- Author: Hanif Houston, The VINE
The Hague, NL – The dairy industry in both California and the Netherlands faces four major challenges: manure management, enteric methane, labor, and sustainability measurements and standards. To identify existing and emerging market solutions and assess the impact of these solutions across the four categories and animal welfare, an innovation assessment tool has been created.
The VINE, an initiative of the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, and Wageningen Livestock Research - Dairy Campus have released their novel Global Dairy Industry Innovation Assessment Tool. This tool is the first step in a joint dairy collaborative aimed at promoting sustainable, climate-smart agriculture for a better future.
"The partnership between The VINE and Wageningen Livestock Research - Dairy Campus has enabled us to combine our expertise and insights to create an overview of these key challenges and opportunities for the dairy industry,” said Gabe Youtsey, chief innovation officer for UC ANR. “Understanding this landscape of innovation allows us to leverage our shared resources to support and drive the commercialization of solutions.”
“Innovation is key for the future development of the dairy sector in both countries” said Kees de Koning, manager Innovation at Dairy Campus.
This tool provides a snapshot of the current state of innovation addressing some of the challenges in the dairy industry, showcasing innovative technologies and products that are, or have the potential to, make a difference on a global scale. By identifying the most promising solutions and encouraging collaboration among key industry players, the team aims to drive further progress toward a sustainable dairy industry.
The database lists companies, identifies which challenges their product addresses and ranks the maturity of the product from “proof of concept” to “mature.”
“This Global Dairy Industry Innovation Assessment Tool is designed to give insights on the opportunities and tradeoffs inherent in deploying any new technology,” said Mareese Keane, co-founder of Opengate and partner of The VINE. “It is a living database and any companies that want to add or update their entry are invited to get in touch."
To complement the assessment tool, The Vine and Wageningen dairy collaboration are working on the following projects:
- Building Blocks for Virtual Future Farm: Envisioning a theoretical farm with zero emissions or maximum circularity by leveraging Dutch precision technology and California large-scale farming expertise.
- The VINE VIP (Validation of Innovations Project): Focusing first on value-added products from manure, participants will look for technologies that provide value-added products at scale from manure, beyond energy and direct application as fertilizer.
- A delegation of California-based dairy industry innovators and operators are invited to join an innovation tour of the Dutch dairy industry, starting Nov. 6.
Click here to view the Dairy Innovation Assessment Tool: https://airtable.com/shrMIHqbWNnwhJs8y/tblN8IzvBQ5kAwSou
For more information about the Dairy Innovation Assessment Tool, how the companies included were selected, and how to submit or update additional entries, please visit https://thevine.io/towards-better-dairy-global-innovation-landscape.
About The VINE: The VINE, an initiative of the University of California, Agriculture and Natural Resources, is California's agriculture, food and biotech innovation network. The VINE aims to harness the power of open innovation to help industries and entrepreneurs grow and scale globally while catalyzing technology innovation and commercialization for productive, sustainable, and equitable food systems.
About Wageningen Livestock Research - Dairy Campus: Wageningen Dairy Campus is a leading research institution in the Netherlands focused on dairy farming and sustainability. The Dairy Campus provides a platform for education, research and innovation, bringing together industry partners, academi, and government organizations to advance sustainable practices in the dairy sector.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Wildfire has become more frequent and intense in California with climate change. To meet the challenge of wildfire, UC ANR has hired several new UC Cooperative Extension fire advisors and staff to study issues related to wildfire and to assist Californians with their preparations. Quinn-Davidson and the Fire Network will provide critical coordination and connection across geographies and disciplines ranging from forestry to food safety to livestock to water quality.
“Lenya has more than a decade of work in fire science and has carried out her work through partnerships and community engagement,” said Glenda Humiston, UC vice president of agriculture and natural resources. “Her experience and successful track record will enhance how we coordinate our many layers of research and education related to fire prevention, recovery, public policy and workforce development.”
