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.

University of California Cooperative Extension has recently expanded their team of fire advisors and staff. This new group of UCCE fire professionals is interested in learning about the concerns of the communities that UCCE serves, as well as the natural resource professionals already working to address these issues.

Results from this survey will enhance the team's ability to partner with residents, landowners, agencies, academics, and other organizations to reduce California's vulnerability to wildfires. These new advisors will also share survey results with UCCE colleagues throughout the state, who already provide important fire-related programming across diverse landscapes and audiences.

"Wildfires will continue to affect all Californians, either directly or indirectly," said Katie Low, UCCE statewide fire coordinator. "It's invaluable to have the input of as many people as possible to guide the development of our wildfire-related extension programs, so that they can provide the most useful resources and information to communities across California."

The survey asks questions about topics such as:

• Gaps within existing educational programming and resources
• Challenges community members are facing in addressing wildfire risk
• Empowerment of communities to make property management decisions and prepare for wildfire
• Acceptability of prescribed fire and other fuels treatments

By participating in this study, you can choose to enter a drawing to win one of fifty $20 VISA gift cards.

To take the online survey, please visit https://bit.ly/UCCE_Fire_Survey.

This research is being led by a team of new UCCE fire advisors and staff. If you have any questions about this survey, please contact the fire/forestry professionals involved in this survey effort:

• Luca Carmignani, UCCE fire advisor for Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Diego counties, carmignani@ucanr.edu
• Alison Deak, UCCE fire advisor for Fresno, Madera, and Mariposa counties, aldeak@ucanr.edu
• Katie Low, UCCE fire academic coordinator for Nevada and Placer counties, katlow@ucanr.edu
• Barb Satink Wolfson, UCCE fire advisor for Monterey, San Benito, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz counties, bsatinkwolfson@ucanr.edu
• Ryan Tompkins, UCCE forestry advisor for Plumas, Sierra, and Lassen counties, retompkins@ucanr.edu

For more information about wildfire-related programming from University of California Cooperative Extension, please visit https://ucanr.edu/sites/fire/ or the Facebook page https://bit.ly/fireSolutions.

For those who missed it and for those who missed catching all the fine and coarse details of the hybrid zoom/in-person meeting on avocado varieties and rootstocks, here it is - the Shoot.  Also, there is a survey on avocado rootstocks that a group of researchers headed by Patricia Manosalva at UC Riverside would like you to complete in order to help direct their breeding program.

 

California Avocado Growers Seminars Series 2022

 

From the:

August 17

Live Seminar and Hybrid Zoom

Avocado Varieties Panel Discussion

A big thank you to our Speakers

Speakers:

 

Click here for the August Seminar Recording

 

 

Also tell us about your rootstock breeding interests:

 

https://surveys.ucanr.edu/survey.cfm?surveynumber=38885

 

 

Several university weed scientists from around the U.S. (Clemson, Cornell, UC Davis, Florida, Michigan State, Rutgers, Arkansas) have developed a survey as part of a Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI) planning grant (SC-2021-07806 DEVELOPING A NATIONAL TEAM TO OPTIMIZE NON-HERBICIDE WEED MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES IN COLE AND LEAFY GREEN CROPS). We would appreciate if you could share it with your constituents and cooperators (growers, crop consultants, extension personnel, industry partners) via newsletters, email blasts or other outreach efforts.

Weed management in vegetables can be difficult due to a shrinking labor pool, which is becoming more costly to source, and a lack of effective herbicides. Research and extension efforts must focus on integrating novel weed technology into current crop production systems. Autonomous and semi-autonomous robotic weed control technology has been implemented by some vegetable growers, mainly in the Western US, but is not universally available to or adapted by many producers. This survey is designed to new tools of interest (e.g. precision sprayers or cultivators, electrical weeders, drones, etc.) for managing weeds in cole crop and leafy green systems as well as the environmental, physical and economic barriers to adoption. The results of this survey will benefit vegetable growers by enabling the research team to develop relevant and realistic research efforts informed by the needs of and constraints faced by our local stakeholders. Specifically, we will use survey data to develop a multi-regional USDA grant proposal to bring grower-specified technology to each our states for evaluation and demonstration under a variety of commercial conditions and provide growers with an economic assessment of their performance relative to current best management practices.

** WE NEED YOUR INPUT! **

The survey is voluntary and anonymous. All replies will be de-identified. It should not take very long to complete. The link is below.

https://clemson.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1IfwcgkAXC9i6h0

If you have questions, please contact Lynn Sosnoskie, Assistant Professor, Weed Ecology and Management for Specialty Crops, Cornell AgriTech, lms438@cornell.edu.