Increasing Food Production with Technology Worldwide – and Locally

By Erika Kosina, Nevada County Tech Connection

California, which boasts more than its fair share of both techies and farmers, hosts several AgTech conferences, some of which attract more than 600 attendees. And these AgTech pioneers are making a difference.

Technology has allowed the inudustry to increase food production by leaps and bounds ever since our ancient ancestors graduated from the digging stick to the hoe. On today’s farm, smart phones and laptops are as common as combines and tractors. The 4^th industrial revolution and the advent of the Internet of Things where the internet is connecting devices and things at an unprecedented rate is pushing agricultural technology even further.

Technology Helps Farmers Increase Efficiency

The average size of an American farm is now 434 acres, according to a 2012 United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) census. Farmers simply can’t monitor each plant on a farm of that size. Electronic sensors can gather information that allows farmers to monitor their fields from afar. Analyzing the data from these sensors gives farmers information about the plants, and allows them to make better decisions. According to the USDA, “Farmers no longer have to apply water, fertilizers, and pesticides uniformly across entire fields. Instead, they can use the minimum quantities required and target very specific areas, or even treat individual plants differently.” It’s a much more efficient way to grow large amounts of food.

Drones are another way for farmers to monitor their crops more efficiently. They fly over fields and gathering visual information better than an actual person could. “At the end of the day, drones can detect things the naked eye can’t like pests, disease, weeds, and fertility,” says Melissa Jun Rowley in her article “Farm Tech Revolution.” “If farmers play their cards right, they can use this information to cut costs and save time and resources—a couple of key reasons technology was invented.”

Bringing Farmers and Developers Together

Using technology to increase food production has its challenges. Sensors require internet connectivity to relay information, which is not widely available in rural areas. And farmers generally don’t get into farming because they love technology. Steve Davis is the CEO of Intelligent Wireless Networks, a company that provides rural WiFi networks as well as applications and software to support precision farming. He talks to a lot of farmers about how technology can help their business. “Technology has not been a part of farmers’ lives much,” said Davis. “They require some teaching and hand holding as they adopt these technologies. They are after all, farmers. They know soils and fertilizers. Bugs and crop disease. Water and nutrient content criteria to grow their products. How many Silicon Valley tech CEO’s grow their own food? How many could?”

A middle man like Davis is often needed to bring farmers and technology together. Agricultural Technology conferences can act as that middle man, providing opportunities for techies to pitch farmers and investors with their ideas for making farming more efficient.

Increasing Local Food Production

Nevada County is hosting our own AgTech Micro Conference on February 9, with support from the Economic Resource Council and Nevada County Tech Connection. The conference is happening in conjunction with Sierra Harvest’s Sustainable Food and Farm Conference, which presents world-renowned experts on innovative sustainable farming trends along with workshops and farm tours. Sierra Harvest is working to increase the number of young farmers in Nevada County – the average age of farmers in our county is 58 years old, and over 98% of those farmers do not have a plan to pass on their farm. Sierra Harvest has trained 30 farmers who are under 30, and placed many of them on local farmland. Since millennials are more comfortable with technology than any other generation, these younger farmers may be more open to incorporating technology into their farming methods.

Sierra Harvest hopes to increase local food production from 2% to 25% over the next ten years. Technology has a role to play in that increase, and the AgTech Micro Conference will connect AgTech developers with funders and local farmers to get the conversation started in our community. For more information or to register for the conference, visit http://nctechconnection.org/agtech18/.

The Value of the California Almond Industry – Part 2

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Farm News Director

The California almond industry is doing very well as a leading crop desired by consumers around the world, and growers are doing a tremendous job in growing the crop efficiently. This is Part 2 of a multipart series on the value of the California almond industry.

Buddy Ketchner runs a consulting firm called Brand K Strategies, and he works closely with the almond industry. He said that a cornerstone of industry is the fact that about 78 percent of the almond growers farm almonds under drip or micro sprinklers.

