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Agriculture 2017

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NEW! CERTIFIED ORGANIC STOCK PRINT CARTONS Sambrailo Packaging is the only supplier to offer branded "Certified Organic" boxes for CCOF-certified growers. For more information, email Juana Ramirez at juana@sambrailo.com or call 831.763.7525. We don't have to toot our own horn... we let our customers do that for us. "Sambrailo Packaging has provided us with outstanding customer service, competitive pricing, inventory management, and qualit y control on our vegetable cartons and strawberry supplies. It is a pleasure to do business with a company that understands the needs of a small grower/packer/ shipper and still offers us the same level of service and competitive pricing as a large company." Brenda Haught, President Creekside Organics, Inc. HELPING GROWERS GROW WITH PRODUCTS AND SERVICES THAT IMPROVE PACKAGING OPERATIONS w w w.sambrailo.com RPET CLAMSHELLS • CORRUGATED TRAYS • ROW CROP CARTONS Some restrictions apply. Call for individual pricing. ***Call for NO COST OPTIONS*** 4.0% 30 YR. fIxed 0 POINTS (4.074% A.P.R.) 4.125% 30 YR. fIxed NO COST CHARGed!! (4.125% A.P.R.) 3.5% 15 YR. fIxed NO COST (3.5% A.P.R.) SURPRISe RATe dROP!!! Jim Chubb Home Loan Consultant Pacific Inland Financial Inc. 475-2600 jchubb1@gmail.com DRE #00911706, NMLS #360542; DRE #00956877, NMLS 361091 Rates as of 4/7/17. Subject to change without notice. Continued from page 4 Vern Fisher — Monterey Herald AgTech Summit in Salinas. WEXUS Understand your farm's energy & water usage. Reduce utility bills up to 40%. Energy & water management soware for farms Wexus Technologies Inc. (415) 429-6038 535 Mission St., 14th Floor San Francisco, CA 94105 wexusapp.com info@wexusapp.com Sign up for a free Wexus soware demo here Wexusapp.com/free-demo ability to pick the berries at the right time under the right conditions, still requires skilled labor. Two companies at the Forbes AgTech showcase are working on developing robots to fill that need. Harvest Croo Robotics is refining its machine for harvesting strawberries and hopes to have a complete harvester ready by Decem- ber. The technology centers around a patented "picking wheel" that gathers the leaves of the plant while two cameras – one to analyze the berries to decide which are ready for picking, and another to pinpoint its loca- tion — allows for a mechan- ical hand to pick and deliver the produce. Next to Harvest Croo Robotics was So Robotics, a gripping system that can adapt to handling objects of varying sizes, shapes and weights. Jeff DePree, senior director, So Robotics, demonstrated how the gripper can pick up del- icate objects along the lines of strawberries, mushrooms, peppers and tomatoes. DePree said the grippers can be made to work with any robotics system like the Croo system. Both technologies are on the way to providing their own solutions to particular facets of the labor issue. Chris Steinbruner, a partner in Madison Farms said, "People have to realize it's been happening for awhile while technology has evolved." The labor problem is compound- ed by a better economy in places like Mexico where most of the field workforce comes from. As the panel discussion on labor pointed out, the generation that was in the fields providing the skilled labor for harvesting crops is also giving way to a more educated generation that does not want to work in the fields. Zamora said education can- not be underestimated and Antle pointed out that in the future, his company will be looking for a different pool of workers with technology at the top of the list. The bottom line to the labor question for some at the Forbes AgTech Summit was that until technology pro- vides the solutions farmers seek, it will mean making the labor force that is still available more efficient and happy. James Herrera can be reached at 831-726-4344.

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