AgTechX Ed Imperial Valley was the second of four total events that anchor the AgTechX Ed Initiative. The initiative, which was launched by WGCIT and CDFA in 2021 to help transition the agriculture workforce to master rapidly developing agricultural technology, was initially rolled out at the first AgTechX Ed event at Reedley College. The last two AgTechX events will be at Hartnell College in Salinas, Calif., on April 13, 2022, and Woodland Community College in Woodland, Calif., on June 1, 2022. For more information on AgTechX Ed, visit www.agtechworkforce.com. AgTechX Food Safety On Feb. 2, 2022, in Yuma, Ariz., the AgTechX Food Safety event brought together the region’s growers, processors, scientists and innovators to discuss ways to accelerate the creation of a top-tier toolkit of rapid diagnostics and prevention technologies to keep the nation’s supply of fresh produce safer.
The event at the Four Points Sheraton in Yuma was a collaboration between the WGCIT, the Center for Produce Safety and the Yuma Center of Excellence for Desert Agriculture. The day’s first panel focused on Industry Issues, which looked at opportunities to prevent foodborne illness, which was moderated by Bonnie Fernandez-Fenaroli, the Executive Director for the Center for Produce Safety. Sonia Salas, Assistant Vice President, Science at Western Growers, discussed the organization’s innovative Food Safety Data Sharing platform. “Data silos are not new,” she said. “With this platform, we’re working to break down the silos. Trust, users, scale—we took those three things into consideration. We want to provide a platform users feel comfortable with so we can start having an industry- wide narrative.” The next panel, Regulatory Views, was a discussion between JVSmith Companies President and CEO Vic Smith with
new food safety solutions,” Donohue said. “We have learned that co-development between growers and processers and technology companies is how progress really happens.” The initial members of the cohort are: Javier Atencia, CEO & Founder, Pathotrak; Alex Athey, CEO, En Solución Inc.; Rafael Davila, Founder, Priority Sampling; Dr. Eyal Gerecht, President & CEO, TeraBAT, Inc.; Mike Hogan PhD, Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer, PathogenDx; Tom Jacobs, VP Sales and Marketing, SnapDNA; Marc Petitpas, Senior Director, North America Sales, ScanTech Sciences, Inc.; Carl “Skip” Rapp, CEO TeraBAT, Inc.; Jonathan Sierra, CEO, Yarok Microbio Ltd. And Chip Starns, Co-Founder, EVP, ScanTech Sciences, Inc. On Feb. 3, the cohort took a tour of growers and processors in the Yuma region to help aid their real-world understanding of the food safety innovations most needed by those with boots on the ground in the industry. Stops included a tour of the area’s ag water delivery system with the Wellton- Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District; visits to Nickerson Farms and GreenGate Fresh; lunch at the Arizona Western College Agriculture Research Lab; and a UV Water Treatment demonstration at JV Farms. The AgTechX Food Safety Yuma event was the first in a yearlong initiative on the subject, with the next two events in the series planned for later this year inWoodland, Calif. and King City, Calif. More information on these events will be available on wga.com in the coming weeks. About AgTechX As part of the Western Growers key focus to bringing agricultural technologies to farmers, the WGCIT created AgTechX—signature events where growers, researchers, technologists and entrepreneurs gather in key agricultural production areas for riveting discussions about future farming technology. The first AgTechX event launched in Brawley on Feb. 8, 2018, and has since been held in numerous rural communities all across California and Arizona. In total, nearly 1,500 people have attended the AgTechX events.
research scientist and consultant Tom Sidebottom and Barbara Cassens, the Director for the Office of Partnerships at the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. “At one point, communication between the agency and industry opened up,” said Sidebottom, who used to work for the FDA. “But somewhere along the line that changed and tapered off. If we can’t have a conversation, the data doesn’t matter.” During the event’s keynote, Dr. David W. K. Acheson, President and CEO of The Acheson Group, appeared remotely to discuss the field’s learnings that have occurred since the 2006 spinach E. coli outbreak. In addition, the AgTechX Food Safety Cohort was unveiled at the event during a Meet the Innovators panel and networking opportunity. This global group of innovators will receive exclusive resources to help them launch and scale their projects that specialize in prevention technologies and rapid diagnostics. “We are excited to welcome a talented group of innovators and entrepreneurs to Yuma to begin a year of focus on accelerating
JV Farms' UV Treatment
Pablo Delgado provides a demo of the UV technology during AgTechX Food Safety
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MARCH | APRIL 2022
Western Grower & Shipper | www.wga.com
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