Items Tagged with 'Western Growers Center for Innovation and Technology'

As farmers begin to embrace more agtech, worker protection laws remain a hurdle, along with developing the workforce needed to operate and maintain complex new machinery.

Technology that automates weeding, harvesting or other farm work is not taking jobs away from humans. Rather, it’s helping bridge the gap between work that needs to be done and a labor force that isn’t sufficient, a panel of ag technology leaders said during the Agri-Pulse Summit in Sacramento Monday.

Western Growers plans to work with the California Department of Food and Agriculture on a statewide initiative to equip “a future workforce with the skills and knowledge to navigate emerging on-farm technology,” the organization recently announced.

The intersection of increasing labor shortages, higher pay for agricultural workers, and new attention to employee safety is highlighting efforts to bring labor-saving technologies to specialty crop fields.

Agtech’s future is in CA * ‘Sense of urgency’ for passing COVID deal * Familiar face to spearhead climate push

Midwestern ag has carried the bulk of agtech investment. But that is starting to change.