by Peter Wren-Hilton | Mar 3, 2023 | 2023 Salinas Biological Summit
We are delighted to be joined by the Undersecretary of the California Department of Food & Agriculture (CDFA), Christine Birdsong, as we formally launch the 2023 Salinas Biological Summit in San Francisco on 14 March.
Undersecretary Birdsong was appointed by Governor Newsom as Undersecretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture in 2021. Previously, she was Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Director of People and Culture for the Sun Valley Rice Company. She has also served as General Counsel for the National Cotton Council of America, Counsel for the Committee on Agriculture for the United States House of Representatives and Federal Government Affairs Leader for CropLife America. Undersecretary Birdsong earned a Juris Doctor degree from the UC College of the Law, San Francisco, and is a UC Berkeley alumni.
Undersecretary Birdsong’s presence reinforces the CDFA support for June’s Summit. This was further highlighted in this Western Growers press release issued on 2 March.
Jacqui and I will be spending 10 days in California as we build on the Summit program. We have already lined up 22 amazing speakers from government, research, industry and investment. You can view them here. Over the coming weeks, we will be announcing more local and international experts who will add their voice to this essential conversation.
Regulators and consumers are driving the move towards increased use of biological solutions to improve soil and plant health. Next week’s launch will provide the platform to share the significant opportunity that June’s Summit will bring.
We hope you can join us. For more details, email Peter Wren-Hilton at peter@wharf42.co.nz
by Peter Wren-Hilton | Feb 28, 2023 | 2023 Salinas Biological Summit
Over the past 10 days, we have announced more global experts and key influencers to June’s Summit programme. They include;
- Carl Casale – From Congress to key industry events, Carl is a sought-after commentator on the future of farming and global ag infrastructure
- David Gill – David’s two ‘farms’ rank among the top 10 growers in the Western United States
- Cristina Rohr – Christina is Managing Director, Food & Agriculture, with S2G Ventures
- Eugenia Saini – Eugenia is Executive Director of FONTAGRO, a unique sustainable co-financing mechanism for growers in Latin America & the Caribbean
- Larry Taylor – Co-founder & Managing Director, The Yield Lab, Asia Pacific
- Stuart Woolf – President & CEO of Woolf Farming & Processing. Incoming Chair, Western Growers
We very much hope you can join us in June.
by Peter Wren-Hilton | Jan 31, 2023 | 2023 Salinas Biological Summit
Working in partnership with the Western Growers Innovation & Technology Center, we are adding two further optional days for international delegates only to visit and meet major growers across the Central Valley.
Immediately following the Salinas Summit on 20-21 June, we’re organising a 2-day field trip, focusing on the area around Reedley in Fresno County. Known as the ‘World’s Fruit Basket’, the region is renowned for its fruit and vegetable cultivation: Stone fruit, citrus, grapes (table & wine) are just some of the staples. Last week, Dennis and I visited Harold McClarty, owner of HMC Farms just outside Reedley. Some of key fruits grown by HMC include peaches, nectarines, plums, plumcots and table grapes.
It’s an impressive unit. HMC is one of the largest adopters of solar power in the industry, with enough solar panels to generate more than 3 megawatts of renewable solar energy. The farm has donated more than 10 million pounds of fruit to the California Association of Food Banks through an ongoing relationship with the Farm to Family program. And as part of the HMC Farms commitment to using sustainable farming practices, they use pheromones instead of pesticides whenever there is an alternative available.
Harold, together with other leading growers in the region are planning to join the international delegation during the visit to talk about both their challenges and some of the opportunities that these are generating. Whilst the core theme of the Summit is biologicals, expect some frank discussions around water and automation. These are two other key focus areas for growers in Central Valley.
We are putting the final touches together for this two-day ‘field visit’. It will take in a visit to Reedley College, a community college of 7,000 students, which has a strong ag focus. With significant funding from the grower community, it has developed a number of different training programmes looking to upskill the future agricultural workforce. It’s a template that I suspect could be followed in other ag geographies.
We’ll be updating details of this additional programme on the Summit portal shortly. If you would like further information, please register your interest today at www.salinas-summit.com
by Peter Wren-Hilton | Jan 31, 2023 | 2023 Salinas Biological Summit
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
by admin | Jan 24, 2023 | 2023 Salinas Biological Summit
It was great to catch up with Scott Kumar, Senior Vice-President of Global Research & Design at Driscoll’s today. After several weeks of rain battered California, it was good to introduce a bit of New Zealand summer sunshine and warmth to the region!
As we prepare for June’s 2023 Salinas Biological Summit, meeting and talking to grower organisations across the Western Grower network is critical. Driscoll’s is a major seller of fresh strawberries and other berries. It is a fourth-generation family business that has been in the Reiter and Driscoll families since the late 1800s. In 2017, it controlled roughly one-third of the $6 billion U.S. berry market. Headquartered in Watsonville, Driscoll’s develops proprietary breeds of berries and then licenses them exclusively through approved growers.
Over the coming days, Dennis Donohue, Director of the Western Growers Innovation & Technology Center and I will be visiting growers and other key players across the State. Understanding their concerns and their motivations will help us develop the Summit program for June. The really good news is that interest is high, and we anticipate announcing a stellar line-up of speakers in early February. Today’s meeting with Scott was evident of that.
If you have not already registered your interest in the Summit, you can do so today by visiting the Summit portal.
by Peter Wren-Hilton | Jan 22, 2023 | 2023 Salinas Biological Summit
Welcome to 2023! And as we kick off the New Year, a major ‘Save the Date’.
At last October’s 2035 Oceania Summit, reducing agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and supporting farmers & growers adapt to a changing climate were the two key themes. Building more sustainable agricultural practice lay at the heart of the Summit. You can view every recorded Summit session today at https://www.2035.vision/summit-videos/
The scale of this massive challenge makes it necessary to ‘chunk up the elephant’. One major global trend that has secured Wharf42’s focus has seen producers and regulators begin to move away from the application of chemical pesticides, towards an increased use of biologicals. These improve soil and plant health and assist support pest management programs designed to reduce plant disease and stress. This leads to better crop yields and increases environmental sustainability.
Want to make a difference? This is your opportunity!
At June’s 2023 Salinas Biological Summit, we’ll be hosting some of the biggest names in global biological research, investment and commercialisation. With our Summit partners, Western Growers, we’ll be hosting two days of keynote plenary presentations, in-depth panel discussions and grower-focused breakout sessions. An on-site exhibition will provide the platform for established agribusinesses, agritech start-ups and researchers to demonstrate their solutions in the biological space.
With borders now once again open for international travel, the opportunity to meet in-person has never been more important. The ability for delegates from around the world to network and engage will be a key driver of, and focus for, the Summit program.
To support international delegates attending the Summit benefit from their time in North America’s ‘Salad Bowl’, there will be the additional opportunity to join organised ‘field visits’ to some of California’s most productive specialty crop regions; including Salinas Valley and Central Valley. Meeting growers ‘on farm’ will provide the opportunity to share knowledge and learn best practice from others. From previous similar agrifood tech missions to the region, it’s just amazing who you can meet on the bus!
We’ll be publishing details of the Summit’s draft program, highlighting some of our keynote speakers and provide information about how you can join and participate in the Summit, in early February.
If you want to learn more today, please register your interest at www.salinas-summit.com
