A major highlight of my current trip to California was the meeting with California Agriculture Secretary, Karen Ross, in Sacramento. Together with colleague, Dennis Donohue, from Western Growers, we discussed the development of the Salinas Biological Summit program and its potential impact on reducing growers’ dependency on chemical pesticides. It’s great to have the support of Secretary Ross and her team at the CDFA as we continue to build and socialise the Summit purpose.
As the demand for nutritious and affordable food continues to rise, the need to accelerate sustainable agriculture, improve crop yields and offer protection against a wide variety of plant diseases and insect pests has never been more important.
An hour after we met, Secretary Ross launched the ‘Roadmap for California; Accelerating Sustainable Pest Management’ at UC Davis. You can download the report at Accelerating Sustainable Pest Management: A Roadmap for California. Expect to learn more about this in June. It provides a very effective focal point for discussion. This is not just a California conversation. It’s rapidly becoming a global one.
During my visit, it has been agreed that Wharf42 will manage the Summit’s back-end and operational management. This is partly a legacy of October’s 2035 Oceania Summit in Auckland. We’ll also be liaising with international partners and assist with the program build. We expect to be able to publish details of the core themes, keynote speakers, accommodation options and registration details within the next 2 weeks. These will all be available at the Summit portal at www.salinas-summit.com
In discussions with a number of partners, we have been looking at Summit outcomes that can ensure that the discussions in June have long-term impact. Expect to learn more in the coming weeks. The next set of our face-to-face meetings in California will take place in March.
Before then, Wharf42 will be spending 10 days in South Australia as we attend and participate in the 2023 evokeAG conference. AgriFutures Australia and the team in Adelaide have put together a really fantastic programme of themes and speakers. It’s going to be an awesome few days!
In the meantime, to register your interest in the 2023 Salinas Biological Summit, please sign up at www.salinas-summit.com
