Reservoir Opens Specialty Crop AgTech Innovation Center On March 17, Reservoir officially opened Reservoir Farms-Salinas, its flagship on-farm innovation hub for specialty crops, turning its vision for an on-farm agtech innovation center into a working reality. The new site features multiple innovation barns and 24 acres of dedicated commercial test fields, creating the most concentrated ecosystem of technology leaders, growers and startups anywhere in agriculture to rapidly scale solutions for global food production challenges.
rural communities and a more secure food supply for American consumers.” At the event, Reservoir discussed the continuation of its strategic partnership with Western Growers that formalizes WG’s continued role in connecting the hub’s work with the needs of specialty crop producers across the West. “Growers have been at the heart of Reservoir from day one,” said Walt Duflock, Senior Vice President of Innovation at Western Growers. “Through Western Growers’ partnership, our members have had a seat at the table from the very beginning to make sure this isn’t innovation for innovation’s sake, but rather innovation focused on solving the labor, cost and sustainability pressures they feel every season. Our new multi-year partnership with Reservoir is designed to take this model from Salinas into more crops and regions, and to turn promising technologies into rugged tools growers can trust.” -Western Growers
“From our early days, Reservoir listened intently to partners to understand where innovation in agriculture was stuck,” said Danny Bernstein, Founder and CEO of Reservoir. “Once our vision to create an on-farm innovation center was clear, we worked relentlessly with partners across the industry to bring the energy, focus and skills necessary to manifest the space and people necessary to make this a reality. With the doors open, the focus turns to execution and impact—in the form of real-world solutions for growers, upskilled jobs for
New Voices of the Valley: From San Francisco to the Farm with Jacie and Zac
In this episode of Voices of the Valley, we sit down with Jacie Johnston Green and Zac Green of Johnston Farms and WN Citrus, a fourth-generation family operation nestled at the base of the Tehachapi Mountains. What began nearly 80 years ago with a single potato crop has grown into a diverse farm producing citrus, potatoes, peppers, carrots and more across thousands of acres. Jacie and Zac share their agriculture journey, from Jacie returning to her family’s farm after working in the
Bay Area to Zac leaving a successful San Francisco coffee business to join the operation. Together, they reflect on the challenges and rewards of farming in California, the realities behind common agriculture myths and what it means to carry forward a multigeneration legacy.
Scan the QR code to check out the latest episodes of the Voices of the Valley podcast. -Michelle Rivera
63 Western Grower & Shipper | www.wga.com April – June 2026
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