Innovation and efficiency making life easier at Salinas Ag Tech Summit

For the agriculture industry the future is here and with that comes innovative technology.

For the second year in a row the Salinas Valley Ag Technology Summit was held in Gonzales featuring the latest gadgets from all different types of companies to help growers and field workers do their jobs more efficiently.

“We are a start-up in every sense of the word,” said Dr. Cliff Hogan, with Eagle Eye Ag Technology.

Hogan is in the business of aerial surveillance, or drones.

“You can survey about eight acres in about 10 minutes and you see everything,” Hogan said.

Covering the ground from the sky, Hogan said growers can spot insect damage from the air using H.D. cameras.

He said he wants ag consultants and crop advisers to use this as a tool, but first he needs to get an exemption permit from the Federal Aviation Administration to fly commercially.

“The F.A.A. rules are sort of up in the air at the moment,” said Hogan. He added, it’ll be at least two years before the F.A.A. finalizes its rules for drones.

“Five years ago, no one would have imagined this solar-powered vehicle working in ag,” said Peter DeGroot, a mechanical engineer for Valley Fabrications in Salinas.

DeGroot showed off his innovation, which cuts out carrying boxes and boxes of strawberries when workers are done harvesting with each row. DeGroot said there are 30 versions of that strawberry picker in the Salinas Valley and they go for around $60,000 each.

“You’re doing less walking and picking more,” he said.

More strawberries leads to more cash and happier employees, he added.

“This has helped the growers keep those laborers that are in the strawberry picking business,” DeGroot said referring to a labor shortage int he industry.

The Monterey Bay Chapter of the California Association of Pest Control Advisers & Hartnell College Agriculture Business and Technology Institute co-hosted the event.