JUNE 2026  SEEDWORLD.COM /  19
Rachael Sharp stands with her father, Don Sharp, reflecting the 
generational transition of leadership at Sharp & Sharp Certified 
Seed. PHOTO: SHARP & SHARP CERTIFIED SEED
A tractor moves across a South Carolina field at sunset on the 
Sharp family farm, where AI is becoming part of daily decision-
making. PHOTO: SHARP & SHARP CERTIFIED SEED
That computer can’t turn the wrench. But it can tell you which one to use. 
— Rachael Sharp
Sharper Records, 
Less Paper
Sharp tracks planting in real 
time by speaking notes into 
her phone while standing in 
the field.
“When it’s time to turn 
in my 578 to FSA… it pops 
up with farm number, track 
number, field number, when 
it was planted,” she says. 
“Something that used to 
take hours to do… it’s already 
done.”
In certified seed, where 
traceability and documen­
tation are critical, that shift 
matters.
“Anything that I was doing 
record keeping-wise on paper 
or even in an Excel document, 
it’s keeping record of now,” 
she says.
AI also helps her manage 
seed lots and quality data.
“It’ll tell me this is the lot 
number you need to plant… or 
it’ll remind me to take another 
sample to the seed lab,” she 
says.
Sharper Decisions 
in Real Time
Sharp uses AI to guide deci­
sions that directly affect prof­
itability and efficiency.
She feeds in transportation 
costs and elevator prices to 
determine where loads should 
go, removing guesswork from 
the equation.
“It tells me where we need 
to take it,” she says.
The biggest gain is time.
“It frees up my time… so 
at the end of the day I’m not 
sitting in the office doing 
paperwork,” she says. “It frees 
up my time to be a human.”
Sharp’s approach caught 
the attention of OpenAI after 
she mentioned it during a 
Clemson University ag tech 
forum. The company sent 
a film crew to her farm and 
featured her operation in a 
national campaign, which later 
aired during major broad­
casts like the Super Bowl 
and the NCAA Basketball 
Championship. That exposure 
led to additional opportunities, 
including a trip to New York 
where she met Oprah Winfrey 
at an event focused on AI and 
small business.
Back on the farm, the 
value remains practical. She 
has even uploaded the user’s 
manual for her combine 
and asks AI to help her find 
information in the manual to 
maintain or repair the equip­
ment.
“That computer can’t turn 
the wrench,” she says. “But it 
can tell you which one to use.”
For Sharp, that is the real 
story of AI in certified seed 
— not replacing people, but 
helping them work faster, 
make better decisions and 
spend less time behind a 
desk. SW

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