February 2019 - 1

Harrell honored for
commitment to Florida
strawberries
Biodegradable mulch
lessens labor pressure
9
16
26
Debut Fruit, Vegetable
40 Under 40 class
honored
February 2019 | Volume 53 |
Issue 2
FarmWise autonomous
weeder available in California
The FarmWise machine automatically detects weeds in the soil. Sebastian Boyer, left, and Thomas Palomares of FarmWise. Photos: FarmWise
(Editor's note: This is the first in a series
of stories in which VGN will explore
emerging technologies impacting specialty
crop operations).
By Stephen Kloosterman
Associate Editor
Agriculture technology startup
High-Tech Tools
2019
FarmWise has unveiled an autonomous
vegetable weeder it says can help growers
reduce their herbicide use as well as
reliance on labor.
The FarmWise machine drives over
rows, detects weeds in the soil, cuts their
roots and tosses them out of the row with
an action mimicking that of a person using
a hoe, said Sebastien Boyer, co-founder
and CEO of FarmWise. Currently, one of
the machines is operated in part by an onfield
operator and a " teleoperation service "
from a central center. But the company
hopes its machines will reach a higher level
of autonomy by early 2019 so that one onfield
operator could supervise more than
one of the machines.
FarmWise's machine - in an interview,
Boyer said they're not yet calling it a robot
- was successfully trialed in 2018 in the
Salinas Valley and Santa Maria region
through the company's relationship with
the Western Growers Association. Two of
the machines are now being deployed on
lettuce and cauliflower fields on a weekly
basis, and the company website is taking
pre-orders from vegetable growers who
See WEEDER, page 6
Farm bill benefits specialty crop growers
By Stephen Kloosterman
Associate Editor
A farm bill happens but once every
five years, so a bill made law before
Christmas was a timely present for
American specialty crop growers.
The Agriculture Improvement
Act of 2018 passed the House of
Representatives with an overwhelming
majority of 369-47 and the U.S. Senate
by 87-13 - the largest Senate majority
vote in the history of the farm bill.
Officials say many provisions in the
law will benefit growers of vegetables
and fruit.
The farm bill governs and funds
a variety of federal agriculture
programs. Many of the renewed
President Donald Trump signs the 2018 Farm Bill. Photo: White House Communications
programs, such as the Specialty
Crop Block Grant, will continue to
support specialty crop agriculture.
Other new provisions include
language supporting research into
agricultural mechanization, beneficial
trade policies and an expanded crop
insurance program for fruit and
vegetable growers.
Mechanical labor
For instance, the bill contains
See BILL, page 7

February 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of February 2019

February 2019 - 1
February 2019 - 2
February 2019 - 3
February 2019 - 4
February 2019 - 5
February 2019 - 6
February 2019 - 7
February 2019 - 8
February 2019 - 9
February 2019 - 10
February 2019 - 11
February 2019 - 12
February 2019 - 13
February 2019 - 14
February 2019 - 15
February 2019 - 16
February 2019 - 17
February 2019 - 18
February 2019 - 19
February 2019 - 20
February 2019 - 21
February 2019 - 22
February 2019 - 23
February 2019 - 24
February 2019 - 25
February 2019 - 26
February 2019 - 27
February 2019 - 28
February 2019 - 29
February 2019 - 30
February 2019 - 31
February 2019 - 32
February 2019 - 33
February 2019 - 34
February 2019 - 35
February 2019 - 36
February 2019 - 37
February 2019 - 38
February 2019 - 39
February 2019 - 40
February 2019 - 41
February 2019 - 42
February 2019 - 43
February 2019 - 44
February 2019 - 45
February 2019 - 46
February 2019 - 47
February 2019 - 48
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