agriculture

New Western Growers Center for Innovation and Technology connects Growers with Solutions

“In an era of diminishing natural and human resources and growing regulatory and marketplace demands, the future of agriculture depends on technology,” says Tom Nassif, president and chief executive officer for Western Growers Association (WGA), which is working to connect high technology and the soil through a facility based in America’s salad bowl.

The new Western Growers Center for Innovation and Technology (WGCIT), which opened late last year at Salinas, Calif., is a technology incubator aimed at bringing innovative entrepreneurs together with farmers to facilitate creative solutions to the biggest challenges facing agriculture.

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Toro Ag to Host The Water Zone, Focus on Urban Agriculture

On Thursday, November 19, Toro Ag’s Inge Bisconer and Paul McFadden will guest-host a very special episode of “The Water Zone” radio show, focusing on urban agriculture.

They’ll be speaking with some very special guests. Tune in Thursday at 6 p.m. PDT on NBC News Radio KCAA 1050 AM, KCAA 106.5 FM, or online at www.kcaaradio.com.

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Agricultural Irrigation Technology Day on Capitol Hill

Congressman Adrian Smith (Neb.), Congressman Jim Costa (Calif.) and members of the House Modern Agriculture Caucus hosted the first-ever agricultural irrigation technology day on July 22. The Irrigation Association sponsored the event, which consisted of a breakfast briefing and an evening reception.

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Agriculture Irrigation Technology Transforming Farming

Madera County farmer Tom Rogers thought he knew a lot about how to irrigate his family’s 175-acre almond ranch. But several droughts, including the current four-year dry spell, made him reconsider his approach on how to get the most out of his ever-shrinking water supply.

For the last two years, Rogers has received no surface water, relying purely on groundwater wells to keep the ranch’s trees alive and producing.

Nothing is taken for granted on the Rogers’ farm, and nothing is wasted, especially water.

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Farmer Solves Water Woes with Subsurface Drip Irrigation

When Jim Bahrenburg looks across the land he’s worked in the Monument and Kimberly areas, he sees buried treasure.

That treasure isn’t gold, but water.

Drawn from the North Fork John Day River, this water flows through small underground tubes to gradually irrigate blocks of land for crops. Starting on the North Fork Ranch in the Kimberly area, Bahrenburg said he first planted rye to choke out the thistles on what was just a neglected pasture, and then continued the transformation by planting row crops.

Today the land produces corn, onions, beets, peppers, squash and dill.

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An estimated $10 Million in Grants Available for California Agriculture

The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) is now accepting applications for the State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP), authorized by emergency drought legislation (Assembly Bill 91).

An estimated $10 million will be available for competitive grant funding to provide financial assistance to implement irrigation systems that reduce greenhouse gases and save water on California agricultural operations.

The funding is made available through the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, the proceeds of California’s greenhouse gas Cap and Trade program.

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WATER EFFICIENCY EQUATION: Reducing Use Per Unit Gaining Traction

With California now firmly entrenched in its fourth drought year in a row, the irrigation industry is rightly focused on water efficiency.

Paul McFadden, who is senior sales manager for Toro Micro-Irrigation, El Cajon, CA, said while the focus is clear, that doesn’t always mean using less water. “It’s an equation: units of input vs. units of output.”

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