Posts Tagged: FOOD IT

Partners unveil first on-farm robotics incubators

Opening in Salinas and Merced in 2025, Reservoir Farms will drive ag innovations in automation robotics

The Reservoir, a nonprofit building tech incubators across California, and partners Western Growers Association, University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, Merced College, Hartnell College and venture capital firm HawkTower have announced the creation of the first-ever on-farm robotics incubators, Reservoir Farms.

Unveiled during a press conference at the FIRA USA 2024 robotics conference in Woodland, Reservoir Farms are set to open in the Central and Salinas Valleys in early 2025. This pioneering initiative significantly shifts how agricultural technology innovates through real-world testing environments, world-class resources and critical industry partnerships.

California agriculture faces critical challenges, including labor availability and cost, import competition, increased regulation, water scarcity, and climate-related challenges, including extreme weather. These challenges have spurred significant advancements in agricultural precision, automation, mechanization, and robotics in recent years.

Despite advancements, early-stage agtech projects lack critical ecosystem support, like connecting directly with growers, testing and validating their solutions, and accessing dedicated shop space and farmland. These gaps hinder capital efficiency and the development of critical solutions that meet the agricultural sector's needs.

Initial projects at the incubators will focus on early-stage agricultural innovations in automation and robotics, including rovers and drones, that accelerate the development of breakthrough solutions to the opportunities and imperatives faced by California farms producing high-value specialty crops, such as labor shortages, profitability, and adopting climate-smart technologies.

Western Growers Association, a key advocate for advancing agricultural innovation, will provide financial and operational support as an anchor partner.

Anchor educational partners like UC ANR, Hartnell College, and Merced College will play a crucial role in innovation and workforce development, preparing the next generation of agricultural researchers, professionals, and innovators to drive the future of farming in California.

HawkTower, a venture capital firm investing in early-stage startups developing breakthrough innovations for California's environmental and industrial imperatives, is also an anchor partner.

“The launch of Reservoir Farms is a critical step forward in ensuring the future resilience of California's agriculture and across the Central Coast and Central Valley,” said Danny Bernstein, CEO of the Reservoir and managing partner of HawkTower. “By placing incubators directly on the farm, we enable innovators to test, iterate, and scale solutions in real-world conditions as a more immediate path to advance farming communities.”

A new model to incubate agtech innovation

The idea for Reservoir Farms emerged from extensive industry research and consultations with over 50 organizations in the specialty crop sector. Key insights uncovered critical gaps in startups' access to real-world testing environments, shop space, and direct relationships with growers – factors severely hindered capital efficiency and posed a formidable barrier to innovation.

“Our goal is to eliminate the friction points that have historically slowed down the development of new agtech solutions,” said Walt Duflock, senior vice president of innovation at Western Growers Association. “Reservoir Farms offers a new model, where startups can work side-by-side with growers to test their technologies, iterate in a low-stakes environment, and build scalable solutions to improve agriculture's operations.”

Initiative to support thriving agtech ecosystem and job creation

The Reservoir Farms initiative also reflects a broad-based collaboration between key educational institutions, industry players, and local communities to ensure the next generation of agricultural professionals is equipped with the skills needed to support the region's growing agtech sector.

Supporting partners include Central Coast Small Business Development Center (SBDC), Communities Organized for Relational Power in Action (COPA), Digital NEST, Farmhand Ventures, Merced County Farm Bureau, Milano Technical Group, Monterey Bay DART (Drone Automation & Robotics Technology), Monterey Bay Economic Partnership, Monterey County Farm Bureau, Tesserakt Ventures, and The VINE.

“As robotics and automation become more integral to California agriculture, it's essential to have facilities like Reservoir Farms embedded within the farming community,” said Gabriel Youtsey, chief innovation officer at UC ANR. “By bridging the gap between lab-based research and real-world application and accelerating tech transfer, Reservoir Farms can help build the workforce and technology needed to address the critical challenges on the farm, from labor shortages to climate change.”

