In addition to the redesign of Red Tomato’s EcoCertified fruit totes and pouches, Red Tomato broadened the scope of the certification to include a variety of fruits and value-added agricultural products, providing a more cohesive and impactful brand for consumers and growers, according to a news release.

The redesigned packaging is timed for the 2024 apple season and includes paper totes, pouches, poly bags, and master cases. “The rebrand will help consumers choose EcoCertified fruit, which means they are investing in local and sustainable growing practices. EcoCertified is a promise of amazing fruit that is both local and ecologically grown,” according to the release.

EcoCertified is designed to be a grower brand, an integral part of their marketing stories, and to build a stronger, more recognizable certification that stands for sustainable, ecologically responsible farming practices.

The updated packaging will be available in stores making it easier for consumers to identify and purchase EcoCertified products. Insights from consumer research indicate a strong preference for clear, concise labeling that highlights the product’s sustainable attributes.

The most ecological farming practices differ by locale. More than 93% of U.S. certified organic apples are grown in eastern Washington. The climate in the Eastern U.S. is more rain, diseases and insects. The national organic standards do not offer viable treatments for eastern orchards
growing at a wholesale scale, according to the release.

“EcoCertified orchards are a powerful, resilient force in our region’s food system, combining the most ecological growing practices with the best of local foods,” said Angel Mendez, Red Tomato’s executive director, said in the release.

Red Tomato partnered with the Hartman Group, a marketing research firm specializing in the natural and organic grocery industry.

Keywords such as “sustainable growing practices,” “protect pollinators,” “promote tree and soil health,” and “growers care for the land, community, and earth” were instrumental in the design process. The packaging highlights the taste, ecological practices, and local sourcing that define EcoCertified. The front of the pouch proudly states, “Happy Bees. Healthy Trees. Amazing Apples.” while the back emphasizes the rigorous ecological practices that protect bees, ensure thriving orchards, and balance vital ecosystems, according to the release.

“It’s very hard for farmers to grow apples this way,” Diane Rast, Hartman’s creative director, said in the release. “I visit the farms. I have been designing for years and I know the challenge of communicating a complex idea dealing with sustainable growing practices with just a few words and a choice illustration.”

The EcoCertified program was launched in 2005, as a partnership of non-profit Red Tomato, the IPM Institute of North America and a network of farmers, scientists and fruit experts, to advance environmentally responsible growing practices for locally grown tree fruit in the Northeast.

The program’s goal is to support growers by bringing together the local and ecological growing practices, educating the public about their value, and building a market that keeps local orchards thriving and local apples abundant.

The program has certified more than 30 Northeast orchards, representing more than 2,000 acres. EcoCertified is actively expanding to new regional chapters east of the Rockies, with a focus on the Midwest (Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois), Mid-Atlantic and Southeast.

Based in Rhode Island, Red Tomato works with partners throughout the U.S., including scientists and farmer networks, regional and national grocery stores, K-12 schools, community-based nonprofits, and other vendors. In addition to apples, Red Tomato also works with tomatoes and other vegetables.

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She succeeds Ray Hammerschmidt, who plans to retire.

Byrne, who holds a doctoral degree, has worked at MSU as the plant pathology diagnostician since 1999, after earning a B.S. in plant science from Cornell University and an M.S. and Ph.D. in plant pathology from MSU.

In addition to her diagnostic role, Byrne teaches plant pathology to students in the MSU Institute of Agricultural Technology and has served alongside Hammerschmidt as the associate director for the North Central Plant Diagnostic Network since 2003.

For more than 20 years, Hammerschmidt, a PhD, served as the faculty coordinator for the MSU diagnostics lab and the director for the North Central Plant Diagnostic Network. His work during this time has grown and strengthened the training and networking capacity of diagnosticians to benefit MSU Plant & Pest Diagnostics clients and the regional and national networks, according to a news release.

In addition to those roles, Hammerschmidt is an accomplished professor of plant pathology, focusing on physiology and biochemistry of disease and disease resistance in cucurbits, potatoes, cherries, arabidopsis (small flowering plants related to cabbage and mustard), and soybeans.

Hammerschmidt also taught MSU’s core plant pathology class, two graduate plant pathology courses and served in various administrative roles including the chair of the former Department of Plant Pathology, interim director of MSU Extension and Project GREEEN advisor.

In July 2022, after almost 42 years of dedicated service to MSU and the greater community, Hammerschmidt retired. He stayed on as professor emeritus and worked part time on research, Project GREEEN and the transition of leadership of the Plant & Pest Diagnostics and North Central Plant Diagnostic Network. He plans to “retire again” at the end of 2024.

