Catch up on what you missed at our first Sustainable Produce Summit – here’s the full video of the session “
Industry Leaders Roundtable: The Future of Sustainable Agribusiness.” Prominent produce executives Bruce Taylor, Rod Braga and David Rosenberg discussed during a Sustainable Produce Summit panel the evolution of the industry and the opportunities that exist for companies to make their operations more sustainable.
Don’t have time to watch? Check out the full article here.
Three takeaways:
1. Bruce Taylor, chairman and CEO of Salinas, Calif.-based Taylor Farms, described “a fantastic transformation” in the Salinas Valley toward sustainability.
“Conventional growers, through integrated pest management systems and all the other systems they’re using to reduce nitrogen applications ... are moving toward a more sustainable model,” Taylor said. “Organic growers are really exploding in the Salinas Valley. If you look at some of the major players, in addition to Braga Farms with Rod, you’ve got (Tanimura & Antle), you’ve got Nunes, you’ve got D’Arrigo, joining our Earthbound group as major shippers who are committing to the organic produce industry.”
2. Braga, president and CEO of Soledad, Calif.-based Braga Fresh Family Farms, also described a widespread evolution in practices in the Salinas Valley.
“We’re following years and years here in the Salinas Valley of going from, when my father was out here, growing a lettuce field using an entire well pumping 2,000 gallons a minute probably for almost three days to furrow irrigate a lettuce field, and then we moved to sprinkler irrigation, then it was drip irrigation that was put in some time after the crop was in the field, now we’re moving — us and other farmers all through the valley — moving to burying that drip irrigation at the time that we plant it,” Braga said.
3. Rosenberg, co-founder and CEO of AeroFarms, said he expects continued investment in the greenhouse produce industry, which he described as a developing sector.
“It’s not necessarily an industry where all of a sudden the solutions are there and we’re just on execution mode,” Rosenberg said. “We’re on both continuing to reinvent the playbook as well as execute and scale. And I will say the problems at a small farm are very different from the problems at a big farm, so even when we think we have a solution, scaling it up and seeing those not-foreseen challenges in scale is an opportunity as well as a risk, so being smart in de-risking certain elements of innovation as we go big.”
To make sure you don’t miss out on more great sessions like this one, sign up today for West Coast Produce Expo.
You can stay right where you are and experience more education, more networking, more sales opportunities and:
> Expert keynote presentations
> Q&A sessions with top retailers
> Virtual Farm Tours
> Additionally, we’ll offer the BizMatch sales meeting scheduler service all five days to pair buyers and suppliers based on specific matching criteria.
> And more
Trust In Food, a Farm Journal initiative, is proud to present the Sustainable Produce Summit in partnership with The Packer. We take Farm Journal’s expertise, data, insights, unparalleled reach and time-honored relationships with growers and put them to work to support financially and environmentally resilient food systems, from farmer to consumer and every step in between. To learn more, visit www.TrustInFood.com.
At Trust In Food, produce sector sustainability—and helping growers succeed—is our business. Through America’s Conservation Ag Movement, we are working with growers in California’s Calleguas Watershed and beyond in partnership with the Farm Journal Foundation, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and leading agribusinesses, food companies and nonprofit organizations. To learn more, visit www.AgWeb.com/ACAM.