Focus on specialized services and real-world testing in California's agricultural heartland

Reservoir Farms will open its first two locations in Salinas Valley and Merced in the first quarter of 2025. Participants can lease testing fields and shop space without the burden of multi-year leases, giving them the flexibility needed to scale. The incubators will offer fully equipped R&D workshops, secure storage for expensive equipment, and customized, pre-planted specialty crop fields for testing.

These facilities will be complemented by Reservoir Farms' co-working spaces, meeting rooms, and a robust demo day schedule designed to connect startups with growers, investors, and other key stakeholders.

In addition, the Western Growers Association's validation process will provide startups with a quantitative “scorecard” that offers crucial metrics on scalability, efficacy, and financial viability. This validation, combined with UC ANR's field testing, will help startups refine their products and receive a critical stamp of approval that builds trust with growers and ensures a smoother path to commercialization.

Media Contact:

Jennifer Goldston
AgTech PR for the Reservoir
816-260-0040
jennifer@agtechpr.com

UC Master Gardeners equip Orange County’s Spanish-speaking community to garden on a budget

Since joining the University of California Master Gardeners of Orange County in 2022, Ana Peeks has been on a mission to share all that gardening has to offer, especially for the Latino community in her neighborhood.

“We've got to empower our Spanish-speaking community. They're one of the most vulnerable when it comes to food insecurity,” said Peeks. In partnership with Heather Hafner, a fellow UC Master Gardener, and the First Christian Church of Orange in Orange County, Peeks organized an opportunity for community members to learn introductory gardening in Spanish.

Every Tuesday for six consecutive weeks, 14 participants gathered in a conference room at the church. The course uses Seed to Supper, a program that was developed by Oregon State University Extension to teach food insecure communities how to grow their own food on a budget.

“The great thing about the Master Gardener community is that it stretches across the entire country, and we are able to draw upon fantastic programs and curricula from our partner organizations,” said Randy Musser, UC Master Gardener program coordinator for Orange County. UC Master Gardeners are supported statewide by UC Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Hafner, who has waited for the Seed to Supper program to be available for public use since 2019, completed the required facilitator training by OSU and was given access to the curriculum earlier this year. After learning that Peeks, a first-year UC Master Gardener, wanted to teach gardening to her church community but wasn't sure how to get started, Hafner jumped at the chance to collaborate.

Currently available in English and Spanish, the Seed to Supper curriculum is also customizable, said LeAnn Locher, OSU Master Gardener outreach coordinator.

“Even though it was created based on Oregon's climate, you can certainly adjust the curriculum to suit other growing conditions, including Southern California,” Locher added.

Together, Peeks and Hafner modified the program to suit the needs of the Orange County community, particularly which vegetables to plant during the different seasons.

Over the six weeks, the participants learned about topics such as soil health, fertilization and how to seed plants. The Great Park, a public park in Irvine, donated thousands of seed packets for a variety of fruits and vegetables.

Although she is always encouraging participants to expand their palates by growing new and different fruits and vegetables, Peeks also understands the importance of growing food that they typically consume and are familiar with. The participants provided a list of seasonal vegetables that they wanted to grow, mostly jalapeños, tomatoes, squash, melon and lettuce.

Because space in the home is a limitation for many, the course included lessons on vertical versus horizontal planting, as well as container gardening.

Program organizers removed barriers to participation

Several of the participants shared that the course has had an impact on their family. “I have more confidence that l can cook with what I learned from the course. I now know that I have to make good food choices for my family,” said Martha Montiel.

In addition to cooking the food they grow, participants said that gardening has created an opportunity to unite family and friends.

During class, Peeks instructs in Spanish and Hafner offers support in English, which Peeks then translates. While language is a barrier that both UC Master Gardeners were prepared to address, childcare was also top of mind. During class, on the opposite side of the conference room, you will see children watching a movie so their mothers, a majority of the participants, can be fully engaged in Seed to Supper.