When asked about his successor, Hammerschmidt commented, “I’m very pleased that Dr. Byrne has accepted the directorship of Plant & Pest Diagnostics. She is already very well-known for her excellence as a plant pathology diagnostician and Plant & Pest Diagnostics team member. She has a very clear vision for how the Plant & Pest Diagnostics will continue to provide excellent service while growing and evolving to meet changing needs. As the associate director of North Central Plant Diagnostic Network, she has provided valuable assistance and guidance to both me and members at the regional and national levels. I have no doubt that Jan will excel in her new position and continue to move diagnostics forward!”

MSU has offered plant-related diagnostic services to the public and local and national agricultural communities for more than 25 years. Services include identification of plant pests and plant health analysis spanning pathology, entomology, nematology and abiotic issues.

As the North Central Plant Diagnostic Regional Center for the North Central Plant Diagnostic Network, MSU has faculty and staff devoted to each of these diagnostic disciplines and continues to expand its capabilities through advances in molecular diagnostics.

The services at Plant & Pest Diagnostics will remain unchanged and Byrne will continue to serve as the plant pathology diagnostician and teach in her new leadership position.

— Erin Hill, Michigan State University Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences

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CROP PROGRESS

Peach harvesting continues, with early pear and apple harvests also underway. Premier Honeycrisp and Wildfire Galas will mature in the next couple of weeks. “Stop-drop materials can be very useful to manage harvest windows during this early season, especially if color is a concern,” advises Lindsay Brown of MSU Extension.

Gingergold apples, sampled in Kent County, are nearing maturity, developing a nice blush but still tasting slightly starchy. Paulared apples are mature and being harvested this week, though some show signs of watercore. Zestar! apples, also sampled in Kent County, are set for harvest this week.

DISEASE MANAGEMENT

MSU Extension recommends continuing control measures for bitter rot and black rot and staying vigilant for sooty blotch and flyspeck, which are now visible. Cherry leaf spot is widespread, leading to early defoliation in some orchards. Bacterial canker of stone fruits is also a concern this season, causing “shot hole” in leaves and brown lesions on fruit.

INSECT ACTIVITY

Codling moth populations are declining as the second generation of adults finish their egg deposition. Obliquebanded leafroller and oriental fruit moth populations are present but in low numbers. MSU Extension advises monitoring for fruit damage and leaf skeletonization from Japanese beetles and rose chafers.

MSU’s full update is available online.

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Responsible use of spraying technology aligns with sustainable farming practices by protecting crops, conserving resources and minimizing the environmental impact.

After all, targeted spraying allows for precise application of pesticides, reduces the overall amount used and minimizes potential harm to beneficial insects and surrounding ecosystems.

Controlling the application rate

Smart Apply, a kit that can be added to virtually any new or used air blast, over-the-row or GUSS autonomous sprayer, combines LiDAR (light detection and ranging)- powered precision spraying with automated data collection of each spray event, unique in the industry, according to Smart Apply. 

Gary Vandenbark, chief engineer of Indianapolis-based Smart Apply, works with fruit and nut growers in their orchards and was instrumental in creating the Smart Apply System, the development of GEN2 and ongoing enhancements.

“If you think about a tree or vine crop, we’re really trying to spray the foliage or canopy, but everything that has been developed has always been about gallons per acre,” he said. Vandenbark explains how Smart Apply’s LiDAR senses the presence of trees/vines, adjusting spray volume based on size and density of individual plants to optimize protection and avoid over spraying. “You can also generate great savings by not spraying the air or the ground,” he said.

There are numerous operational and sustainability benefits of the system. For instance, Vandenbark noted how Smart Apply reduces chemical use and costs by an average of 50%, water use by an average of 50%, cuts runoff up to 92% and airborne drift by up to 87%.

“We use pulse width modulation and that gives us the ability to do a variable rate application on an individual nozzle basis,” Vandenbark said. “If you have 20 vertical nozzles on each side of the sprayer, we can use the LiDAR to break up the zones as we look at the canopy and utilize the spray nozzles.”

The system was invented in 2006, running by 2009, and tested for 12 years by the USDA before it was commercialized by Smart Apply in 2019 for the industry, so it’s still fairly new.

“We have the ability to count trees, look at density volumes on different areas of the field and things of that sort, look at the tree height and start taking historical data and look at tree growth or density history,” Vandenbark said. “With individual nozzle management, you have the ability to control the application rate relative to location on the tree. So, you can increase or decrease the volume from side to side or top to bottom.”

Smart Apply was designed for apples, stone fruits, pears, grapes, bush berries, tree nut crops and more. Smart Apply runs off of an app and growers can choose from multiple languages, including English and Spanish.

