April 2023 - 26

BIOCONTROLS
Salinas Biological Summit seeks ideas
from all sides
BY CHRIS KOGER
MANAGING EDITOR
A
mong growers who rely on chemical inputs to
ensure their crops aren't lost to voracious insects
or overgrown with weeds, it's no surprise they're
not going to be able to rely on those chemicals - some
that have been in use in fields and orchards across the
U.S. for decades - in the coming decades.
Whether regulations, consumer activism, pest
and disease resistance or the growing sustainability
movement in agriculture, the issue of crop inputs is getting
more attention. In the U.S., the focus on chemicals in
agriculture is the greatest in California, which in January
released the Roadmap to 2050. That plan mandates the
elimination of certain " priority pesticides " and making
sustainable pest management practices the " de facto "
method throughout the state to treat pests, disease and
weeds for all crops.
The document is a collaboration from the California
Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR), California
Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA), Ag Innovations
and the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
Dennis Donohue, director of the Western Growers
Center for Innovation & Technology in Salinas, California,
said in the year leading up to the Roadmap to 2050 release,
anticipation grew.
" We were aware that DPR, CDFA, CalEPA, that working
group, were going to produce a product, and that it was
likely to change the landscape, " Donohue said. " In general
terms, it's 'Use less chemistry and more biology.' "
In talking with Western Growers' members and board
members, Donohue decided " it would be a good idea if we
got ahead of things a little bit. "
He said the industry wants to avoid another " methyl
bromide situation, " referring to the effective fumigant
relied on by growers of strawberries and other crops
that was banned in the U.S., leaving growers without an
effective alternative.
'Getting the growers in the room'
That's the genesis of the Salinas Biological Summit,
June 20-21, according to Donohue. The event is presented
by Western Growers and New Zealand-based Ag Tech
consultancy Wharf42. The two organizations also
collaborated on an ag tech conference in Auckland, New
Zealand, in October.
Donohue sees research in
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biologicals as a different, but
important, side of ag tech, along
with automated weeding, thinning
and harvesting machinery. Precision
sprayers are also cutting down on
chemical use, being just as or more
effective with the ability to target a
weed or pest infestation.
In fact, Donohue said precision ag
tools will help in the transition period
as growers decrease pesticides.
The summit has several objectives.
website: www.springbrooksupply.com
e-mail: sbs@springbrooksupply.com
877-396-1956 toll free
11291 Lakewood Blvd., Holland, MI 49424
26 | APRIL 2023
DENNIS
DONOHUE
" The thinking was really two-fold, that we needed a
different approach to trialing, that was embedded in a live
commercial setting, because that's how you have a better
chance at truer economics and efficiencies, " he said.
The second part is education and communication, and
getting all viewpoints involved in the process. That's why
the summit has representation from not only the growers
and biologicals manufacturers, but also regulators,
http://www.springbrooksupply.com
April 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of April 2023
