IRVINE, CALIF. (April 4, 2022) – The past month’s episodes of Voices of the Valley, the podcast hosted by Dennis Donohue, the Director of Western Growers Center for Innovation & Technology, and Candace Wilson, Regional Director at Farmers Business Network, feature six agricultural leaders discussing how they use technology to increase food safety, crop yield – and help spread the reach of the industry via social media.

USDA veteran Barbara Cassens shares several shares several “out of the box” methods for advancing food safety, preventing outbreaks andcontaminations and minimizing the exposure of risk to consumers.

Western Growers VP of Innovation Walt Duflock discusses the progress on automation around harvest – helping out in the field – and automation to harvest – actual harvest robots.

Mariana Vasconcelos, an agtech prodigy who started her ag data company Agrosmart when she was 23 years old, provides a look into how the digital revolution is accelerating a cultural shift in agriculture globally.

Haden Coleman, who recently wrote an award-winning essay on the power of technology in advancing agriculture, speaks about the importance of using social media for consumer education.

Larry Taylor, Co-Founder of The Yield Lab Asia Pacific, and Mark DeSantis, CEO at Bloomfield Robotics, bust the myth that artificial intelligence isn’t as adaptable as human intelligence when it comes to managing the health of specialty crops

Embed codes for the podcasts are available below:

Barbara Cassens

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Walt Duflock

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Mariana Vasconcelos

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Haden Coleman

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Larry Taylor and Mark DeSantis

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About Western Growers:

Founded in 1926, Western Growers represents local and regional family farmers growing fresh produce in California, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico. Western Growers’ members and their workers provide over half the nation’s fresh fruits, vegetables and tree nuts, including half of America’s fresh organic produce. Connect and learn more about Western Growers on Twitter and Facebook.