The Western Growers Innovation Team is proud to announce that SAMI Robotics has become the first company selected to receive sponsorship through the new Western Growers Association (WGA) and Reservoir Farms partnership. This milestone represents more than support for a single AgTech company; it marks the launch of a new model designed to accelerate the commercialization of technologies that address some of specialty crop agriculture’s most pressing challenges.
The partnership between Western Growers and Reservoir Farms was established with a shared vision: creating an environment where innovative agricultural technologies can be evaluated under real commercial farming conditions while generating objective data that helps growers make informed decisions and provides technology developers with meaningful feedback. Rather than relying solely on demonstrations or pilot projects, the program is designed to produce measurable performance data that reflects the realities of commercial specialty crop production.
One of the first major initiatives under this partnership is a series of field demonstration events that bring growers, technology developers, researchers, and industry stakeholders together to evaluate technologies in side-by-side comparisons. These events go beyond traditional equipment showcases by incorporating replicated field layouts, pre-treatment evaluations, and standardized trial protocols that allow participants to observe technologies performing under identical conditions.
SAMI Robotics is the first company to participate through this sponsorship, showcasing its automated harvesting platform in front of growers and industry leaders. As labor availability continues to be one of the greatest challenges facing specialty crop agriculture, harvest automation remains one of the industry’s highest priorities. Programs like this give emerging companies an opportunity to validate their technology where it matters most—in commercial fields alongside the growers who will ultimately determine its value.
At Western Growers, we believe successful commercialization requires far more than innovative engineering. Technologies must demonstrate reliability, operational efficiency, ease of integration into existing farming practices, return on investment, and measurable value for growers. By creating opportunities for companies to collect objective field data while working directly with commercial farming operations, the Innovation Team helps bridge the gap between promising concepts and practical, scalable solutions.
The collaboration with Reservoir Farms represents an important evolution in how the Innovation Team supports both growers and AgTech companies. Reservoir Farms provides a commercial production environment where new technologies can be tested under realistic operating conditions, while Western Growers contributes its extensive grower network and experience conducting independent technology validation. Together, the partnership creates a platform that accelerates innovation while keeping grower needs at the center of the process.
The sponsorship awarded to SAMI Robotics recognizes companies with the potential to solve meaningful challenges facing specialty crop agriculture. As the program expands, additional sponsorship opportunities will be available for emerging companies developing technologies in harvesting, weeding, spraying, automation, artificial intelligence, sensing, and precision agriculture.
This initiative reflects Western Growers’ ongoing commitment to helping its members identify technologies that can improve labor efficiency, increase productivity, strengthen sustainability, and enhance long-term competitiveness. Equally important, it provides growers with transparent, objective information to support future technology investment decisions.
The Western Growers Innovation Team thanks Reservoir Farms for its partnership and congratulates SAMI Robotics on becoming the first recipient of the WGA–Reservoir Farms sponsorship. This is just the beginning of a collaborative effort to bring growers, innovators, and researchers together to validate the next generation of agricultural technologies and accelerate their adoption across specialty crop agriculture.