In the mist

For more than 40 years, A1 Mist Sprayers has been perfecting ideal sprayers for eradicating a wide range of diseases and pests that can affect fruit and nut crops.

“Our mist sprayers allow you to effortlessly provide uniform coverage on your trees with less chemical and water usage,” said Jon Kulzer, product manager for Ponca, Nebraska-based A1 Mist Sprayer. “With a wide range of models and accessories, our mist sprayers can adapt to fit one’s individual needs.”

In 2024, A1 Mist Sprayers is focusing on continuously enhancing its mist sprayers to be more user-friendly and durable, ensuring they perform season after season.

“When we began manufacturing mist sprayers, our focus was on PTO (power take-off) options designed for use with tractors,” Kulzer said.“As technology advanced, we expanded our offerings to include gas engines for transportation with ATVs, UTVs and other commercial vehicles. This flexibility allows our users to get the job done based on their available resources.”

One of the biggest benefits of the company’s mist sprayers is their flexibility to mist spray a wide range of applications, regardless of height. Depending on the model, users can mist up to 100 feet and it can be used for all tree care.

“Mist sprayers are crucial as they provide larger, uniform coverage, protecting your investment from diseases, fungus and pests,” Kulzer said. “Additionally, they reduce your use of chemicals and water, providing savings across the board.”

Electrostatic spraying

Willie Hartman, president and CEO of Mt. Angel, Oregon-based OnTarget Spray Systems, noted his company is solely focused on electrostatic spraying in agriculture. OnTarget has designed models for 14 specialty crops.

“We have about 45 different models to serve specialty crops,” he said, explaining the sprays harness the gravity-defying power of electrostatic cling to uniformly coat in half the time, with an 80% reduction of water, and less material waste. Plus, more chemical hits the target when it is applied electrostatically, as opposed to conventional sprayers, where more product moves into the atmosphere or runs off on the ground.

“Our sprayers enable farmers to target three specific zones,” Hartman said. The precise and uniform application maximizes chemical efficiencies and optimizes spray effectiveness against plant diseases and insects, he said. 

“Sun protection is critical for many crops and our unique uniform coverage gets the job done,” he said. “We also use half as much diesel compared to an air blast and we usually spray two to three times more acres per day, which helps with labor challenges and labor cost. Our customers appreciate the time savings and reduce fuel costs.”

Regardless of the sprayer growers go with, effective pest control will help maximize crop yield by preventing damage from pests and diseases, which can otherwise reduce the quantity and quality of the nuts.

Article written by Keith Loria

A graduate of the University of Miami, Keith Loria is an award-winning journalist who has been writing for almost 20 years. View his recent writing at keithloria.contently.com

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Lawton Pearson, the fifth generation owner of Pearson Farm in the Fort Valley, Georgia, peach and pecan growing belt, loves walking inside any fruit orchard.

For Pearson, there is no better place he would like to be than in the middle of an orchard.

“To me, it’s awe-inspiring,” he said. “When you see a loaded orchard of fruit, and it’s not just loaded with fruit when you pick it; it’s all year. To see those trees and what God has given us, the complexity of it, and yet the simplicity of it — trees planted in rows, square formed, pruned by hand. They’re like little pieces of art, every one of them. You see order, not chaos. You get out in an orchard, any orchard, and you’re away from all of it. It gives you a special feeling to be in and live in an orchard. It’s something you don’t get out of a bean or corn field.”

While technology has altered peach shipping and handling, particularly in the packinghouse, the manual thinning, pruning and picking hasn’t changed much since the 19th century, Pearson said. 

As peaches are difficult to mechanize, Pearson believes they will be one of the last fruits to be harvested by machine.

Mechanization challenge

Peach harvesting can become more mechanized than is today, but Pearson believes picking peaches with machines will require much machine learning and will be unable to detect what the human eye can see because individual peaches vary and are in large numbers. 

Pearson believes the industry erred by breeding mostly red peaches, which makes it difficult for tech and humans to detect peach ripeness.

Drones’ aerial views aid scouting and aid tree counts and density, but don’t save much labor, he said. Though Pearson believes drone tech is the future of peach orchard tech, he doesn’t see how drone spraying capacities can adequately cover peach groves. 

“I’m not sure what the future is in (drone) spraying, but for scouting, it’s useful and gives me perspective,” Pearson said. “Tech that can map your orchard to try to give you yield projections, based on a drone flying up and down, is awesome, but peaches are so unpredictable. There’s a lot of data that is not actionable and is kind of worthless.”

