Reservoir Farms and Western Growers have announced the opening of applications for membership at Reservoir Farms, an on-farm robotics incubator located in California's Salinas Valley. The facility is designed to support the development, testing, and scaling of agricultural technology solutions for specialty crops in real-world farming environments.
This initiative aims to bridge the gap between agricultural technology startups and the practical needs of growers, addressing a common challenge in the agtech industry. Despite growing investment in agtech, many startups struggle with commercial adoption due to a disconnect between technological development and the operational requirements of farmers. Reservoir Farms seeks to resolve this issue by providing startups with direct access to the expertise of Western Growers' 2,500 members, ensuring that new technologies are developed and refined with input from experienced growers.
According to Dave Puglia, President and CEO of Western Growers, the incubator represents a new approach to agricultural research and development. The program connects startups with growers, allowing them to develop and validate technologies that are directly relevant to farm operations.
Reservoir Farms is now accepting applications for its first cohort, which will include 12 startups. The focus areas for this initial group include robotic harvesting for crops such as strawberries, broccoli, iceberg lettuce, and romaine; rugged mobility solutions for uneven terrain; machine vision for assessing crop maturity and quality; lightweight end effectors for delicate crops; modular field robotics; edge AI for cloud-independent automation; and precision soil and bed analytics.
Startups participating in the program will have access to custom-planted specialty crop fields, fully equipped research and development workshops, and flexible shop space without long-term lease commitments. The facility is intended to accelerate the transition of new technologies from concept to field application.
Danny Bernstein, CEO of The Reservoir, emphasized that the program is designed to move agricultural innovations from theoretical concepts into practical applications in the field. The partnership with Western Growers allows startups to receive early feedback from growers, ensuring that their solutions address actual agricultural challenges.
The validation process developed by Western Growers provides participating startups with a quantitative "scorecard," measuring scalability, effectiveness, and financial viability. This structured evaluation offers clear insights into each technology's performance, helping startups refine their solutions and gain credibility with investors and growers.
Applications for the first cohort at Reservoir Farms are now open, with selected startups gaining access to field environments tailored to their research and development needs.
For more information:
Ann Donahue
Western Growers
Tel: +1 949 302 7600
Email: [email protected]
www.wga.com