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Posts Tagged: The VINE
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
Lawn-pocalypse! Surviving Drought
Ah, summer! The season of sunburns, pool parties, and… lawn droughts. If your once lush, green carpet now looks like a crunchy brown doormat, you're not alone. Let's dive into why your yard is staging a dramatic death scene and what you can do to...
Bermuda grass and weeds overtaking drought stressed turf grass.
Innovators in academia gear up for VINE Build workshops
A series of VINE Build workshops aimed at equipping academic innovators with essential pathways to bring new inventions to market is being sponsored by The VINE, an initiative of University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR), in collaboration with Farmhand Ventures. These workshops are designed to empower participants with the knowledge and tools necessary to navigate the complex landscape of technology commercialization.
"These workshops represent a unique opportunity for academic innovators to gain invaluable insights into the commercialization process," said Gabe Youtsey, UC ANR chief innovation officer and founder of the VINE. "By bridging the gap between academia and industry, we aim to catalyze innovation and propel advancements in technology and agriculture so we can enjoy the benefits sooner."
The half-day sessions will explore various aspects of commercialization as a mechanism for technology transfer. Led by industry experts, the workshops will cover user-centered design principles, inclusive innovation basics, the role of commercialization in technology translation, commercialization strategies, intellectual property licensing, transitioning from academia to business, and the differences between non-dilutive and dilutive funding.
"For academics looking to make a real impact, these workshops provide an invaluable platform," said Connie Bowen, co-founder and managing partner of Farmhand Ventures. "By participating in these sessions, innovators have the opportunity to turn their great ideas into tangible products that address the big challenges facing our industry today."
People involved in applied food and agriculture research – including professors, graduate students, undergraduate students and others – are encouraged to participate.
The workshops will be held across various locations in California on the following dates:
- Fresno: May 9, 8:30 a.m. - 2 p.m., Smittcamp Alumni Center, Fresno State
- San Diego: May 23, 8:30 a.m. - 2 p.m., Salk Institute Foyer, San Diego
- Davis: May 29, 8:30 a.m. - 2 p.m Physical Sciences and Engineering Library, Conference Room, UC Davis
- Santa Cruz: Date and location to be determined.
For more information and to register for the workshops, please visit: https://bit.ly/vine-build-workshop
Sponsorships available until Feb. 16 for agtech companies to participate at AgroBaja 2024
Ag tech companies that would like to participate in AgroBaja may apply for sponsorship. FIRA USA attendees observe a field demonstration in 2022.
The VINE at UC ANR partners with GO-Biz and CDFA to subsidize agtech companies
Agricultural technology companies in California are eligible for sponsorships to participate in the upcoming AgroBaja 2024, the leading agricultural technology event taking place in Mexicali, Mexico, on March 7-9. Applications will be accepted until Feb. 16 by The VINE, an initiative at the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, in partnership with the California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) and the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
This effort is part of a broader initiative to encourage the growth and development of the agtech sector, providing a stage for California businesses to share their innovative technologies and services with the international community. The collaboration highlights a shared commitment to advancing California's position in the global agtech landscape.
To encourage participation, The VINE and UC ANR are extending a robust support package to attendees, which includes:
- Reduced participation fees: Offering subsidized registration costs ranging from $250 to $500, enabling a wider array of companies to engage.
- Hotel accommodations: Providing complimentary hotel stays to alleviate logistical challenges for participants.
- Exhibition space: Allocating a dedicated pavilion area for companies to showcase their technologies and services.
- Logistical support: Offering assistance with local transportation and equipment logistics.
"This initiative represents a significant step towards enhancing the global competitiveness of California's agtech industry," said Gabe Youtsey, chief innovation officer at UC ANR and co-founder of The VINE. "By reducing financial barriers, we are opening doors for innovative companies to showcase their solutions, connect with international stakeholders and pave the way for future collaborations. We believe that our support will ignite new opportunities for growth and innovation in the agricultural sector."
Feb. 16 is the deadline to apply. For application details and more information about AgroBaja 2024, please visit https://bit.ly/CA-Agrobaja-Delegation.
About The VINE:
The VINE, an initiative of University of California, Agriculture and Natural Resources, is California's agriculture, food and biotech innovation network. Our mission is 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. We connect entrepreneurs to a vast network of public and private sector resources, build collaborations that accelerate technology solutions to solve industry challenges, and grow regional capacity to support global innovation as an economic opportunity.
The Shadow Knows, But What Does It Know?
Find beauty not only in the thing itself but in the pattern of the shadows, the light and dark which that thing provides.---JunichiroTanizaki (1886-1965), Japanese author. The shadow knows, but what does it know? It knows to follow. It follows...
The Gulf Fritillary, a brightly colored orange and black butterfly, casts a distinctive shadow. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Up and away...the butterfly and the shadow begin to vanish. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
