Sustainable productivity
FSLC is calling for major new public agricultural R&D investment oriented toward sustainable productivity and farmer profitability. The proposed demonstration is structured to produce field evidence, not marketing claims.
ARIDON AG · R&D Partnership Proposal
FORMAL CONCEPT FOR DISCUSSION · AUGUST 2026
Southwest Agricultural R&D Demonstration Partnership
A New Mexico field program designed to turn agricultural R&D priorities into independently measured evidence around water security, farm profitability, soil and root-zone performance, early warning and farmer-centered technology adoption.
Prepared for FSLC discussionFood Tank discussionNew Mexico firstField validation before claims
WHY THIS FITS THE MOMENT
The national R&D agenda and the farm problem overlap almost perfectly.
Well-managed water
Water scarcity is a direct operating constraint across the Southwest. The pilot tests supplemental production, precision irrigation, storage, water-quality verification and water-security decisions together.
Healthy soil + root zone
RootIQ and the Soil Water Battery research track focus on the actual root zone, irrigation timing, soil moisture and crop response rather than dashboard activity alone.
Public data + early warning
The evidence architecture is designed for permissioned, auditable field data and can support regional early-warning research without exposing private farm information.
Technology shaped by farmers
Food Tank’s recent technology framing emphasizes solving real producer problems and centering relationships. The pilot begins with co-design, farmer permissions and compensated producer participation.
Profitability as an endpoint
The Farm Profit Digital Twin connects water, energy, labor, inputs and yield so technical efficiency is evaluated against farmer economics.
THE FIELD DESIGN
One program, two connected proof layers.
The digital cohort tests whether Aridon helps producers make better business and resilience decisions. The instrumented field demonstration tests the physical water and agronomic technologies under measured Southwest conditions.
LAYER 1 · 90 DAYS
25–50 producer learning cohort
Crop, livestock, specialty, irrigated and diversified operations where practical. Aridon leads onboarding, training and office hours. Producers help prioritize the problems worth solving and evaluate usefulness.
- Farm profitability and margin visibility
- Water and drought planning usefulness
- Labor, input and administrative opportunities
- Farmer trust, adoption and willingness to continue
LAYER 2 · 180 DAYS MINIMUM
Instrumented water-secure farm demonstration
Use a controlled comparison on one primary field site, with additional rural or tribal participation only by invitation and agreement. Hardware performance remains a design target until measured.
- Arm A: current-practice baseline
- Arm B: RootIQ precision-water decision support
- Arm C: RootIQ + Water Independence System + AWG research platform + storage
- Optional modules: early warning, livestock heat/water sentinel, energy-water scheduling
PARTNER ROLES
Nobody has to pretend to be everybody.
Aridon
Program integrator and technology lead
- Lead R&D architecture and field protocol development
- Provide Aridon Ag decision and data layer
- Coordinate AWG engineering/manufacturing work
- Operate the evidence trail and final replication package
Food Security Leadership Council
Policy and R&D alignment partner
- Pressure-test the demonstration against national agricultural R&D priorities
- Connect the pilot to the broader sustainable-productivity conversation
- Help identify relevant public R&D, policy and research pathways
- Participate in final policy / replication briefing if mutually agreed
Food Tank
Convening, farmer voice and public-learning partner
- Help keep farmer needs and relationships at the center of the technology program
- Connect researchers, producers, funders and food-system leaders where appropriate
- Support a transparent public-learning format after evidence is reviewed
- Explore event, editorial or convening opportunities without presuming coverage or endorsement
University / independent verifier
Independent protocol and evidence partner
- Review measurement protocol before deployment
- Validate water, energy, agronomic and economic methods
- Audit data quality and missing-data treatment
- Issue or co-author an independent technical memorandum subject to agreement
Producer + tribal / rural partners
Co-designers and field hosts
- Define the practical problem before technology is deployed
- Approve data permissions and trial boundaries
- Operate or host field equipment where appropriate
- Evaluate maintenance burden, usefulness and adoption fit
Engineering / manufacturing partner
Prototype engineering and integration
- Complete feasibility / DFM phase before fabrication authorization
- Engineer, fabricate and factory-test the prototype
- Support commissioning and corrective actions
- Document repeat-build requirements and serviceability
EQUIPMENT + EVIDENCE STACK
Instrument the question before buying the answer.
AWG-1000 research prototype
Containerized, instrumented atmospheric-water platform; nominal design objective remains subject to engineering and climate validation.
Storage + treatment
Site-sized tankage, sanitary piping, pumps, treatment / UV and sampling points matched to approved intended use.
Water metering
Timestamped product-water flow, tank levels, treatment status and water-quality sampling chain.
Energy metering
Dedicated electrical metering so kWh per liter / gallon and operating cost can be calculated without guesswork.
Root-zone sensor network
Moisture / tension at multiple depths, weather / ET inputs and optional zone-level irrigation control.
