proof-of-concept focused on supply chain visibility and included solutions that leveraged blockchain, cloud and other traceability technology from FoodLogiQ, IBM Food Trust, ripe.io and SAP.” Novihum Technologies is making soils better with products that contain high-value organic matter like what is found in the best soils. This is possible because it developed an advanced production technology and rigorous scientific protocols that guarantee the consistency and quality of its products. Its soil enhancers counter the loss of organic matter in soils, achieving in hours what takes years under natural conditions, with immediate and long-term results. It has grown its U.S. team with the addition of Doug Walters, sales director, Southeast. Also, an additional warehouse has been added in Miami, FL, improving the supply chain to better service new and existing customers. Naïo: The company has hired Marcus Dunning as its sales director for North America. He grew up in Northern California and moved to the Central Coast to attend Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, in 1995. He has lived on the central coast of California ever since and currently resides in Paso Robles. “Automation is the future of agriculture, and Naïo’s solution is a perfect fit for growers,” he said. “I see the tremendous opportunity for growth in North America and want to be a part of driving that growth. We need to grow our customer base as well as our brand recognition within the U.S. vegetable market. To accomplish these goals, Naïo is currently building its U.S. team as well as expanding its fleet of robots. It now has three Dinos in the U.S. and looks to expand this fleet even further by the end of the year.” iFoodDecisionSciences has a few truly exciting updates. The company has wholly acquired HarvestMark, making iFood the first and only comprehensive solution for the entire supply chain, providing full traceability accompanied by relevant and associated Food Safety and Quality data. Additionally, the LGMA and California Department of Food and Agriculture have officially rolled out and certified a program that allows LGMA members to conduct remote aspects of their audits by using the iFoodDecisionSciences software platform. This is the first time a regulatory body has given its stamp of approval like this. iFood offers an easy-to-use software service to capture FSQA data, implement real-time process controls, generate customized reporting and dashboards, and leverage cutting-edge predictive technology (which the FDA is clamoring for). HeavyConnect continues to lead innovation in the produce industry with an easy to use in-field solution to compliance documentation. This July, HeavyConnect is launching a Training Module, which helps farm operations by lowering the risk of poor tracking and management of mandatory trainings in the field. This solution enables managers to identify issues and take corrective action in real-time to make sure their operations are always audit-ready. Find out why HeavyConnect is trusted by farms all over the country to manage recordkeeping for both labor and food safety compliance. GeoVisual continues to deliver crop analytics requested by its contract customers, through collaborative work with customers and projects with national research agencies, including NASA and USDA, and the industry’s advocates, including Western Growers,
the Yuma Center of Excellence for Desert Ag, and the Colorado Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association. Recent initiatives include GeoVisual’s spearheading a public-private partnership funded by the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research to help the specialty crop industry advance its use of irrigation and fertilizer scheduling tools, in collaboration with Cal State Monterey Bay, NASA Ames and the University of California’s Cooperative Extension. Full Harvest: FarmLink, a nonprofit started by a group of Stanford students, who are helping connect growers with surplus produce to food banks to feed America’s most at-risk families, is using the Full Harvest marketplace to identify and purchase specific surplus commodities that their nonprofit partners are looking for. The marketplace is a very efficient way to connect with farmers. Previously, FarmLink was calling farmers/growers and asking if they had surplus. Now FarmLink and their food bank partners can go on to the Full Harvest Marketplace, and search by commodity and connect with growers immediately, make a purchase, and then have our platform handle all of the logistics for delivery. It’s now in one easy-to-use marketplace. The Bee Corp: Already starting to think about 2021 pollination? So is The Bee Corp! The company started reaching out to growers, brokers and beekeepers to book Verifli hive grading for the upcoming season. Last month, it hired Fresno native Jeff Walker as its new sales representative. Spots are already starting to fill up, so get in touch soon to secure your preferred grading date. Plus, the company is offering free Verifli credits if you sign up before the end of July. The Bee Corp made a ton of improvements and new features in store for next year’s version of Verifli. There is one major change to be aware of: the company will be exclusively deploying Verifli as a service in 2021. Just like it did this season, it will be sending its team to grade your hives with the Verifli app next year. That means it won’t be shipping IR cameras and you won’t be tasked with waking up in the middle of the night to grade hives. The company take care of the hard work—all you need to do is sit back and wait for your results to come in. This also means that it will be scheduling hive grading on a first-come, first-serve basis. Sign up early to secure a priority date and receive your hive strength results well before bloom. ApisProtect has joined the Microsoft for Startup program. This strategic partnership will allow ApisProtect to use Microsoft technologies to scale its business for the next two years. Dr. Edwards Murphy, CEO of ApisProtect, said, “Our bee monitoring technology will enable beekeepers to manage their apiaries more effectively and focus on cultivating larger and stronger colonies. We are delighted to be working with Microsoft as we scale our company globally over the next two years.” Agtools has won the 2020 Flywheel Investment Conference competition and $125,000 investment award from Flywheel Angel Network. Founded in 2017 by Martha Montoya and her brothers Gustavo and Oscar Montoya, Agtools is a software as a service (SaaS) ag and food supply chain platform offering real-time data and intelligence to farmers and buyers using algorithms helping manage market volatility, increase profitability and reduce food waste. Agtools has locations in Wenatchee, WA and Salinas, CA with their technology teams based in Washington State.
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JULY | AUGUST 2020
Western Grower & Shipper | www.wga.com
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