What To Know About the New Big Deal Between Western Growers and Reservoir Farms

Western Growers has unveiled the details behind its three-year, $1.5 million partnership with on-farm ag tech robotics innovation center Reservoir Farms, a commitment that gives members and affiliated startups exclusive access and opportunities for robotics field trials.

“This commitment confirms our confidence in Reservoir Farms and particularly our strategic alignment with Danny Bernstein and his team,” says Western Growers President and CEO Dave Puglia. “Western Growers members will be in the driver’s seat to prioritize companies with workable automation and efficiency solutions that can address escalating labor and other food production input costs threatening domestic farm viability.”

Reservoir Farms helps startups get to the first viable product in less time and for less capital by providing shared R&D space; shared commercially grown field acreage; shared equipment from partners like John Deere and real-world grower feedback on products they are building.

Western Growers will provide Reservoir Farms $500,000 in partnership funding each year for the next three years in addition to the $250,000 the organization previously provided. In return, Western Growers will have:

• WG-branded demonstration days every year at any Reservoir Farms location, including Salinas, Calif.; California Wine Country and a soon-to-be launched Central Valley location. These events will allow growers to evaluate performance, scalability and ROI in real production environments. Demonstrations will focus on solving key challenges, such as labor constraints, input efficiency and operational scalability.
• In coordination with the Western Growers Center for Innovation & Technology, select ag tech startups will receive a sponsored residency at Reservoir Farms. Startups will test and refine technologies alongside growers in real-world conditions to ensure practical application.
• The WG Innovation Committee will receive exclusive insight from Reservoir Farms’ structured technology and business evaluation of emerging ag tech solutions; this will serve to inform and guide member engagement.

For more, visit wga.com.