Trying to shape peach mapping and projections into a science to more accurately predict harvest start dates, Pearson last year tracked factors including variety bloom and degree dates, temperatures, heat accumulation and post-bloom. He compared the information to his 20 years of manual data. 

With all the calculations and numbers, Pearson missed projecting the harvest date by five days. 

As peaches are highly variable in performance, growers do much by the “seat of their pants” in predicting and modeling, with a lot based on what happened the last year or year before, Pearson said.

Freeze factor

One out of 10 years, Georgia experiences a killing freeze, like one that happened in 2023. Luckily, 2024 did not produce any disastrous events. 

On average, a freeze strikes in the last two weeks of March, with the last frost typically hitting a week after the full bloom date, which is usually in late March or early April.  

“Throw a variable of a freeze or one night at 28º F into the mix of science and it kills some peaches,” Pearson said. “You can basically put an asterisk beside everything that happens after that freeze.”

Pearson has been using wind machines for a decade. The tech can provide an additional two to six degrees warmth, critical for saving fruit during cold evenings.

Pearson Farms grows 40 varieties of peaches, and the lineup often changes. The Prince-named varieties lead the pack, including the Ruby Prince, though there are some others that Pearson said perform well.

Breeding, crossing and variety selection are conducted at USDA’s Southeastern Fruit and Tree Nut Research Laboratory 15 miles from Pearson’s groves. “It’s constant renovation of genetic material, which makes them better, bigger and with more disease resistance,” Pearson said.

While improved herbicides have helped growers better control thracknose, brown rot and bacterial spot are major diseases threatening peaches. Omitting spraying can produce rots that can ruin crops. Bacterial spot is in abundance. O’Henry, one of the oldest varieties, is a great variety but is highly susceptible to bacterial spot. 

Disease, pests battles

In the off-season, oil sprays can control scale, considered a peach tree’s biggest nemesis, and researchers are working on mating disruption solutions.

Major pests include plum curculio, oriental fruit moth, stink bugs and borers. With plum curculio, worms burrow and aren’t susceptible to mating disruption. Mating disruption helps, however, with the peachtree borer, lesser peachtree borer and oriental fruit moths.

Only chemically controlled, stink bugs aren’t always a big issue. However, when conditions are right, they can become troublesome, Pearson said.

Growers can only discourage insects from entering orchards. During dry favorable conditions, insects enter seeking moisture. When there’s abundant moisture, insects are satisfied being somewhere else in the woods, Pearson said. 

— By Doug Ohlemeier, Assistant Editor 

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One of the biggest help to growers these days are mobile apps, which can help farmers achieve optimized irrigation, targeted fertilization and enhanced field monitoring. With the use of a phone, growers can uncover a host of information and save themselves time and money in the process.

AgProz

AgProz offers software and mobile solutions that provide accurate and responsive crop acreage data, reliable marketing resources and analytics that help growers of all segments.

“We’re more tied to vendors and companies who are trying to find growers,” said John Krum, founder and CEO of AgProz. 

Krum started the company with the idea of overlaying agriculture data on a map, similar to Zillow for real estate. 

“With AgProz, what you’re able to do is from a map see how many acres a grower has, what kind of props are farmed, as well as a name and contact info,” Krum said. “Once I was able to pull out this information, I was no longer going in blind about what growers I could get in front of and help. It empowers companies like John Deere and others. It keeps the right people in front of the right growers.” 

The core product is the app, and now the data is being leveraged more from a marketing lens as a workforce tool.

“You can track certain things inside the app and navigating the workflow before doing follow-ups,” Krum said.

Doktar

Regardless of the crop focus — tree fruits, nuts, vegetables — Netherlands-based Doktar’s mobile app solutions help farmers make decisions on real-time data for precision farming and smart ag.

IoTrack is a mobile application that enables the management of the company’s Filiz Agricultural Sensor Station and PestTrap Digital Pest Tracking Station from a single platform. 

“Users can track their data flow and receive instant notifications from IoT-enabled devices, allowing them to make informed decisions and enhance efficiency,” said Tanzer Bilgen, CEO for Doktar.

Meanwhile, PestTrap is an IoT pest-tracking station that utilizes machine learning to accurately identify and count pests in real-time. It is suitable for use in fields, orchards, greenhouses, warehouses and forests. 

“With sticky paper and an integrated camera, PestTrap captures daily images and accurately identifies pest types,” Bilgen said. “Integrated with the IoTrack mobile application, PestTrap enables effortless remote tracking and sends notifications when pest levels reach a risk threshold.”

Users of PestTrap receive high-resolution images with its 5MP camera and can adjust the image frequency and timing options for more precise monitoring. 