Peeks was also mindful about transportation to and from class. Since many of the participants were already commuting to First Christian Church of Orange on Tuesdays for their food distribution program, it was convenient to host the class before the food distribution center opened to the public.

After receiving their certificates of completion, Peeks said she observed participants exchange vegetable planting experiences and give regular updates on their crop's progress. “Some participants are sharing their crops, gardening experiences and what they have learned with their friends and neighbors, too,” Peeks added.

Like Montiel, Amy Correa said that after taking the course, she assesses food before she buys it. “I look at the produce, read the labels, see if it's organic and where it was grown,” said Correa, adding that the course has motivated her to make healthier choices for her and her family.

One of the challenges that remains for Peeks and Hafner, however, is the cost of supplies. Hafner and her husband have donated large pots and soil to help participants get their gardens started, but both UC Master Gardeners envision participants having access to more tools like gloves, trowels, pots of various sizes and pruning shears.

“Extending information and sharing knowledge is the most important thing about these classes. But our impact can be so much greater when we're able to provide everything they need to get started. This includes tools,” Hafner said, noting that doing so aligns with their effort to remove barriers that hinder a participant's success in the program.

If you would like to donate to the UC Master Gardeners of Orange County, please do so here: https://donate.ucanr.edu/?program=UC_Master_Gardener_Program&county=Orange.

UC ANR project to help underserved farmers in SoCal with land ownership

San Diego County has more than 5,000 small farms but less than 2% are operated or owned by Black, indigenous, or people of color – including those of Asian, Hispanic or Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander descent, according to the 2022 Ag Census.

The reasons vary, but historically, multiple marginalized communities of color have not received the same opportunities or support for land ownership or management as their white counterparts.    

Chandra Richards, University of California Cooperative Extension land equity academic coordinator for the Southern California region, is identifying barriers to equity when it comes to addressing land access, tenure, management and opportunities to increase the diversity of land managers and land ownership in the region.

Richards is the principal investigator for the Climate Action and Land Equity (CALE) project administered through UC Agriculture and Natural Resources and funded by the Department of Conservation. CALE aims to engage historically underrepresented communities in coalition building, capacity assessment and climate action planning. CALE elevates knowledge about the challenges and opportunities to land access and management for a diversity of land managers.

Among the challenges is land tenure, an established agreement between a landowner and tenant, outlining the purpose and use of the land over a period of time. However, when landowners decide to sell their land, these agreements are at risk of being null and void, forcing the tenants to renegotiate or discontinue their operation.

Land tenure leases for under five years are considered short-term, which are common in Southern California. For small, new and under-resourced farmers, landowner turnover doesn't just threaten their business plan but their livelihood.

For small farmer Byron Nkhoma, who leases land in Ramona to grow leafy greens and vegetables, the possibility of losing land is a constant worry. Since 2015, Nkhoma and his wife, Joyce, have been renting four of 20 acres to establish Hukama Produce. Over nine years, they have had two landowners. Before the land was sold to his current landowner, Nkhoma said he considered buying land, but the process proved more challenging than he thought.

“What it takes for someone like Byron to find a place to farm and establish a food system is an extremely involved process,” said Richards. “It's not just learning how to obtain land, it's also about managing that land so it can be used for years and generations to come.”

Originally from Zimbabwe, Nkhoma is adamant about taking care of the land he leases and has applied knowledge from his home to ensure resilience. Hukama Produce prides itself in improving environmental health through sustainable farming practices such as compost and mulch application, drip irrigation and low till. An important pillar of the CALE project includes building capacity and providing technical assistance toward land conservation and climate resiliency.

In addition to land tenure, money and time are stressors for small farmers. When they are not working on the farm, Nkhoma and his wife are researching and applying for grants to improve their soils and protect their crops from pests. However, many grants for which Hukama Produce is eligible often have pressing deadlines that demand their immediate attention – cutting into valuable time that could be spent tending to the land or selling at farmer's markets.

Two of Hukama's goals include building and sustaining trust in the market and growing their operation. By partnering with Richards, Hukama Produce has direct access to technical assistance focused on grant writing and conservation to increase ecosystem health and build tenure.