“That’s why we have the fact now that we’re using 33 percent less water than we were 20 years ago. I think that investment and that commitment to continual innovation is one of the reasons the industry’s done well. Now, all food takes resources, all food takes water, all food takes energy to grow,” Ketchner said. “I think what the almond industry has done well, and needs to continue doing, is to make sure that we’re doing it in the most effective, the most efficient, the most productive way. Not just for our growers but for the Earth and for the planet, which is what they do.”

The almond industry is committed in saving even more water over the coming years. There is a solid trend going on in the food industry that’s known as plant protein.

“I think one of the things we talk a lot about is the rise of the plants. The notion is that as populations increased, that as the middle classes increased globally, there’s a sense that we need to have protein that comes from plants as well as animals. So, people choose plant-based proteins for a number of different reasons,” Ketchner explained.

“For some of them, it’s because of the environmental story; they believe it’s more sustainable. For some people, it’s a health story; they just think it’s healthier or lighter, or it has some contribution to health that makes it a better choice for them than animal protein,” he said.

“For some people, it’s cost. There are a lot of reasons people pick plant-based protein. And how people are choosing to get their protein. I don’t remember what the latest statistic is. I think it’s like eight percent of the population is vegetarian, but 33 percent of the population regularly chooses vegetarian and plant-based protein options. It’s just how they want to balance their diet,” Ketchner said.

“I just want to make sure I’m clear: All food is good. I think animal protein is great, and plant-based protein is great. Consumers are looking for a balance in their diet, and so lots of reasons why that’s grown, but almonds are certainly part of that trend,” he said.

The Value of the California Almond Industry

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Farm News Director

The California almond industry is doing very well as a leading crop desired by consumers around the world. That’s according to many people in the industry, but one person who knows even more is Buddy Ketchner who runs a consulting firm called Brand K Strategies working with food companies and industries to help them navigate the changing food world at a strategic level. He’s based in Boulder, CO, but he is heavily involved in the California almond industry.

“I think the almond industry is one of the great success stories in American agriculture. And I think it’s living in a place now where people connect to almonds for so many different reasons, for the health, because it’s from nature, it’s unprocessed, it’s convenient, it’s portable. Almonds are almost the perfect food for what people are looking for today,” Ketchner said.

Buddy Ketchner

“And I think over the last 20 years of work, establishing that trust with consumers and with customers on what almonds, not only what they are, but what they stand for, has put us in a really great place,” he said.

And Ketchner says when people make food choices, they’re thinking beyond just what they’re buying. “Part of what they’re doing is they’re signaling what’s important to them, and I think almonds align with people’s values in a lot of ways.

“Over the last few years, we’ve come under some scrutiny because of water usage and other things, and I think those issues are important,” he said. “And I think one of the things we have to do in the industry is make sure that we’re always telling our story and lathering up our story and balancing our stories. Not only on why almonds are good for you, but why almonds are good. And I think that’s really important for us.”

“And ultimately building demand and continuing to grow this industry is about something bigger than just marketing; it’s about telling our story as an industry, not only what we grow, but how we grow it and why we grow it,” he said.

Ketchner explained that one of the cornerstones of the industry’s success has been the investment in research where it’s applied into practice.

“When you have an industry where 76 to 78% of the industry is using some form of drip irrigation or micro sprinklers, but in more sustainable irrigation techniques, that is so far above most industries, almost any other industry,” he said.

And so investing in the research, investing in the technology and then applying it in the field has really mattered.

Rosé Blends Growing in Popularity

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Farm News Director

Rosé blends are popular again, according to Nat DiBuduo, president of Allied Grape Growers, a California wine grape marketing cooperative with nearly 600 grower members located from major wine grape regions in California.

The Fresno based association exists for the purpose of efficient and competitive marketing of its members’ grapes as well as offering marketing services for non-members.

Recently, they had their 66th annual grower meeting in Fresno. DiBuduo said there’s some activity from the Central Coast and North Coast wineries sourcing out grapes in the Central Valley.

