New Ag-Tech center opens in downtown Salinas

The age-old Ag industry is going high-tech. Western Growers launched the first ever Western Growers Center for Innovation and Technology in Salinas Thursday. It brings innovators and industry leaders together to find solutions to agriculture’s biggest challenges.

“The only way to feed the world in the next 50 years is going to be through technology,” said Tom Nassif, Western Growers president and CEO.

Nassif said the center already has five Ag-Tech companies working inside the new Taylor Farms building on Main Street. One of them is California Safe Soil, a company that recycles food from supermarkets into fertilizer.

“Food waste is a huge problem. We actually throw away as much as 40 percent of the food that is grown in this country,” said Dan Morash, founder of California Safe Soil.

Food waste is just one of many challenges faced by the agriculture industry. Others include a limited workforce, more people to feed and water restrictions from years of drought. This is something Bruce Taylor, CEO of food giant Taylor Farms, knows well.

“This is a chance for the industry to be collaborative, pull our resources, come up with good discoveries, let the whole industry embrace them and then be more responsible stewards of our resources,” said Taylor.

And Western Growers agree, what better place to bring Ag and technology together than Salinas.

“Salinas is the salad bowl of the nation. And Western Growers represents over 50 percent of all the fresh produce in the country… And much of it is grown right here in the Salinas Valley,” said Nassif.