“They can view pest species distribution and 48-hour spraying suitability assessments to take timely actions that reduce the economic impact of pests and optimize yields,” Bilgen said. “PestTrap’s machine learning algorithm recognizes region-specific pests, tracks their developmental cycle and learns to identify new pests accurately within two weeks.”

Both IoTrack and Orbit, an app that helps farmers monitor the health and development of their crops and identify underdeveloped, water-stressed or over-irrigated areas, enable farmers to view all data on their homepage and spot problems immediately.

“Overall, IoTrack helps implement practices for precision agriculture by instantly controlling irrigation problems, disease risks, microclimate weather conditions, calculating advanced agricultural metrics, and potential pest infestations,” Bilgen said. The app also helps track the timing of irrigation, spraying, and phenological stage changes in the field by recording them on time.

“Health, inspection and water stress maps are crucial,” Bilgen said. “With Orbit, you can monitor the weather hourly with the live precipitation and storm tracking feature and take timely precautions with frost risk and fungal disease risk notifications.”

Barn Owl Technologies

Barn Owl Technologies builds physical hardware that acts as an automatic scouting tool that helps growers with insect monitoring and provides early timing for growers to make early decisions for insect pest management.

“It will lead to a reduction on bug sprays and increase production,” said Richard Chen, Barn Owl Technologies’ president. “We are working with apple growers in Massachusetts and target harmful pests such as oriental fruit moth, codling moth, Obliquebanded leafroller, plum curculio, apple maggot and brown marmorated stink bug.”

The scouting can be implemented via a mobile app and provides first arrival dates (biofix) and weekly insect counting.

“Scouting insects is usually a weekly job for growers, but if they mess up the first arrival date, they spray all season long,” Chen said. “Finding first arrival date for growers requires them to scout every day, which is not feasible.” 

The company is also currently building an automatic trapping system for Colorado potato beetles and focusing its efforts on ground and crawling insects. 

One of the vegetable growers told Chen production by can be increased 25%-50% when early arrival dates for potato beetles are discovered, he said. 

Irrigation control

Other popular mobile apps include FieldNET Mobile, Agrobase and Pospera.

FieldNET Mobile allows growers to monitor and control irrigation systems from a mobile device, improving water efficiency and crop health. 

Agrobase, a crop protection database, provides comprehensive pest and disease identification, weed identification, plus agricultural news and trends.

Prospera offers pivot irrigation monitoring from an app, helping in irrigation planning and control.

Optical sorting equipment

Optical sorters are another area experiencing much innovation, with a big trend being the integration of AI, offering results akin to human inspection but at a significantly faster pace.

“This advancement involves the use of cameras with quicker processors to reduce collateral loss resulting from misdetection,” said Oscar Sandoval, California senior regional account manager at AMVT. “In response to this trend, our company has embraced AI by incorporating this feature into most of our sorter offerings, catering not only to bulk materials but also packaged goods. This addition aids in detecting issues such as improperly sealed bags or loosely capped jars, enhancing the sorting process for fruit/nut crop growers.”

These solutions ensure improved quality and cleanliness of the final product for consumers, minimizing the loss of good products in the reject pile. Ultimately, they enable growers to preserve a higher quantity of top-quality products.

“Compared to previous generations, the newer optical sorting equipment goes beyond traditional RGB technology, which relies on color differentiation,” Sandoval said. “The latest models analyze factors like size, color, texture and length to achieve precise separation, mirroring the discernment of the human eye utilizing AI.”

Another company taking advantage of AI is Taranis, which offers an advanced Open-Source Intelligence tool that utilizes AI and aerial imaging to monitor crops at higher resolutions than were done historically. This helps better detect pest issues, diseases and nutrient deficiencies early, enabling timely interventions.   

As agriculture continues to evolve with technological advancements including mobile apps, IoT devices, and AI-driven solutions, the future of farming is not just about innovation, it’s about precision, efficiency and sustainability for growers worldwide.

By Keith Loria

A graduate of the University of Miami, Keith Loria is an award-winning journalist who has been writing for almost 20 years. View his recent writing at keithloria.contently.com

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Scheduled for Oct. 22-24 in Woodland, California, 11 miles from the Sacramento International Airport, FIRA USA is set to provide growers and other industry personnel the opportunity to view new agricultural technology in action in the global ag robotics sector.

The core focus of the conference is to afford growers the opportunity to network, exchange feedback and to learn more about existing solutions through grower roundtables on specific crops sponsored by commodity boards, said Gwendoline Legrand, co-director for show sponsor FIRA and GOFAR (Global Organization for Agricultural Robotics).