Quinn-Davidson has served as a UC Cooperative Extension fire advisor for the North Coast since 2016. During her three-year term as the Fire Network director, she will continue her research program and continue to build capacity among landowners, tribes and other communities to use prescribed fire throughout the state. Quinn-Davidson also leads the national/international WTREX program, focused on empowering women and other underrepresented people who work in fire.
“I'm honored to take on this new role, and I can't wait to further grow, connect and support our fire efforts within UC ANR,” Quinn-Davidson said.
UC ANR's Fire Network will also enhance communication.
“The network will increase the flow of information to improve how we conduct academic research, strengthen local efforts by sharing relevant data and ideas, create and build capacity for different management techniques and tools, and facilitate new research and programming related to diverse facets of fire in California,” said Deanne Meyer, UC ANR interim associate vice president.
Before becoming a UCCE fire advisor, Quinn-Davidson worked on fire projects for five years as a UCCE staff research associate. Since 2009, she has served as director of the Northern California Prescribed Fire Council. Prior to joining UC Cooperative Extension, she was a research assistant in the Wildland Fire Laboratory at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt and worked on stream restoration for Bioengineering Associates, Inc.
She earned a master's degree in social science, environment & community from Cal Poly Humboldt and a bachelor's degree in conservation and resource studies from UC Berkeley.
Quinn-Davidson, who has published more than 70 peer-reviewed and popular articles, will be based in Humboldt County. Follow her on Twitter @lenyaqd.
- Author: Hanif Houston
Researchers seek insight on emerging controlled environment agriculture trends
Greenhouse operators are encouraged to participate in the 2023 State of Controlled Environment Agriculture survey. IUNU, a technology company that specializes in AI and computer vision solutions for the agriculture industry, and the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources are conducting the survey to gain insights on emerging trends and challenges to share with the controlled environment agriculture industry.
The survey takes approximately 25 minutes to complete. All growers using CEA – greenhouse, high tunnel or indoor – are invited to participate. All data collected is confidential and shared only as anonymous trends. No identifying information is ever shared. Growers who participate will get early access to the survey results report and will get access to an exclusive webinar to discuss the results with the authors of the report.
The fourth State of CEA Survey can be completed at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/FVXJSY9.
The report, first released in 2016, was formerly titled “State of Indoor Farming” and managed by Artemis, which was acquired by IUNU in 2021.
This year, IUNU has expanded the survey to include the different leading segments of the controlled environment agriculture industry: greenhouse fruit and vegetable, and greenhouse ornamental production.
UC ANR's VINE agrifood technology innovation program, Global Controlled Environment Agriculture Consortium (GCEAC), and UC Davis-led AI Institute for Next Generation Food Systems (AIFS) are collaborating on the report.
“An industry-led, market-driven approach to guiding innovation priorities and investments is critical as we consider the future of indoor farming,” said Gabe Youtsey, UC ANR chief innovation officer and co-founder of The VINE. “I'm thrilled to partner with IUNU on the development of this State of CEA report with our UC innovation teams from The VINE, GCEAC and AIFS to create a robust state of CEA report that will guide our CEA open innovation priorities this year.”
Since the survey launched in 2016, more than 500 growers have participated in the survey and more than 2 million people have downloaded the report. The industry reports have become one of the most widely circulated and respected sources of industry data.
"This report is a trusted resource for the industry and we're thrilled to bring it back in an expanded capacity,” Allison Kopf, IUNU chief growth officer, said. “Over the past year, we've seen a swell of news around our industry. This report will go deeper into those stories and share data on how companies are performing, big market opportunities, and the real challenges growers are facing.”
Past CEA reports are available for download at https://artemisag.com/guides_reports.