Nat DiBuduo

“They are looking for quality grapes that they can blend into their different programs. We are getting interest on good Cabernet, Barbera and Grenache in order to make rosé wine,” DiBuduo said. “This is something we hadn’t seen in a long time. Rosés seem to be the buzz all of sudden.”

Evidence has shown that millennials are reaching for rosé blends.

Another popular wine from the Central Valley is moscato, made from Muscat Alexander grapes.

“Moscato is very interesting. Last year, we had more Muscat Alexander than we knew what to do with. This year, we don’t have enough Muscat Alexander. I’ve already sold probably the excess 3000 to 4000 tons that I had and just yesterday got a phone call for another 1000 tons, so yeah, I don’t have enough Muscat Alexander, where last year we were in excess,” DiBuduo said.

We asked DiBuduo the reason for that shortage this year. “I think the heat has caused a crop shortage, you know it’s a caused a weakness in the crop,” DiBuduo explained.

Farmers Pressured to Replace Equipment to Meet 2.5 Microns in Exhaust

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Farm News Director

Environmentalist are pressuring the California Air Resources Board to mandate all California farmers` to replace farm tractors, trucks and harvesters in the Central Valley that do not meet the higher standard of less than 2.5 microns in their equipment exhaust.

“This proposed mandate is unnecessary,” said Roger Isom, President and the CEO of the Fresno-based Western Agricultural Processors Association. He is very active in pushing back onerous regulations.

Roger Isom, president and CEO, Western Processors Association (source: LinkedIn)

“We’ve done a great job in the last four years replacing equipment on a voluntary basis through the use of incentives,” Isom said. “The incentives were either the state’s Carl Moyer Program where you get the funding through the air districts or through the NRCS EQIP Program.”

“Both of those programs will pay up to 50% of the cost of a new piece of equipment, and while the farmer still has to come up with a big chunk of change, it makes it a lot easier and it’s been very successful,” Isom said. “We got even more reductions that the ARB was looking for.”

“At the last ARB meeting in May, the staff had to provide the board with an update, because they said, ‘Look, we want this PM 2.5 plan to come back in August or September, and we want an update on the progress in May,’ ” Isom explained.

“At that meeting there were two of us from agriculture, but there were more than 30 from the environmental community. Each one of them got up there and said, ‘We want to see a mandatory farm equipment rule. We don’t believe that farmers will do it on a voluntary basis,’” Isom said. “This is despite the fact that we have been doing it very successful, and the ARB agreed.”

The environmental community kept pushing back. We’ll keep you updated on this regulation as it unfolds.

Protestors in Sacramento Want Chlorpyrifos Banned

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Farm News Director

Frank Zalom

In March, Scott Pruitt, the EPA chief, rejected a 10-year-old request by environmental groups to ban chlorpyrifos for use in agriculture. The active ingredient is used as an insecticide on several crops on numerous pests. However environmental groups, along with some farm workers, are making a lot of noise in Sacramento in hopes that the Department of Pesticide Regulation will pull the plug on the material.

The environmental groups are questioning the safety of chlorpyrifos on not only the environment but also humans. Frank Zalom is a distinguished professor of entomology, agriculture experiment station entomologist, and extension specialist at UC Davis. He said it’s really hard to prove 100% safety.

“We can never be 100% sure if things are safe, and that’s absolutely true,” Zalom said. And that is the direction that the environmental groups want to go to get the attention of the California Department of Pesticide Regulations.

“Often, regulators will make decisions that reflect what popular culture is. And our culture in California is different than the national culture,” Zalom said. “If they decide that they’re going to make a decision based on political reasons, it’ll probably reflect what the rules are in California. It doesn’t surprise me that people are out protesting, even though I haven’t been following any of that.”

Zalom noted that he would like to see DPR make decisions based on a scientific point of view. “I’d say that, yeah, I’d like to see them make decisions based on science, but if you start saying, ‘Well, can you be sure these things are safe?” You can never make sure you’re safe, and that’s where you end up running into that area. Do you want to be 99.9% safe or 100% safe? You’re never going to be 100% and that’s where that leaves that flexibility then for decisions to be made more on a political basis, and so things happen like that,” Zalom said.