“The end-users are the key. You can not develop disruptive solutions without having them in the loop,” Legrand said. “They need to share their vision, they need to touch, to test, to say ‘No, I want this that way’ and finally, get the exact systems that work for them. The growers’ needs is where everything started for FIRA. We are not showcasing and presenting robots and autonomous solutions as an end by themselves. Those machines need to represent a proper solution to specific needs, as diverse as the farmers are. The manufacturers understand that, and are very often building the solutions together with the growers, directly operating in the fields.”

Free grower admission

This year growers will receive free admission, a longtime World FIRA Europe policy that allows even more industry stakeholders and small to large-scale growers to leave the event with more autonomous and robotics technology information and vision, Legrand said.

To address the tree fruit industry’s automation needs, the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission and the California Almond Board are signed up as new sponsors.

Both organizations have long been part of FIRA USA support, promoting the event to their communities and visiting the show. This year, however, will be the first year the grower organizations decided to sponsor the event, to highlight the problems faced by tree fruit and nut growers, and to help them discover stand-alone solutions already on the market, Legrand said.

The sponsorships also prompt interest from other commodity boards and research institutes and motivate them to organize specific programs for their growers, she said.

As previous FIRAs explored many topics relating to ag robotics, organizers want this year’s education component to be as relevant as possible for growers, and include sessions designed to discuss issues growers are facing and existing autonomous solutions for individual crops.

Commodity group and research involvement are critical. Panelists are set to share stories on how the industry is “automation-ready” and provide examples of vendors working in the space with commodity groups and universities.

Tech solutions

The educational portion includes crop-specific themed roundtables covering topics including tree fruit automation and reducing spray drift and improving spray coverage in the almond and tree nuts industry. To address the tree fruit industry’s tech needs, sessions will include strategies, failures, plans and expectations and be focused on priority areas and timelines to affect crop load management and harvest labor, Legrand said.

Real-life demos will occur in the fields, displaying existing autonomous solutions from a variety of agtech firms. FIRA plans to include suppliers of autonomous irrigation solutions, a big leap forward for this year’s edition, she said.

To allow growers to lace their boots and trek through fields to see automation in action, a new event is being offered — a pre-show bus tour, Oct. 17- 21. The Cal Ag Robotics Discovery Tour is scheduled to show growers and other industry participants the latest in agricultural technology by visiting a wide range of farms and crops using tech across the Sacramento, Central and Salinas valleys.

Through viewing the operations’ daily challenges and the solutions they use, the California Ag Robotics Discovery tour will allow participants to immerse themselves in and deepen their market understanding of tech in California’s leading and most powerful growers, Legrand said. The five-day tour will bring a broad vision into fruit and nut trees, vineyards and berries, vegetables, including tomatoes and leafy greens, and supply a network of growers and participants at the stops, she said.

“This is what is impressive with many ag robots: They are versatile, they can adapt,” Legrand said. “This is also what we do with FIRA, through traveling across California to meet different growers, and present what could be their next-gen machines.”

The show will also tackle commodity commission funding, industry collaboration and automation readiness, with sessions showing participants the need for funding and investment to move products across the finish line, Legrand said.

France-based GOFAR is a nonprofit organization that promotes and develops the agricultural robotics sector at international level.

For more information, visit fira-usa.com.

—  By Doug Ohlemeier, Assistant Editor

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He’s not just a user of biologicals, however. As the former CEO of AgraQuest, a biopesticide company, Meadows-Smith is recognized as a pioneer, selling the company to Bayer CropScience in 2012 for almost $500 million. This signaled the first major investment in biologicals by a traditional chemical company.

Now he is the CEO of BioConsortia, a Davis, California-based company that discovers, designs and licenses microbial products.

Marcus and Jenny Meadows-Smith share a passion for wine and food, which led to them develop Great Bear Vineyards. The winery hosts events ranging from wedding receptions to comedy nights and birthday parties.

As a boutique winery, Great Bear Vineyards produces about 2,000 cases a year, most of which are sold at the winery and through a wine club it runs. The winery has gained a reputation for its grapes, some of which are sold to Napa Valley wineries, a 45-minute drive from Davis. Marcus Meadows-Smith and his wife, head vintner Jenny Meadows-Smith, bought the former tomato, sunflower and corn ranch about 10 years ago, incorporating historic buildings into the business, including the barn and original homestead, built around 1860. Jenny Meadows-Smith, a chemist, attended the University of California- Davis’ renowned viticulture and enology program. The couple planted 10 acres of grapevines, about 600 olive trees, lavender and assorted fruit trees around the property. They process and sell olive and lavender oils and donate fruit to local charities.

