AgTech Summit seeks younger generations to lead industry

The City of Salinas is hosting its annual Forbes AgTech Summit showcasing the latest developments in merging traditional agriculture industry with modern technology trends.

Organizers are calling this a collaboration between the Salinas Valley and Silicon Valley.

The summit brings together growers and innovators who want to focus on making sure the Salad Bowl of the World has a strong future. And an important part of that future is the next generation of agriculture leaders.

“I used to be a farmer. I spent just under a decade and various degrees farming, from urban farms to big scale farms,” said Nathan Pertz, the technical support manager at Seedwiz.

His career has taken him into the technology realm, working with Seedwiz, a data aggregator which helps farmers select the specific seeds they need online and more efficiently.

It is one of the many new innovations in Ag Tech. Another one is called the autonomous wheelbarrow, which allows farmers to place heavy objects on it and have it follow the farmer automatically and stop on its own through the use of a sensor.

For an age-old industry, innovations like this could be revolutionary.

“I’d say we’re definitely at a crossroads. This is the turning point where you either need to embrace technology or get out,” said Pertz. “I mean every industry is going that way and farming can’t ignore it.”

He says profits are getting smaller and smaller, and the ag industry continues facing labor shortages. Pertz also says another big problem he sees is the huge generational gap.

“I’m 26. I’m probably the youngest person here by 10 years. I’m just guessing. But usually on average I’m the youngest person in the room by 20 years,” he said.

Summit organizers say the average age of the American farmer is 65. However, they are confident about attracting the younger generation.

“We have a summit where it’s really all about young people and it’s all about fresh ideas being applied to agriculture,” said Paul Noglows, the executive producer of the Forbes AgTech Summit.

“I’m hoping some millennials will step up to the plate and recognize our food system is really important, especially here in California,” said Pertz.

Along with some tech demos, the summit also held speaker sessions in Oldtown Salinas near the Steinbeck Center. They will continue the event into Thursday showcasing over 70 AgTech startups.