Agricultural land tenure is the arrangement, rights, and responsibilities centered around use, management, and ownership of agricultural land and resources. Building land tenure means that farmers have a stable place to grow their crops and build environmental sustainability without risk of having to move their operations.

While the CALE project boosts support for historically underserved community members hoping to own or manage land, it prioritizes land use for food production as a reinvestment into the greater community.

Eager to bring realities like Nhkoma's to light, Richards partnered with Keith Nathaniel, UCCE director for Los Angeles County, who co-coordinated the Western Extension Leadership Development conference held in San Diego the week of Sept. 23-27. WELD unites Cooperative Extension faculty, agents, advisors, educators and specialists from the western region of the United States for a two-year leadership development program.

While in San Diego, WELD participants joined Richards for a tour of Hukama Produce and learned directly from Nkhoma about opportunities and threats as a small farmer. The tour ended with participants in a circle, sharing how their professional roles can offer support to Hukama Produce and other small farms.

“We grow food so that we can feed the community,” said Nkhoma. “When we feed others, we build relationships. That's what ‘hukama' means – to grow relationships.”

If you operate or know of a small farm in Southern California and would like to be involved with or receive regular updates about the CALE project, please contact Chandra Richards at cmrichards@ucanr.edu.

If you are interested in applying for the Land Equity Project Manager position, please visit https://ucanr.edu/About/Jobs/?jobnum=2894 for details. 

UC Master Gardeners of Imperial County grow from Mexican, Latino roots

First program of its kind in area establishes free seed library, community garden

One of the many things that make University of California Cooperative Extension in Imperial County unique is its close proximity to the U.S.-Mexico border. Its geographic location, with a border town called “La Frontera” by locals, infuses the UC Master Gardener Program in this area with intercultural knowledge.

In 2022, UCCE launched its first UC Master Gardener Program in the county and has maintained a cohort of 20 participants since then. Kristian Salgado, the program's first coordinator, said the volunteers offer a range of skills to the gardening community.

“The clientele that our volunteers serve tend to be individuals who have gained their gardening knowledge and experience from tending to plants in their homeland of Mexico,” said Salgado. The volunteer UC Master Gardeners of Imperial County reflect the region's predominantly Latino demographic, making it easier for volunteers to connect with their clientele.

“Nopales, chiles, citrus…residents in this region know how to take care of these plants. They've done it all their life. But when you have a program like the UC Master Gardener Program, you can use science to explain why their practices worked all these years,” said Salgado.

According to Salgado, the UC Master Gardener Program can be perceived as too academic for some residents. “It's not a bad thing, but I had to digest the information myself, even the UC Master Gardeners, and figure out how to deliver it in a way that was relevant to everyone,” she added.

As a starting point, Salgado used English and Spanish materials from neighboring counties like “A Garden of Words/Un jardín de palabras”, developed by the UC Master Gardener Program of Los Angeles County.

One method that helped engage volunteers and residents during classes was the use of culturally significant seeds like chiltepin peppers – seeds that Salgado deems a “must-have” if you are a gardener of Mexican heritage.

“When we focused on plant propagation, the volunteers that I worked with agreed that we should propagate plants that our residents were familiar with and use in their everyday cooking,” Salgado explained.

This same approach was employed at the free seed library and demonstration garden – both established and maintained by the UC Master Gardener volunteers at the City of Imperial Public Library. During the warm season you can find Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.), known to make agua de jamaica, in the seed library – something you won't easily find in grocery stores. In the demonstration garden during the summer, you'll notice a variety of peppers such as chile güero, jalapeño, serrano and habanero.

As the UC Master Gardener coordinator for Imperial County for the last two years, Salgado has focused her leadership on establishing a program that would generate opportunities for UC Master Gardener volunteers to create projects that are reflective of their interests, align with the program's mission and serve all residents in the county. The demonstration garden, which is the first community garden established in the city of Imperial, is an outcome of Salgado's vision.