Great Bear Vineyards offered its first wines for sale in 2018, and quickly became noticed, earning silver, gold and double-gold medals at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. Great Bear Vineyards was voted Best Local Winery by Sacramento Magazine readers in 2020 and 2021. Its Chardonnay, Roussanne varietals and Grand Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon have received high ranks from Wine Enthusiast Magazine.

Great Bear Vineyards kept the original barn and homestead at the former ranch. Marcus Meadows-Smith and his wife Jenny, who own and operate the winery, also live at the property.

The winery attracts visitors from UC-Davis, including international visitors, who are interested in Great Bear’s sustainable and organic growing practices. Weeds, wildlife, water and more Davis has hot, dry summers, so pest pressures are low, Meadows- Smith said.

Permanent cover crops include a mix of ryegrass, wildflowers and clover. Under the grapevines, weed control is critical because a grape’s flavor can be affected by plants touching the fruit. As an organic grower, Meadows-Smith said weed control is the most difficult challenge. “In the first year, you have to protect the very young vines, because if they get an insect attack, then you can lose the flowers,” he said. “Now that they’re mature, a small amount of insect pressure on the leaves does not affect the quality of the grapes at all. And then we tend to do like a lime sulfur (application) when the vines are dormant and then through the growing season, it’s mostly just a natural oil that is sprayed.”

To be effective at limiting pest damage, the treatment has to be repeated during the growing season. “Is it better for the environment? I don’t know, because we have to go through the vineyard more frequently,” Meadows-Smith said. “So you’re using more fossil fuels by taking the sprayer through on a more regular basis.”

Great Bear Vineyards uses Bayer’s Serenade ASO, a biological fungicide developed by AgraQuest, as well as Pyganic Crop Protection EC, a bio-insecticide derived from chrysanthemums, the biofungicide Regalia and a microbial insecticide containing spinosad, which has been used by organic growers for more than 20 years. Meadows-Smith describes himself as a “keen ornithologist,” and the property is home to owls (including a pair of great horned owls), kestrels and hawks, and other assorted wildlife.

If coyotes aren’t keeping the wild turkey population in check, they’ll eat the grapes, so a friend with a crossbow is invited to hunt them. “So having those birds of prey around is certainly a deterrent for other birds that come in,” Meadows-Smith said. “The problem you have is, once they’re pecked, the sugary liquid comes out, and then you can get disease, bunch rot. And then as an organic grower, it’s almost impossible to control that.” The winery stopped growing Petit Sirah and Zinfandel grapes, because they’re thin-skinned and prone to bunch rot.

Marcus Meadows-Smith tests winegrapes to to determine when they are ready for processing.

To ensure the grapes receive enough water despite the dry climate, Meadows-Smith employs deficit-irrigation techniques to train roots to grow deep. Quality, and not tonnage, is a goal in growing winegrapes.

“You’re looking to have small berries with intense flavors, and therefore you don’t actually want to fill them with water because then the berries just swell up,” he said. “Then you get a lot of juice, which means you can make a lot of alcohol, but you lose flavor.” Genetic editing Meadows-Smith said BioConsortia uses gene editing to maximize the beneficial potential within a microbe’s genome. For example, the company’s work on nitrogen-fixing microbes uses a proprietary research and development platform to improve a microbe’s nitrogen- fixing capabilities.

“Microbes are very clever, and when they detect ammonia in their immediate surroundings, they switch off nitrogen fixation because nitrogen fixation is very energy intensive if you do it in a factory or if you’re a microbe doing it, because you have to break chemical bonds,” he said.

BioConsortia removes the microbe’s feedback loop that tells it to turn off the nitrogen-fixing process, essentially causing those microbes to continue to provide nitrogen in the soil after synthetic fertilizers would have dissipated. “It’s different from genetic modification,” Meadows- Smith said. “What we’re doing, we are just unleashing the natural power of the microbes so they naturally fix atmospheric nitrogen or they naturally control nematodes — we just help them do it better.”

Field trials and the future

Before AgraQuest, Meadows-Smith led Chemtura Corporation’s plastics additives and crop protection business. Now, he’s helping growers reduce reliance on chemicals at BioConsortia. The company recently closed on a $15 million round of financing, spurred in part by successful field trials, according to the company.

Great Bear Vineyards grows four varieties of white grapes and eight varieties of red grapes, some of which are blended. As a boutique winery, Great Bear produces about 2,000 cases of wine a year.

“Particularly now at BioConsortia we’re looking to produce very high-performing products that are equivalent to the chemistry and their efficacy as (synthetic) products, or in the area of nitrogen-fixing microbes, that will displace a large percentage of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer,” he said. “You know, my philosophy is we don’t want the grower to compromise on quality. What we’re looking to do is to provide an easy-to-use, cost-effective product.”

