Irvine, Calif.-based Western Growers has a goal of automating 50% of harvest within 10 years, and is spearheading a Global Harvest Automation Initiative make it happen across the fresh produce industry.
“For well over a decade, our members have struggled with a dwindling number of available workers. If we don’t come together as an industry to quickly and efficiently deliver automation solutions for farmers in this country, it is likely that the shift of fresh produce operations to other countries will dramatically increase,” president and CEO Dave Puglia said in a news release.
“The Global Harvest Automation Initiative is aimed directly at this challenge, and the alignment of so many industry leaders and partners in this endeavor is a strong indicator of our shared commitment to success.”
The global initiative is comprised of several key projects designed to solve the industry’s labor woes while helping harvest automation start-up companies commercialize and scale at a more rapid pace:
-Technology stack: A documented set of technical interfaces that will help startups leverage industry-standard components so robots can get into fields and markets faster;
-Harvest automation cohort: Selected automation startups will integrate the tech stack into their product roadmap, with strategy for go-to-market support, field trials and case studies;
-Impact report: Analysis on the impact of harvest automation on the specialty crop industry will be provided annually based on grower metrics; and
-Harvest automation traction roadmap: A list of current harvest automation startups by crop type and in-market progress/traction will be distributed regularly.
The technology stack will be built by a team of subject matter experts in agriculture and robotics, including Western Growers members adopting the new technologies, such as Grimmway Farms, Turlock Fruit Co., Church Brothers Farms, Superfresh Growers and Illume Agriculture.
The expert group will build a set of documented interfaces so startups can connect to tractor manufacturers like John Deere, sensor manufacturers like Bosch, navigation equipment providers like Trimble and other manufacturing partners.
The Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission has been a key partner, providing recommendations for experts and harvest startups based on its 52 years of experience with tree-fruit innovation.
Also, the commission has committed $200,000 in initiative funding in three years.
“The specialty crop industry needs to all work together to solve harvest automation by strategically accelerating the speed of innovation and adoption,” Ines Hanrahan, commission executive director, said in the release.
“The platform approach Western Growers is taking is supported by both startups and industry as the best path forward to finally achieve this goal.”
Western Growers held a hybrid in-person and virtual event Feb. 11, in Tulare, Calif., to announce the official launch of the Global Harvest Automation Initiative.
For more information, visit the Western Growers Center for Innovation & Technology webpage.