UC Master Gardener Program reflects, connects community

Eliza Barajas, UC Master Gardener of Imperial County, who works at the library during the week and has witnessed the impact of the garden, said it gives her a sense of pride. “I moved to the [Imperial] Valley a year ago and I was looking for a way to connect with the community. I couldn't have asked for a better program to do that, and I'm so proud to say that I'm a part of the very first cohort in Imperial County,” Barajas shared.

Salgado praised Barajas for her enthusiasm in the program and noted her excellent ability to speak Spanish. “I love the way Eliza flows from English to Spanish. It's effortless! And it comes in handy when we're doing community events and need to cater to our Spanish and English speakers,” said Salgado.

Since the program came to fruition, Salgado has played a pivotal role in the program's progress. Reflecting on why she accepted the role of UC Master Gardener coordinator for Imperial County, Salgado said that the role was a culmination of everything she studied in school and cares deeply about.

While attending California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, Salgado earned a master's degree in social science focused on the environment and community. She studied the intersections of food insecurity, the agricultural industry and health inequities, and how they specifically impact the Latino community.

Growing up and currently living in Calexico, Salgado questions why her community is food insecure. “Imperial is the ‘salad bowl' of the nation. We export a variety of fresh fruit and veggies all year long. How is it that our community doesn't have enough access to the healthy food it produces?” she asked.

Food security is one concern that Salgado envisions the UC Master Gardener Program addressing through its seed library, community garden and gardening classes.

Following graduate school, Salgado moved back home and joined former classmate and UCCE colleague, Chris Wong, in establishing the first farmer's market in Calexico in 2013. Wong encouraged Salgado to apply her new knowledge and skills at UCCE Imperial County, where she began working as a climate-smart agriculture community education specialist in 2019, supporting growers with grant writing.

“I realized early on that there was a lot of divestment in the community, and I didn't understand why,” she said, adding that she's still working to understand. Salgado's mother-in-law also continuously challenged her to think bigger. “My mom-in-law comes from the Chicano Movement. She's guided me into thinking more critically about the issues we face in our community and as Latinos.”

In September, Salgado began in a new role as the regional operations specialist for the UC Master Gardener Program statewide office, covering the Bay Area to Southern California regions. Salgado hopes to develop useful tools and resources to support coordinators' professional development, while integrating programmatic best practices centered on diversity, equity, inclusion and justice.  

“The UC Master Gardeners are full of knowledge, and my education was motivated by identifying how Latinos can get a seat at the table. UC Master Gardeners easily become trusted sources in the community, and for Imperial County, this is how they get a seat at the table,” said Salgado.

Butte County first graders enjoy ‘ricetastic’ day at local farm

UC Cooperative Extension advisors, educators join growers in showcasing rice production

When Tracy Schohr volunteered in her son's pre-K class a couple years ago, she was stunned to find out that only two of the 20 children had ever been around a tractor. And this was in the rural Butte County community of Gridley, in the heart of California's rice-growing region.

Seeking to introduce more young children to agriculture, Schohr – the University of California Cooperative Extension livestock and natural resources advisor for the area – and her friend Lisa Donati created an event to showcase rice farming.

After the debut of “Ricetastic Day” last year with about 140 students from Gridley in attendance, this year's event on Sept. 19 attracted more than 240 schoolchildren – this time from across south Butte County.

First graders from McKinley Primary School in Gridley, Manzanita Elementary School, Biggs Elementary School and Richvale Elementary School – along with their teachers and many family members – enjoyed hands-on experiences at Schohr's rice and cattle ranch.

“There's a dwindling population that produces the food that we eat across America, so how can we have more people know, appreciate and love agriculture if we don't give them that opportunity?” said Schohr. “That's what this day is really about – to teach them about rice, to teach them about their community, how healthy rice can be, and how the farming and ranching can also create habitat for wildlife. It's all-encompassing.”

Event stations share different aspects of rice

Schohr, who grew up on the family ranch in Gridley, remembers coming with her McKinley schoolmates for a visit. But those field trips had comprised only lunch and a quick “drive-through” tour of the historic farming operation.

