Posts By: Hank Giclas
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2019 Organic Grower Summit Includes WG Leadership and WGCIT Startups
Tomorrow, the Organic Produce Network and California Certified Organic Farmers will kick off the 2019 Organic Grower Summit (OGS) in Monterey, California. The summit brings organic growers, producers and processors together for two days of education, information and networking opportunities with their production supply chain and support service providers. For the third year in a ...
WG Urges Leafy Green Growers to Take Industry Survey
Western Growers along with the Yuma Fresh Vegetable Association and the California Leafy Green Research Council are cooperating to help the Yuma Center for Excellence in Desert Agriculture develop a strategic plan for addressing the most needs of the leafy greens industry in the west. The plan development is dependent on hearing from a large ...
“Shark Tank” Meets the Fresh Produce Industry on Feb. 9
Western Growers will present six startup ag tech companies affiliated with the RoyseLaw Ag Tech Incubator at a free webinar scheduled for Feb. 9, from 10:00 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. Each startup will have ten minutes to pitch their ideas to……you! Yes, Western Growers’ members will be the audience and judges for this 90 minute ...
February 27 Webinar — New Requirements for Conservation Compliance
The most recent Farm Bill links conservation compliance to crop insurance. If you currently utilize or market crop insurance, it is critical to understand the new requirements. To help you do this, Western Growers will host a 90-minute webinar with experts from USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA), Farm Services Agency (FSA) and Natural Resources Conservation ...
WEBINAR TOMORROW FEBRUARY 27 — New Requirements for Conservation Compliance
The most recent Farm Bill links conservation compliance to crop insurance. If you currently utilize or market crop insurance, it is critical to understand the new requirements. To help you do this, Western Growers will host a 90-minute webinar with experts from USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA), Farm Services Agency (FSA) and Natural Resources Conservation ...
WG & iFoods Webinar — Harnessing Data to Improve Operational Performance
In today’s world – companies are scrambling to collect information to meet buyer specifications, satisfy regulatory demands and develop records in case something goes wrong. This is often a massive paper chase that seldom allows key staff the time to put the information to beneficial use in improving company performance, efficiency or food safety programs. ...
Webinar Tomorrow – How to Make Your Data Work for You
In today’s world – companies are scrambling to collect information to meet buyer specifications, satisfy regulatory demands and develop records in case something goes wrong. This is often a massive paper chase that seldom allows key staff the time to put the information to beneficial use in improving company performance, efficiency or food safety programs. ...
CA Registers New Chemistry for Sucking Pests
Western Growers received word yesterday from the California Department of Pesticide Regulation that Bayer CropScience’s new insecticide Sivanto ™ has been registered for use in California. WG worked to support the federal and California registration of this new chemistry which is a novel systemic to help control major sucking pests such as aphids, whiteflies, hoppers ...
Wall Street Journal Features Western Growers Food Safety Partner iFoods in Story
Last week, iFoods, a company with whom Western Growers has partnered on food safety initiatives was featured prominently in a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article. The article appeared on May 14, 2015, and is entitled, “When E.Coli Becomes a Business Opportunity” and focuses on start-up companies that have sprouted up “to help U.S. food makers ...
Precision Breeding Offers Great Benefits
In the beginning, when the very first crops were tended, our hunter-gatherer ancestors laughed and said, “It can’t be done,” and forecast the demise of the farmer as the hunters marched out of camp to kill the beast that would become the tribal meal that night. Meanwhile, back at the farm, we worked at producing ...
Technology Has Role to Play in Water Debate
This month’s WG&S deals with the topic of water. It is a topic on the forefront of everyone’s mind as California is in its fourth consecutive year of drought and the water shortages faced by the state gin up arguments about who is at fault and what constituency will have to “give” (water) in order ...
A Primer on WG’s Innovation Efforts
Over the next month or so, as the Western Growers Center for Innovation and Technology takes shape on the ground floor of the new Taylor Farms building in Salinas, so will the association’s effort with regard to innovation. Previously, our President and CEO Tom Nassif elegantly articulated the need and the opportunity for the association ...
CADMIUM IN SPINACH: Best Practices Being Explored
For the better part of two years now, Western Growers has been working with other interested parties to learn how naturally-occurring cadmium might be taken up by fresh produce items, understand the implications to public health and to develop a methodology to proactively address the issue of cadmium in the diet. We are particularly interested ...
Water Efficiency: WG Study on Drip Systems Shows Dramatic Improvements Are Possible
Water use efficiency has long been a priority for produce growers in the United States, but with diminishing water resources there has been a renewed urgency to improve efficiency in irrigation systems. Western Growers, in concert with JR Simplot Water Services and The Toro Company, recently concluded a study to evaluate distribution uniformity in drip ...
Sustainability Has Much Value Despite Its Teeth-Grinding Perception
Many in the agricultural sector bow up their backs at the mere mention of “sustainability.” They question the meaning of the term and see it simply as an added cost or a Trojan horse for prescribing someone else’s ideas for social, environmental and or economic practices on the farm. What is definitely true is that ...
Robots in the Field
I just got back from the Frontier Tech Forum in San Diego which featured a fascinating track on robotics. “RoboUniverse” spent a full day (out of two) talking about robotics in agriculture from the point of views of the technologist, investor and agricultural industry. These events are important opportunities for Western Growers to develop knowledge ...
Expanding AgTech…Beyond Salinas
Salinas may be proximate to Silicon Valley, but it certainly does not mean that technology has to originate there. To be successful, tech must expand to all areas where specialty crops are grown. Though many farming operations throughout California have been open to working with agtech startups, the testing and use of new products and ...
Common Sense—Out the Window!
Over the years, the Western Growers Science and Technology department has served as the tip of the spear in advancing common sense and practicality on big issues impacting the industry. In our last 10 years, we have served Western Growers members by advancing programs such as the Leafy Greens Marketing Agreements, which set the standard ...
Distribution Uniformity Paves the Way for Advanced Water Management Technology and Profit
This month, I have been thinking a lot about irrigation, irrigation technology and irrigation efficiency. One of the reasons this is preoccupying me is the recent publication of a March 2017 report entitled “Management of Agricultural Energy and Water Use with Access to Improved Data.” The report conveyed the research, results, findings and recommendations of ...
Small Business Target of Cyber Attackers
open and found an official looking link to a file sharing service (that I am familiar with) asking me to open and review the attachment. Even though this was from someone I know—and trust—the language and lack of detail just seemed a bit fishy (phishy?) to me. Instead of opening the link—I opted to reach ...