“I’d like to think that people are going to continue to make decisions for scientific reasons, but it wouldn’t surprise me that DPR might bend to some protests, and that’s why the people are doing it. I’m sure they think they’re going to be effective in doing that,” he said.

Beth Grafton-Cardwell is a director of the Lindcove Research and Education Center and a research entomologist for UC Riverside. She described to California Ag Today what was going on back in DC regarding this ban.

“Basically, during the Obama era, the circuit court said you must act immediately so the previous EPA director was bending to what they wanted and was going to make a fast decision because he felt like he was being pressured by the court to do that,” Grafton-Cardwell said. “Secretary Pruitt came in and said ‘I’m not going to be pressured, we’re going to get all the science, and we’re going to make a rational decision.’”

Beth Grafton-Cardwell

“It should be based on science. The benefits and risks should be weighed, but it should be based on science,” she said.

Grafton-Cardwell focuses a lot of her time on citrus and she says chlorpyrifos is important for that crop. “Citrus growers, I believe, are already managing these chemicals very, very carefully. They don’t spray during bloom. They don’t spray around schools. They only spray when the wind speed is not too great.

“Growers are very, very careful how they apply chlorpyrifos, and it still has some really important uses. And one of the biggest ones, believe or not, is ants. Ants climb trees. They protect pests against natural enemies,” Grafton-Cardwell said. “In agriculture, we don’t have good ant control for black ants other than applying chlorpyrifos. To make our IPM programs work, we need chlorpyrifos treatments to keep the ants under control, so that’s a good example.”

Dow AgroSciences also sent California Ag Today a statement on the recent developments on chlorpyrifos. Of course, they’re the registrant of a brand name called Lorsban, a chlorpyrifos product.

• EPA’s decision is good news for growers because it is based on applicable regulatory procedures and is consistent with good science.  Product approvals rest on five decades of experience in use, health surveillance of manufacturing workers and applicators, and more than 4,000 studies and reports examining the product in terms of health, safety and the environment. No pest control product has been more thoroughly evaluated.

• Chlorpyrifos is a critical tool for growers of more than 50 different types of crops in the United States. For many important pests, growers face limited or no viable alternatives to chlorpyrifos. When an outbreak of a new pest occurs, growers look to chlorpyrifos as a proven first-line of defense.
• Chlorpyrifos contributes significantly to the control of a broad spectrum of insect pests in a wide range of crops, including cereal, oilseed, forage, fruit, nut, and vegetable crops. Chlorpyrifos is not only one of the most effective and economical insecticides available for U.S. agriculture, but there are a number of crops and pests for which no viable alternatives exist.
• We are confident that authorized uses of chlorpyrifos products, when used as directed, offer wide margins of protection for human health and safety.

Steve Forbes Says Ag Tech Driving Agriculture

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Farm News Director

Steve Forbes of Forbes Media was in Salinas recently at the Forbes AgTech Summit. California Ag Today had an exclusive interview with him on ag tech and California farming in general.

Forbes said that the only difference between the Stone Age and now is information.

“We have more knowledge, and knowledge comes from experimentation, constant discovery, which agriculture’s been doing for well over a thousand years,” he said. “That pace in agriculture is increasing today, and there’s no reason why, if we don’t do silly things, even though the population will grow 2 billion in the next three decades, the world will not only have sufficient food, but more abundant and healthier food than we can even imagine today.”

And Forbes is aware that the problems facing farmers in California are mostly due to unnecessary regulations.

“Human ingenuity will do it. We have the ongoing example of Israel, a country in the desert with very little rainfall, but they don’t have a water crisis because they have brought desalination plants online in only a few years, instead of decades, which occurs in California , and at a fraction of the cost that you would find in this state, because of unnecessary obstacles,” Forbes said. “Farmers here do conserve with drip technology, but farmers cannot do everything regarding the availability of water.”

