With investment in the space at an all-time high, ag tech events are popping up in cities from San Francisco to New York.
Problem for the agriculture industry being few aggies care to travel to major metropolitan areas, especially when the season heats up, which leaves many of the topics and technologies discussed grounded in the city.
The goal of the Salinas AgTech Summit, part of the Forbes Reinventing America series, was to overcome those roadblocks and bring Silicon Valley to the Salinas Valley - also known as the “Salad Bowl of the World,” where a majority of the nation’s lettuce is grown.
Bringing together boots and suits under one tent in downtown Salinas, Calif., on July 8-9 helped make for some engaging discussions between business leaders, farmers, investors and politicians about the state of ag-tech, investing in the space, use of big data, the adoption of innovative technologies in the field.
“Having these types of events in agricultural areas is extraordinarily important,” said Tom Nassif, President and CEO of the Western Growers Association, which has represented farmers growing fresh produce in Arizona, California and Colorado since 1926.
“When investors come here, they see the sophistication, and the technology that has already been adopted by the ag industry, and the some of the vast operations that we have here. It gives them a different and more positive perspective about what farming is all about in the 21st Century.”
A Salinas lettuce field located near the The AgTech Summit. Photo by Brian Milne
During the event, ag tech leaders converged under a tent on Main Street Salinas, just outside the nearly completed Taylor Farms Headquarters, which will host the Western Growers Association Center for Innovation and Technology. The center, backed by Western Growers and Silicon Valley Global Partners (SVG Partners), is being built with the goal of helping accelerate and drive investments in ag technologies.
“The fact that we’re opening an innovation center here, an incubator, shows the dedication to bringing these technologies to the field,” Nassif added, “Being near the farmer will let those people, wherever they live, come here and have a place to sit, talk, and work with the farmers who are the ones who are going to invest in this technology.”
During his presentation on “The State of AgTech Investing,” AgFunder CEO Rob LeClerc shared mid-year projections that forecast investment in the Ag Tech space would grow from $2.4 billion in 2014 to $4.2 billion in 2015.
According to LeClerc, 29% of this year’s investments have been in the Food eCommerce space (not much of a surprise given Silicon Valley’s software development background).
That said, robotics (10%), decision support technology (9%), bioenergy (8%) and soil and crop technology (5%) still make up a significant piece of the pie in terms of ag tech investments.
Monterey County growers help produce a majority of the nation's lettuce. Photo by Brian Milne
And we’ll need those technologies to continue taking hold in Salinas and beyond, if the ag industry is going to continue growing more with less in the face of today’s water issues and a global need to feed more than 9.6 billion people by 2050.
“I’d love to continue working with all of these talented young people, who bring a whole new perspective to the issues we’re trying to solve today,” said California Department of Food and Ag Secretary Karen Ross, wrapping up the event. “It’s all about the future. It’s all about the future.”