For Ricetastic Day, however, Schohr organized – with generous help from local growers and community partners – a more comprehensive half-day of activities. After her brother, Ryan Schohr, welcomed the participants to the family farm, the students formed groups that were led by Gridley FFA youth on a rotation through a variety of stations.

At the milling station, Luis Espino, UCCE rice farming systems advisor, demonstrated how his mini mill machines remove the husks from rough rice to make brown rice, and then polish away the bran layer to make white rice. He had the children see and feel the difference as the rice moved through processing.

“I didn't even know brown rice existed!” exclaimed Elsie, a first grader at McKinley.

A native of Peru, Espino came to study agriculture through his lifelong fascination with biology and living things – and he said events like Ricetastic Day can inspire a similar passion in young people.

“It might spark their curiosity so that they might go into these areas of work in the future or have a career in agriculture, when they see that people do this for a living,” Espino said.

Ray Stogsdill, another McKinley school alumnus, returned to Gridley after college to pursue just such a career. A staff research associate in the lab of UC Davis professor Bruce Linquist, Stogsdill manages on-farm rice variety testing across the region. He volunteered to help Schohr with Ricetastic Day by talking about some of the heavy equipment and providing his perspective for the kids.

“They drive by the fields and they don't know what's out there,” he said. “This gives them a chance to know what they're driving by, so they can say, ‘We have rice here and this is how it works; this is how it grows.' It gives them an idea of what's going on around them.”

Where rice fits within a healthy diet was the focus for the CalFresh Healthy Living, UC Cooperative Extension team, comprising nutrition educators Sunshine Hawjj, Joanna Aguilar and Kenia Estrada, as well as community nutrition, health and food security advisor Veronica VanCleave-Hunt. They talked about how rice – like other grains in that vital food group – gives people energy, and then taught the students an energetic “ricetastic” movement activity.

“Because our program is part of UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, it's important to make the connection between where our food comes from and how it gets on our plate – especially with young kids, so that we can promote value for our local agriculture and our food systems,” VanCleave-Hunt explained.

Activities spark further conversations, learning about agriculture

With rice harvest late due to late planting in the spring, Eric Waterbury of Waterbury Farms was able to take some time to attend the event. Although his family has been growing rice for three generations, he said he appreciates opportunities for the broader community to see all aspects of his work – from the equipment to the processing.

“If the kids walk away from this with one thing, I hope it's that they realize every time they have a meal, somebody was out there working hard to provide that meal,” he said. “It wasn't just the person at the grocery store that provided it for them.”

Schohr added that Ricetastic Day was only possible through the support of the community. Butte County Farm Bureau and Natural Resources Conservation Service staff helped kids make art with colorful dyed rice; neighboring farmer Tinker Storm described how the harvester and “bankout” wagon work; and rice farmers Shelley Beck and Sue Orme read aloud “Daddy's Got Dirt: A California Rice Story,” a children's book written by a local rice grower.

With rice at the center of physical activities, arts and crafts, and science lessons for the day, the students learned a lot to take home.

“It's nice that the kids got these hands-on learning experiences,” said Ryan Schohr, “so they can go home tonight and, at the dinner table, talk about it with their parents or brothers and sisters, over dinner or over homework – and share what they learned here on the farm and about their community.”

Rebecca Christy, a first- and second-grade teacher at Biggs Elementary, said she is excited to return to the classroom and hear from her students about all that they learned during the day.

“Every morning right now I'm seeing the big trucks going by our school, and so I'll be able to point that out to them, ‘Where are they going? What are they doing?'” she said. “I can't wait to get back to school and let them tell me about all of this.”

One of her students, Ximena, was finishing her brownbag lunch as the group watched one of the Schohr Ranch harvesters rumble over the field. Despite enjoying a rice cake and a rice cracker earlier, she said her meal was missing one thing.

“Where is my rice, Miss Christy?” she said. “I want rice!”

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