#2
Technology from Europe Plays Large Role in Field Productivity Grimmway worked with European companies and producers to pair “al la cart” technology from Europe along with the
farm’s own home-grown technology to bolster radish growing and harvest. The application of these blended mechanical systems encouraged Grimmway to adopt a holistic model of changing planting, growing and harvest practices to accommodate these new systems as opposed to the legacy manual process. The result? It flushed out a lot of the labor, increased productivity and quality in the field and improved the economics on radish.
#4
#3
Grimmway Builds Tailor-Made Machines for Specific Micro-Climates Grimmway has systems that it develops for the different regions that it grows in to ensure that their crop thrives in different weather, various soil types, etc. This includes building all its own
COVID-19 Fast- Tracks Transition toward Packaged Vegetables
planters and continually enhancing “off the shelf ” metering units.
The pandemic catalyzed Grimmway’s transition toward packaged vegetables, including launching a new packaging system, developing new methods of cooling to ensure that quality is preserved, accelerating its push into the automating packaging and making package SKUs available to customers. “We take our role in producing healthy fresh produce for the nation very seriously and want to make sure that we don’t have supply chain interruptions due to health issues. We want to manage that volatility, and we are doing everything we can to make the food supply as secure as possible. That requires us to approach things from a new perspective. That requires innovation,” said Morrison.
Grimmway Accelerating Automation through Western Growers Partnership Additionally, Grimmway and the WGCIT are launching a test farm to accelerate innovation and fast-track the development cycle. Startups will have the opportunity to perform R&D year-round and growers will have the opportunity to evaluate the suitable technology. The test farm is slated to available for use in early 2022, adding yet another layer of groundbreaking innovation at Grimmway Farms. #5 Jeff Morrison Grimmway became a sponsor of the Western Growers Center for Innovation & Technology (WGCIT) in October 2019 and was the first sponsor to join the Global Harvest Automation Initiative, WG’s effort to solve the ag industry’s labor woes while simultaneously helping harvest automation start-up companies commercialize and scale at a more rapid pace. “The next level of automation and innovation—even for a company like Grimmway—exceeds what we have the capacity to execute on individually. We need a team, and we need to pool capital and resources to make progress in that area. That’s why we are really focused on the WG effort,” said Morrison.
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MARCH | APRIL 2 021
Western Grower & Shipper | www.wga.com
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