The first U.S. regulatory approvals are expected on BioConsortia’s products this year and the company has agreements with companies to distribute specific products when EPA approves them. That includes a broad-spectrum biofungicide for diseases in apples, berries, grapes, stone fruits and vegetables from Nichino America, and the biostimulant Zaffre from The Mosaic Co. that has shown average yield increases of more than 15% in fruit and vegetable crops, including tomatoes and beans. Other partnerships haven’t been announced yet.

In recent years, BioConsortia’s products have been through about 3,000 field trials across the U.S., Meadows-Smith said, on a wide range of specialty and row crops. Trials are also ongoing in Europe and South America. More than a dozen seed companies are testing BioConsortia products as seed treatments. After selling AgraQuest, he became head of strategic and business management of biologicals for Bayer for a brief time.

It’s now common for the major chemical companies to have similar divisions, acquisitions or partnerships to advance biological products.

“I think growers are starting to see advantages to soil health, regenerative agriculture, that replacing some of the sprays with biologicals is giving benefits to the soil, to their ultimate yields,” he said. The products are becoming more shelf stable; some products had to be refrigerated, and were not easy to use or mix with other products in the sprayer tank. Inconsistent results concerned growers. But field trials in recent years have proved some biologicals do work as advertised, Meadows-Smith said. “So with the best biologicals, it’s no longer a question of compromise,” he said. “It’s now a question of getting the message out.”

— Chris Koger, contributing editor

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The Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA) is partnering with FieldWatch to introduce new technology aimed at promoting safe pesticide usage among beekeepers, crop producers and pesticide applicators in Georgia.

The nonprofit FieldWatch provides an online mapping registry that allows organic growers and beekeepers to alert commercial pesticide applicators and neighbors who farm about sensitive acreage.

This collaboration will facilitate the use of FieldWatch’s secure online registry, allowing users to map apiaries and crop fields, thereby improving communication and stewardship practices.

“Partnering with FieldWatch provides Georgia farmers and beekeepers with essential tools to ensure the safety and efficiency of pesticide applications. It reinforces our commitment to supporting our state’s agriculture, our number one industry,” Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper said in a news release.

“By encouraging registration through FieldWatch, we enhance stewardship and communication in agriculture, crucial for sustainable practices,” said Bob Walters, FieldWatch’s president, said in the release.

The initiative aligns with Georgia’s ongoing efforts under the Using Pesticides Wisely Program (UPW), a comprehensive safety and education initiative in collaboration with UGA Extension. The program has trained more than 17,000 Georgians on safe pesticide usage.

The FieldWatch tools, including DriftWatch and BeeCheck, will be pivotal in enabling Georgia’s agricultural community to register their locations securely, promoting sustainable pesticide practices across the state. Access to FieldWatch’s online portal, FieldCheck, will aid pesticide applicators in making informed decisions to minimize spray drift, according to the release.

FieldWatch operates in 24 states and one Canadian province. The databases provide applicators and growers the ability to check surrounding areas before they spray to minimize the risk of chemical drift that could compromise organic acreage or harm bees.

For more information on how to register and utilize FieldWatch tools, visit the Georgia Department of Agriculture’s website or FieldWatch’s official website.

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Michigan officials have confirmed the state’s second detection of the invasive spotted lanternfly (SLF)  in Monroe County.

SLF is a destructive pest that feeds on a wide variety of crops and plants, including cucumbers, basil, grapes, tree fruit including apples, cherries and peaches, as well as almond and walnut trees.

The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) announced that a small population of juvenile spotted lanternflies was discovered in Lambertville, Michigan, with the finding confirmed by USDA.

“The infestation was detected through monitoring traps deployed by Michigan State University (MSU), as part of collaborative survey initiatives with MSU, MDARD, and the USDA,” Steve Carlson, MDARD’s pesticide and plant pest management division director, said in a news release. “This work is critical in our efforts to identify and limit the spread of spotted lanternfly in Michigan.”

Native to eastern Asia, the spotted lanternfly first appeared in the U.S. in 2014 in southeastern Pennsylvania. It has since spread to 17 eastern and midwestern states. The insect is known to feed on a wide range of plants.

MDARD is collaborating with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, USDA, and Cooperative Invasive Species Management Areas to assess the scope of the infestation and determine an appropriate response.

Residents are urged to help prevent the spread of spotted lanternfly by inspecting vehicles, crushing nymphs and adult insects, and reporting sightings online to Eyes in the Field. For more information, visit here.

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