And Forbes gave a stunning statistic, revealing that satellite images show 14% more green space on the planet.

“It’s amazing, it’s equivalent of two North American continents. Part of it is there’s been a little improvement in weather and advances in agriculture, but the amazing thing -o because the the CO2 levels have gone up, and as we know from greenhouses, CO2 stimulates crops, and that’s what’s happened worldwide and nobody knows about it. We’re getting greener,” he said

Regarding the thought that there is two much CO2 , which is causing damage to the planet? “Well, thankfully the models haven’t been as dire as people thought 10 or 20 years ago, but it’s a fact that CO2 is a stimulant to green vegetation. It allows plants to use water more efficiently, and that’s why in greenhouses they will artificially increase CO2 levels to increase tomato production, other kinds of vegetables,” Forbes said. “It’s amazing, so maybe in 100 years it won’t be good but right now CO2 is doing us more good than harm.”

And while there are people that are experimenting with micro-farms and rooftop farms – small scale farming – and Forbes said that some of these experiments may work, he doesn’t think it’s either/or.

“I think what we see with tech, is that you can have big and small. One doesn’t preclude the other. And again you have the experimentation and [you] see what might have possibilities and people have different tastes, so you might not have a mass market, but there might be a market out there that might make it viable.”

“Just look at what’s unfolding, in terms of high tech already being wedded to agriculture, and the growing experimentation and people’s demands on how foods can be grown. It’s stimulating the human imagination, and that’s where progress comes from. It’s the mind figuring out how can we do this,” said.

Forbes explained why agriculture is high on his list of interest. “It’s simple: Without food, nothing else is possible. and what we’re seeing now is that we just don’t need to produce necessities. Human beings being what we are, we want more variety, we want more different kinds, we want to know how it is grown, we want more instant delivery, and so all of this is stimulating.”

“It’s like the Model T, was once great in its time a hundred years ago – the Tin Lizzie – but people wanted more than just a contraption to get from one place to another. So look at all the vehicles and the high tech you have in a vehicle today. It’s the same thing with agriculture,” Forbes said.

Convention is July 14-15

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Farm News Director

The California Agriculture in the Classroom will hold their 2017 Conference at the Visalia Convention Center this week, and the keynote speaker will be Lori Taylor, CEO and Founder of The Produce Mom. The event is July 14 -15 and will focus on ways to educate children about food and agriculture.

Taylor is speaking during lunch on Friday (12:30 to 1:30). She is also hosting the Taste of California BBQ Dinner (held at FoodLink in Exeter) that night.

And Example of The Produce Moms Produce Challenge Calendar

The event is inspired by Visalia 6th grade teacher, Julie Cates, who was recognized in 2015 as Outstanding Educator of the Year by California Ag in the Classroom for utilization of The Produce Mom’s produce challenge. Lori Taylor, The Produce Mom, is based in Indianapolis.

“We utilized my brand’s produce challenge calendar and turned it into a classroom tool to help promote fruits and vegetables, agriculture as a whole, and then also we created a platform that can tie in the academic standards from the common core method,” Taylor said.

“It’s been a lot of fun working with Julie Cates. It’s just been a true joy working with her and realizing how applicable the work that we do at The Produce Mom is for the households and the audience that we’re engaging with online on a daily basis,” Taylor said.

“Hundreds of thousands of women all across the United States are part of our audience. It’s great to see that some of the assets that we use on social media to engage in those dialogues with consumers also have a great place and application in the classroom setting and can be used as an educational tool,” she noted.

Taylor said it is going to be a lot of fun to address all of the attendees at California Ag in the Classroom’s annual convention. “It’s a real honor to be asked to speak. My business has been well-supported by many California growers.

Taylor said she looks forward to this opportunity to share more insight about her passion for California agriculture, as well as the multitude of tools available for educators, not only through The Produce Mom but also several of our fresh produce brands and growers, many of which are from right there in California. “It’s going to be a lot of fun,” she said.

For more information go to: learnaboutag.org