Your opportunity to connect directly with Western Growers!

Your opportunity to connect directly with Western Growers!

by | Jan 20, 2021 | Western Growers

Since the beginning of the year, I’ve had the opportunity to speak to and share information with Walt Duflock, Vice President of Innovation, Western Growers and Dennis Donohue, Director of the Western Growers Innovation and Technology Center in Salinas.

The focus of this discussion has been in preparation for a major announcement and initiative launch that Western Growers (WGA) will be hosting on 11 February.

Over the past five years, I’ve interacted with WGA on a regular basis. The challenges that their members face are well-known and a New Zealand agritech delegation had the opportunity to meet many of these growers during the Forbes Live conference back in June 2019. The image above shows some of the Kiwi delegation on a romaine property in the heart of Salinas Valley.

In advance of the 11 February announcements, Western Growers are asking startups (and scaleups) who are engaged in crop robotics and automation to complete a survey to help them identify early stage companies who are building products and working in the field. They are gathering this information to be able to share with WGA members.

Both Walt and Dennis understand the capability and expertise that exists ‘down-under’. By completing the survey below, early stage companies that work in this space will be able to share their information directly with WGA.

Being ‘down-under’ is NOT a disadvantage. WGA know that in order to address some of the major challenges members face, particularly around harvesting, they need to look at global solutions that can help address local problems. The main advantage that early stage companies in the southern hemisphere have is the counter seasonal opportunity. One can run a pilot programme in California, Arizona or Nevada during the northern hemisphere harvesting (picking) season and then refine the technology on southern hemisphere properties 6 months later.

Completing this survey will provide WGA with the information they need to know about your business and the technology you are either developing or have developed. With Western Growers members accounting for the production of more than 50% of all North American fresh produce; fruit, vegetables, nuts, organics, this is a major commercial pathway opportunity.

If you are developing robotics or automation technologies for the specialty crop market and are looking to expand your global footprint, this is one heck of a great way to start 2021!

You can access the survey here: Field Automation Startup Survey (research.net)

 

 

Join our NZ Agritech Virtual Showcase with Western Growers!

Join our NZ Agritech Virtual Showcase with Western Growers!

by | Jul 30, 2020 | Western Growers

This morning I had a briefing call with Dennis Donohue, Director of the Western Growers Technology and Innovation Center. We speak on a pretty regular basis. Wharf42 has been working with Western Growers since 2016, signing our first joint Memorandum of Understanding in June 2017.

These calls enable me to get a better understanding of the current landscape for North American growers as well as talking about some of the exciting agritech being developed in New Zealand.

Today, the biggest impact on our engagement is COVID-19. Closed borders mean that my trips to Salinas and the Central Valley will have to wait until next year. Hopefully.

In the meantime, ZOOM has become the main channel for our calls. This morning, we decided that we could leverage this platform to set up a virtual showcase of New Zealand agritech. The initial specific focus of interest to Dennis and a number of his grower members is robotics and automation. The lack of, and cost of labour, remains a key challenge for specialty crop growers across the United States.

Over the past few months, Dennis and the team at the Center have been building up a comprehensive field network of leading growers. The intent is to set up a virtual showcase which will enable selected NZ agritech companies to demonstrate their tech to these growers via a ZOOM conference. Over the coming weeks, I’ll be working with Dennis and the team to identify appropriate businesses and potentially, some key researchers who can talk about their work.

As I’ve indicated elsewhere on this website, the issue of closed borders is one that is today central to a lot of Wharf42’s activity. This virtual showcase is one example of how we can make it clear that New Zealand agritech is still open for business and keen to engage with the rest of the world.

If you want to learn more about the ongoing development of the Wharf42 Insights Programme and other initiatives currently being kept under wraps, please sign up for our free Monthly Newsletter.