Telemetry + provenance
Weather, output, energy, alarms, maintenance, irrigation, crop and economic events stored with timestamps and data-quality flags.
PROPOSED PROGRAM BUDGET
$700,000 target capitalization
A planning budget for consortium formation. The AWG prototype line is not a vendor quote; Aridon’s current engineering package places a first engineered and instrumented prototype in a broad $200,000–$470,000 planning envelope.
PROPOSED CAPITAL STACK
$550k external R&D / sponsor support
$100k in-kind site, university, engineering or research contribution target · $50k Aridon in-kind software / program contribution target
| WORK PACKAGE | PLANNING ALLOWANCE | WHAT IT COVERS |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing feasibility + 30% engineering | $40,000 | Reference climate, DFM/DFA, controls, instrumentation, risk register and prototype work breakdown. |
| AWG-1000 prototype fabrication + commissioning | $330,000 | Planning allowance within Aridon’s existing first-prototype engineering envelope; final amount requires vendor quotation. |
| Field instrumentation + site preparation | $70,000 | Flow and power metering, weather station, root-zone sensors, telemetry, installation, storage and site integration. |
| Independent university / third-party validation | $60,000 | Protocol review, sampling, data QA, statistical review and independent technical memorandum. |
| Producer participation + co-design stipends | $40,000 | Support for a 25–50 producer learning cohort and farmer time spent on structured feedback and field validation. |
| Aridon software, onboarding + data operations | $55,000 | Aridon Ag access, training, office hours, pilot dashboard, data provenance and aggregate reporting. |
| Water-quality laboratory program | $20,000 | Baseline and operating-period testing under the intended-use protocol. |
| Travel, training + O&M readiness | $20,000 | Field visits, operator training, maintenance documentation and closeout support. |
| Pilot contingency | $65,000 | Approximately 10% program reserve for site, procurement, test and commissioning uncertainty. |
12-MONTH WORK PLAN
Six gates. Every gate can stop a weak idea.
1
0–6 weeks
Co-design + protocolConfirm host sites, farmer priorities, intended water use, baseline plan, data rights, reference climate and independent-verification protocol.
2
Months 1–3
Engineering + baselineRun paid DFM/engineering work while the producer cohort establishes operational, water, soil, energy and economic baselines.
3
Months 3–5
Fabrication + site readinessBuild the instrumented prototype, prepare storage/treatment interfaces, install field sensors and complete factory acceptance testing.
4
Month 6
CommissioningSite acceptance testing, water-quality release for the approved intended use, operator training and baseline lock.
5
Months 6–11
180-day field demonstrationOperate the controlled trial, preserve raw evidence, document maintenance and compare baseline, precision-water and integrated arms.
6
Month 12
Independent review + scale decisionProduce the technical memorandum, farmer/economic report, public-learning summary and a go / redesign / stop recommendation.
SUCCESS METRICS
The scoreboard is deliberately unforgiving.
Water production
Verified gallons or liters per day; production by temperature, dew point and humidity band
Energy intensity
kWh per liter / gallon; total operating energy; energy-cost sensitivity
Water quality
Lab results, treatment performance and intended-use compliance pathway
Reliability
Uptime, faults, maintenance events, consumables and service hours
Root-zone efficiency
Gallons per acre, irrigation events, pump kWh, root-zone stress hours and crop response
Farm economics
Profit per acre, water/energy cost per acre, administrative time, labor and input opportunities
Farmer usefulness
Adoption, trust, maintenance burden, willingness to continue and willingness to host replication
Early warning
Lead time, false-alert rate and whether alerts caused useful producer action where that module is tested
DATA + GOVERNANCE
Farmer permission is part of the architecture.
- Producer-controlled permission for private operating data
- Aggregate / anonymized reporting by default for public summaries
- Tribal data sovereignty requirements incorporated where applicable
- Measured results and modeled scenarios kept visibly separate
- Raw evidence preserved for independent review under agreed terms
THE ASK
Form the demonstration consortium, not a press release.
- Hold a 45-minute working session with Aridon, FSLC and Food Tank.
- Select one primary New Mexico field-validation site and the producer-cohort recruitment path.
- Identify the independent research / university verifier and engineering prime.
- Build the $700,000 capitalization stack and launch only after protocol, data rights and success gates are agreed.
CONTACT + DISCUSSION PATH
Send one concise proposal, then work the room together.
Food Security Leadership Council
Food Tank
Aridon
Proposal status: Concept for discussion. No FSLC, Food Tank, university, tribal, producer, agency, manufacturer or funding endorsement, commitment or affiliation is represented until separately agreed in writing. Budget figures are planning allowances, not vendor bids. Hardware, water-quality and agronomic performance remain subject to engineering, permitting, intended-use requirements and independent field validation.
SUPPORTING TECHNICAL MATERIAL
The proposal sits on top of the live R&D architecture.
Review the ten-program portfolio, three-arm field design and interactive water-security scenario before the consortium meeting.
Open Aridon Ag R&D