About IUNU
Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Seattle, IUNU aims to close the loop in greenhouse autonomy and is focused on being the world's leading controlled environment specialist. IUNU's flagship platform LUNA combines software with a variety of high-definition cameras – both fixed and mobile – and environmental sensors to keep track of the minutiae of plant growth and health in indoor ag settings. LUNA's goal is to turn commercial greenhouses into precise, predictable, demand-based manufacturers that optimize yield, labor and product quality. www.IUNU.com
About The VINE by UC ANR
The VINE is California's agriculture, food and biotech innovation network powered by the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources. We believe that the state's continued prosperity rests on creation of more productive, sustainable and equitable food systems. Every day, we harness the power of open innovation to connect entrepreneurs to a broad network of public and private sector resources to enable them to grow and scale globally, build collaborations that catalyze the development of climate-smart technology-based solutions to solve industry challenges, and grow regional capacity to support global innovation as an economic opportunity – because our future, and the nation's, depends on it.
The Global Controlled Environment Agriculture Consortium – an initiative of The VINE – seeks to build a worldwide ecosystem to bring technology to market that addresses global challenges in food, health and sustainability. GCEAC is an open innovation partnership between industry, university and government sectors in the United States and The Netherlands, led from California.
/h3>- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Richard Rosenberg, former chairman and CEO of the Bank of America, died Friday, March 3. He was 92. When Rosenberg retired from BofA in 1996, the bank honored him by endowing the Rosenberg International Forum on Water Policy at UC Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Glenda Humiston, University of California vice president for agriculture and natural resources:
“Dick Rosenberg is well-known for his generous gifts to the University of California and to the Bay Area. With his Bank of America endowment gift to UC Agriculture and Natural Resources to create the Rosenberg International Forum on Water Policy, he has had the most far-reaching and profound impact. Over the years, Dick developed an understanding of the complex and contentious water issues in California and across the globe. His intent in bringing together scientists and policymakers from around the world to discuss water management was to reduce conflicts surrounding this critical resource. While we continue to face challenges of water scarcity and water quality, we are able to solve some issues by sharing our knowledge and experiences. For years to come, the global community will benefit from Dick Rosenberg's foresight to fund the International Forum on Water Policy.”
Soroosh Sorooshian, UC Irvine Distinguished Professor and director of the Center for Hydrometeorology and Remote Sensing and chair of the UC ANR Rosenberg International Forum on Water Policy:
“Mr. Richard Rosenberg was passionate about the well-being of the environment in addition to his responsibilities managing one of the largest financial institutions in the world. His concern about water resources scarcity and international water conflicts led to the establishment of the UC ANR Rosenberg International Forum for Water Policy with an endowment gift from the Bank of America to honor Dick's vision. It is a great honor for the forum to carry the vision of Mr. Rosenberg as a lasting legacy to his commitment to issues related to international water policy.”
Henry Vaux, Jr., UC Riverside Professor Emeritus, UC ANR Associate Vice President Emeritus, and Founding Chair of Rosenberg International Forum on Water Policy
Richard Rosenberg made many contributions to the well-being of all Californians. Among those was the rallying of the business community to the cause of managing an earlier severe drought that began in the late 1980s. This expression of his long term-interests in the management of water resources led the Board of the Bank of American to establish the Rosenberg International Forum on Water Policy at the University of California in his honor. Over the years, that Forum has met at 10 locations around the world, often with Rosenberg himself in attendance. The work of the Forum has influenced water policy in countries ranging from Australia to Jordan. As a founding chair of the Forum, I can attest to the crucial role that he played in guiding the establishment of the institution and ensuring its success over two and a half decades. I will miss his wise counsel, sharp insights on almost everything and his great sense of humor. I send my condolences and best wishes to his wife, Barbara, and his family.
About the Rosenberg International Forum on Water Policy
The Rosenberg International Forum on Water Policy originated in 1996 with an endowment gift from the Bank of America to the University of California. The purpose of the gift was to support a water policy forum in honor of then-retiring Bank Chair and Chief Executive Officer Richard Rosenberg. Rosenberg had a long-term interest in water resources and was credited with rallying the California business community to address the causes and impacts of the drought of 1987-1992.
The Rosenberg Forum is held every other year in different locations around the world. Participation is limited to 50 water scholars and senior water managers. Interactive discussions about the science of water management and different experiences in water management around the globe are at the heart of the forum.
