Robotics, Innovation in Agriculture Could Help Solve Industry Challenges, Speaker Says | Local News – Noozhawk.com

Innovation in agriculture can increase production during harvesting and may lead to an increased role for robot technology, a speaker said Thursday at an ag forum in Santa Maria.

About 140 people attended the Northern Santa Barbara County Economic Alliance ag forum with the theme “Agriculture: The Future in Focus” at the Santa Maria Radisson Hotel.

Walt Duflock, vice president of innovation at the Western Growers Association, said innovation led to the development of “high-rise broccoli” featuring longer stalks and making it easier for robots and humans to harvest.

“Really cool stuff,” he said, adding that a field trial in Salinas showed a boost in production. “People harvesters like it. Robot harvesters like it.”

Robotics has a role in agriculture, including weeding, digging, planting and harvesting, but the industry might have to be patient as the technology and business model develop.

The Western Growers Association recognized that startup companies for ag technology will need support, leading the organization to build tools to help fledgling firms.

“We want to give them a stack of Legos where they can reuse 80% of the stuff off the shelf, customize 10% of that, and build an initial, brand-new 10% of that,” he said. “So the off-the-shelf stuff saves them time, saves them money, de-risks their operation.”

One firm has created a small robotic vehicle to carry boxes of table grapes to the truck so the workers can continue picking fruit in the vineyard.

“This is where ag tech can go — it can make the labor you have more efficient, allow them to do other things when they’re not picking,” Duflock said.

Increased use of robots in ag also will mean changes for the next-generation ag worker, he added.

“One thing is clear: If all of these robots are in all of these fields, someone is going to need to work on them, fix them and build the next generation,” Duflock said.

He also spoke about controlled environment agriculture, or CEA, such as vertical farming and greenhouses, contending both provide “a massive threat to growers and a massive opportunity.”

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Nearly $3 billion has been invested in controlled environment ag.

“If the opportunity shows up correctly, it’s things like Driscoll’s turning seasonable berries into year-round berries,” he added. 

But the threat comes from this growing method, setting the stage for large deals with big-box stores.

“We’re watching CEA with interest and we’re trying to help the growers understand the opportunity and understand the threat,” he said. “I expect more investment in CEA. I also expect a lot of dead bodies. All that money is not going to land right. There’s just too much of it.”

Although the ag industry continues to lose workers, it has seen an increase in productivity despite the smaller workforce.

“How were we able to grow 170% more food with all those people going away?” he asked. “In a word — innovation.”

Earlier Thursday morning, Lottie Martin from the Santa Barbara County Ag Commissioner’s Office recapped the 2020 crop report and provided an update on operations, sharing that in recent months they have provided personal protective equipment and hand sanitizer to the industry.

Martin also reminded the ag community that her office recently sent forms to fill out information for the county’s next crop report.

“The crop report is super important,” she said, adding that it’s a critical tool in many ways, including for obtaining loans.

The ag forum also included panel discussions on ag innovation and issues and recognized human resources and safety staff who have borne the brunt of COVID-19 precautions, protocols and challenges.

Blong Xiong, state executive director for the U.S. Department of Agriculture California Farm Service Agency, delivered the keynote address at lunch.

Innovative Produce’s George Adam, who hails from a multi-generational farming family, reminded those in the audience about the need to advocate for the ag industry.

“I know that a lot of the advocates are in this room, but we need to go out and preach that to everyone else that’s not in this room,” Adam said. “We need a whole community of advocates because as we know it doesn’t take very many people to get a momentum going the other way.”

— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.