat or clean water, or are vulnerable to wind erosion, runoff and other damage that can pollute waterways and threaten downstream ecosystems.<\/p>\n

As part of this effort, Stueve collaborates with the University of Minnesota\u2019s Precision Agriculture Center to secure joint research grants and conduct farm-scale research trials. While most agricultural research relies on small test plots \u2014 often just 50 or 100 feet long \u2014 Stueve\u2019s work spans full-scale fields, sometimes hundreds of acres. He and his partners use Ceres AI thermal imaging from planes and remote sensing from satellites to test sustainable practices at scale, with the goal of reducing costs, boosting yields and minimizing environmental harm.<\/p>\n

Preserving the Past<\/h2>\n

Stueve\u2019s commitment to his community runs deeper than soil \u2014 it\u2019s rooted in heritage. In the rural Midwest where his family owns land, small farms are increasingly being bought up by large conglomerates, erasing not just homes but histories. \u201cI can think of seven, eight, nine different families within a few miles of the farm where I grew up that are no longer there,\u201d he says. \u201cThe houses are gone \u2014 in some cases, totally demolished.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, when Stueve and his wife had an opportunity to buy a historic 1895 dairy farm in Chisago County, Minnesota \u2014 just across the state border from their home, a 140-acre farm outside Somerset, Wisconsin \u2014 they jumped at the chance. Though the buildings were in disrepair, the couple restored them and leased out the house and surrounding 17 acres, preserving both a piece of local history and a way of life.<\/p>\n

Talking Dirt and Data<\/h2>\n

Stueve deftly bridges the divide between science and agriculture \u2014 whether he\u2019s swapping stories over a beer with a local farmer or is deep in discussion with tech executives. \u201cI have to be able to speak farmer and speak science,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Despite practicing both \u201cdialects\u201d for years, it\u2019s not always easy. \u201cSome farmers think I\u2019m crazy,\u201d he says. \u201cBut they say that in a nice way because they\u2019re Midwestern.\u201d Still, he welcomes the challenge. \u201cIt keeps me excited to this day, just trying to straddle that divide.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n \n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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