The first forum was held in San Francisco in 1997, followed by gatherings in Barcelona, Spain; Canberra, Australia; Ankara, Turkey; Banff, Canada; Zaragoza, Spain; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Aqaba, Jordan; and Panama City, Panama. The last forum was held in San Jose, California, in 2018 and has been on hiatus due to the pandemic.
The overarching theme of the Rosenberg Forum is "reducing conflict in the management of water resources." Specific sub-themes are chosen by an advisory committee for each individual forum. The primary objective is to facilitate the exchange of information and experience in the management of water resources.
The problems of managing water are surprisingly common around the world. However, approaches and solutions may differ depending on the available financial resources as well as social and cultural norms. Discussions of alternative approaches and identification of what works and what doesn't are intended to aid in devising more effective and efficient water-management schemes.
- Author: Hanif Houston, The VINE
University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) has been awarded a $1 million UC Climate Action Innovation & Entrepreneurship grant for its VINE Climate Smart Agrifood Innovation Program. The VINE, a UC ANR program advancing sustainable agriculture and food innovation, will use the grant to develop new technologies and techniques that help California farmers adapt to climate change.
"Expanded programming from The VINE will improve UC ANR's overall ability to serve our mission of improving the lives of all Californians," said Glenda Humiston, UC vice president for agriculture and natural resources.
California's agricultural sector is the largest in the United States, producing over 400 crops that account for 25% of the nation's food production and 40% of its fruits, vegetables and tree nuts.
However, climate change is expected to have a significant impact on the productivity and resilience of California's working landscapes. Higher temperatures and changing precipitation patterns are projected to increase water demand for crops and create a more limited growing season that will produce lower yields in some crops. Additionally, climate change may increase weed growth and insect damage, leading to higher uses of herbicides and pesticides.
“We are thrilled to receive the UC Climate Action Innovation & Entrepreneurship Award,” said Gabe Youtsey, UC ANR's chief innovation officer. “With this grant, we will be able to support even more entrepreneurs and innovators in developing climate-resilient solutions for California's agriculture and food systems."
"Our ultimate goal is to build a bioeconomy in California's food valleys that rivals Silicon Valley in size and importance to the future U.S. economy, while also addressing urgent climate crises and advancing equity for underserved populations," Youtsey said.
The VINE Climate Smart Agrifood Innovation Program is designed to identify, commercialize, and scale science and technology breakthroughs that make food production more sustainable. The VINE team has already supported entrepreneurs in the areas of controlled environment agriculture, precision agriculture, robotics, biologicals, climate-resilient crops, livestock health, and other topics that have direct or indirect mitigating effects on climate change.
The UC Climate Action grant will enable The VINE program to expand its support for startups and entrepreneurs developing climate-resilient solutions for California's food system. The program will include the creation of a VINE Climate Solutions Seed Fund, which will provide project support for testing, trialing and demonstrating agrifood technology products or services to support commercial expansion.
The VINE Navigator Service will be expanded to provide matchmaking, mentoring, talent identification, finance connections and technical assistance to entrepreneurs from UC campuses, across California, or startups around the globe that have climate solutions in the agrifood sector.
An example of this work is farm-ng, a farm robotics start-up based in Watsonville that The VINE has been advising. With the networking opportunities facilitated by The VINE, farm-ng was able to secure 20 new customers, generating an estimated $500,000 in revenue. The VINE's involvement also enabled farm-ng to establish a professional manufacturing facility and employ local talent from disadvantaged communities.
The UC Climate Action award is part of a historic $185 million partnership between UC and the state of California to tackle the climate crisis, from developing new methods for carbon capture to creating innovative coping strategies for drought, wildfire and other impacts of a warming planet.
The VINE
The VINE program aims to create a next-generation agrifood technology bioeconomy in California's food valleys to promote sustainable economic growth, address climate crises, and advance equity for underserved regions and populations. The VINE team will work closely with local and regional partners to identify key industry-driven gaps and opportunities across the food system and provide critical support to startups and entrepreneurs developing new solutions for climate mitigation and adaptation.
For more information, please visit The VINE website: thevine.io.