Posts By: Tim Linden
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100 Years of Serving Growers
Naturipe Berry Growers Inc. Salinas, CA Member Since 1972 AN AUSPICIOUS START: It was in 1917 when a group of Bay Area growers submitted official papers in downtown San Francisco to form Central California Berry Grower Association (today known as Naturipe Berry Growers), a marketing cooperative owned by growers and dedicated to growers. At ...
Protecting Seed Technology
If developing new technology in the ag space is the first step, right behind it is protecting that intellectual property right so that it can be monetized by the inventor and utilized by the industry. Protecting the work of plant breeders has been an ongoing concern for generations, but now that new technologies are being ...
AG INNOVATIONS: Companies Abound with New Technology to Explore
Ag technology is the new buzz word and most suppliers operating in this space currently have cutting edge products on the market, in production or on the drawing table. There are certainly many other firms operating in most disciplines and every grower-shipper is encouraged to call your supplier or distributor and find out what’s new. ...
WGCIT SPONSOR: Hayashi Wayland: Accounting Experts for Agriculture
In 1976, a couple of accountants—Douglas Hayashi and Warren Wayland—launched their firm in Salinas, California, and naturally matriculated to the agricultural industry as the number one industry in town. Forty-one years later they are still serving that constituency and have become ag accounting experts. So much so that they are a sponsor of the Western ...
Cause for Concern Over Organic Fertilizer Made from Food Waste?
By Stephen Meyer & Thomas Marrs In December 2016, the National Organic Program (NOP) issued guidance 5034-1 that can be interpreted as approving of food waste for use in organic crop production (for example, as an input in fertilizer) without regard to whether such waste contains prohibited synthetics, posing potential risks to investments relying on ...
TRANSPORTATION SOLUTIONS: Service Centers Offer Flexibility for CHR Customers
With a network of service centers across the country, C.H. Robinson is offering its customers a plethora of opportunities to efficiently manage the fresh produce supply chain. Craig Mack, director of service centers, for the firm, recently told Western Grower & Shipper that the organization now has nine service centers across the country operated by ...
Labor Issues: Top Ag Legal Challenges
Decades ago, the advent of labor challenges caused production agriculture to “lawyer up.” Today, the issues are different, but labor, more often than not, is the reason growers and shippers need legal representation. Years ago, it was union elections in which legal labor experts were needed. Jason Resnick, vice president and general counsel at Western ...
BUSINESS ACUMEN: Accounting Firm Immerses Itself in the Ag Industry
When the accounting firm K·Coe Isom takes on a new client it begins with a meeting designed to delve deep into the company’s operations and culture. “We approach our clients and the industry a bit differently,” said Laura Sands, a principal in the firm who spearheads the company’s food and agricultural initiatives. “We take a ...
WGCIT SPONSOR: Prophet Designed for Produce Accounting
After cornering the produce accounting market in Great Britain and then South Africa, Prophet turned its attention to the United States and believes it is now poised to do the same here. Mick Heatherington, vice president of sales for Prophet North America, recently told Western Grower & Shipper that the company’s latest enterprise-ready, supply chain-focused, ...
Will ‘Bioponics’ Be Deemed Ineligible for Organic Certification?
In early November, the National Organics Standards Board will meet in Jacksonville, FL, and on its agenda are proposals that will move the ball forward toward declaring hydroponics and other greenhouse-type growing methods as ineligible to receive organic certification from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Observers think the series of proposals have a fairly good ...
WGCIT SPONSOR: BioWorks: A Pioneer in Biologicals
Twenty-five years ago, BioWorks Inc. was on the leading edge of the crop input market with an environmentally-friendly, biologically-based crop protection tools for the agricultural industry. Today, the landscape is far more crowded with some of the biggest companies in the ag chemical world participating in that sector. But BioWorks continues to thrive with a ...
Western Growers Named Tech Sponsor at Inaugural Organic Grower Summit
Western Growers will serve as the “Ag Technology” sponsor for the Organic Grower Summit (OGS), which will hold its inaugural event in December in Monterey. As the Ag Technology sponsor, Western Growers has coordinated the attendance of technology companies as exhibitors, and helped facilitate elements of the technology area of the event. The first ever ...
CREDIT TECHNOLOGY: Automatic Aging Reports Improves Credit Accuracy
It’s a very simple concept, but it can have a huge impact on business decisions when executed properly. For more than 100 years, Blue Book Services has been the leader in providing credit and marketing information for the fresh fruit and vegetable industry. By synthesizing financial and rating information, Blue Book has continuously provided credit ...
2018 Chairman of the Board Craig Reade: First Job Yields a Career
Though Craig Reade’s dad was in the oil industry, he grew up around agriculture in the Central Coast and always knew he was destined to be in the farming business. “From the time I was 10 years old, I was driving a tractor on a neighbor’s farm and I knew that was what I wanted ...
It’s All About the Carrots
Member Profile Jeff Huckaby CEO/President Grimmway Farms Bakersfield, California Member Since 1986 Grimmway Farms began as a sweet corn growing operation in Orange County in the 1960s, morphed into the largest carrot grower in the world in the 1990s in Kern County, and is now also the largest organic grower of vegetables in the United ...
ORGANIC GROWER SUMMIT: First-time Event Draws Enthusiastic Crowd
With Western Growers as one of its significant sponsors, the inaugural Organic Grower Summit was held in Monterey, CA, in mid-December, with a lively audience and a tech-heavy trade show. The summit was co-hosted by the Organic Produce Network and California Certified Organic Farmers, with Western Growers serving as the technology sponsor, including hosting “Tech ...
Fourth Generation Leading Martori Farms in its 2nd Century
Steve Martori III CEO/President Martori Farms Scottsdale, AZ Director Since 2017 | Member Since 1966 A LONG & WINDING HISTORY: Peter Martori, grandfather of former WG Chairman, longtime board member and Award of Honor recipient Steve Martori II, started the family business as wholesale vendor in New York City. The company migrated to Chicago ...
PRODUCE TRANSPORTATION: Data-Driven Predictive Models Could Aid Industry Down the Road
Using information provided by many different shippers and a computer program, the Western Growers/C.H. Robinson Transportation program has brought increased efficiency, better service and cheaper rates to shippers enrolled in its LTL (less than full load) program. Aggregating these LTL shipments has allowed the program to schedule transportation on a reoccurring basis, allowing a shipper ...
THE NEW TAX LAW: Nuances Require an Expert’s Knowledge
When The Tax Cut and Job Act was passed in December, it was touted as an overhaul and simplification of the tax code. For the average American, that may well be true. But if you have a business, even a relatively simple, small, home-based operation, there are many nuances in the new tax law that ...
WGCIT SPONSOR: Farm Credit: Ag-Specific Lending for a Century
For the past 100 years, in one iteration or another, the federally-established Farm Credit System has been serving the nation’s farmers and ranchers. There have been changes to the program over the years but the basic concept has remained. Leili Ghazi, who is the western regional president for CoBank, recently explained the evolution of the ...