Voices of the Valley

Latest Episodes:

Bruce Rasa of AgVoice Aug 14, 2018

Show notes

In this episode of Voices in the Valley, we hear about AgVoice, the world's first voice and data management start-up company that allows ag professionals the freedom to work hands-free while on-the-go. AgVoice CEO Bruce Rasa shares the journey of how AgVoice came to be and how it can revolutionize the industry. AgVoice is a mobile voice-interaction service designed for food and agriculture professionals to capture insights on the go. By using proprietary analytics and processing of raw voice files—including captured time stamps and location data—users can improve productivity and workflow management, increase documentation accuracy and gain valuable insights to optimize the use of resources in production. © 2018 Western Growers

Nora La Torre of Ganaz Aug 06, 2018

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There is a severe ag labor shortage and it’s only going to get worse. Changing demographics and stringent regulatory barriers are causing the flow of workers crossing the border to dramatically slow down. These are the workers that help us harvest our crops—the workers that are crucial in providing the nutritious fruits and vegetables that feed our families. Answering the call to help solve agriculture’s severe labor shortage, agtech start-up company, Ganaz, has developed an app to help farms recruit and engage with their workforce. In this episode of Voices of the Valley, Ganaz Co-Founder Nora La Torre will speak about how they are using their growing network of thousands of farmworkers and their social media integrations to let farms recruit farmworkers with a few taps from their smartphone. Once on the job, farmers can get essential messages out to their workforce (like shift changes) and solicit feedback on working conditions to improve retention.

Diane Wetherington of iFood Decision Sciences Jul 31, 2018

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In this episode of Voices of the Valley, Diane Wetherington, CEO of iFoodDecisionSciences, speaks to Dennis Donohue about their startup journey. iFoods shares a little about how this agtech start-up company provides food safety and process control data management software solutions for growers, shippers, packers, processors and distributors.

Raja Ramachandran of Ripe.io Jul 24, 2018

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Ever been confused on exactly what blockchain is? Or how it can help agriculture? Raja Ramachandran is the CEO of Ripe.io, and in this edition of Voices of the Valley, he explains exactly when blockchain can be useful and how to harness its power. Raja goes into how Ripe.io leverages blockchain technology to create a digital bridge that engenders transparency, trust and honesty for food producers, distributors, and consumers.

Brian Curtis of Concentric Power Jul 16, 2018

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Brian Curtis is CEO and founder of Concentric Power Inc. Concentric Power has developed a pre-engineered, prefabricated, modular power plant design that can be installed at food processing facilities for fresh produce. Most recently, this agtech startups built a cogeneration plant for Taylor Farms that helps the ag giant generate onsite electric power for low temperature refrigeration, producing an annual energy offset of 64 percent. During the podcast, Brian speaks about his entrepreneurship journey into agriculture and explains the steps to how and why he jumped into cogeneration.

Colin Brown of TracMap Jul 09, 2018

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Colin Brown is Founding Director of TracMap, an agtech company that offers a complete precision guidance system for ground applications to improve how crops receive pesticides. He will touch on how his company’s Spray and Harvest Management System can help growers reduce costs and improve yields across a wide range of specialty crops. With their technology, growers easily select which blocks or rows need pesticides from a computer, which sends the data to the tractor operator and then tracks if any portion of the blocks or rows were missed during pesticide application. TracMap says their system works for 100% of vehicles, 100% of staff, 100% of the time!

Abby Taylor-Silva of Grower-Shipper Association of Central California Jul 02, 2018

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Abby Taylor-Silva is Vice President, Policy and Communications at Grower-Shipper Association of Central California. In this episode of Voices of the Valley, Abby speaks about the latest updates in groundwater and water technology. She also touches on the types of technology she has seen being develop to improve water quality and soil health.

Nathan Dorn of Food Origins Jun 26, 2018

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Nathan Dorn is the founder and CEO of Food Origins. Food Origins is a data-driven start-up company that works with growers to assess the impact of potential innovations. In this episode of Voices of the Valley, Nathan explains how his innovative technology will significantly improve the efficiency of the $20B hand harvested fruit industry with the single click of a precision data collection system. He shares the journey of how he developed tech to offer precision harvest data in real time with one click of a low cost handheld device in the field.

Patrick Zelaya of HeavyConnect Jun 18, 2018

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Patrick Zelaya is the founder and CEO of Heavy Connect. HeavyConnect, one of the first residents of the Western Growers Center for Innovation & Technology, prides itself on creating diversity in the workforce by offering youth opportunities and careers in technology. The startup builds mobile workflow platforms that automate and simplify many of the tasks that consume a farming manager’s day. In this episode of Voices of the Valley, Patrick shares how his agtech start-up company stays attuned to the needs of the industry and details the steps of how he got his company off the ground and into the agtech space.

Drew Ketelsen of HMC Farms Jun 11, 2018

Show notes

Drew Ketelsen is Ranch Operations Manager of HMC Farms. In this episode of Voices of the Valley, Drew highlights the water issues farmers in the Central Valley face and what types of innovations and technology available to help ease those woes. As a stone fruit grower, Drew speaks about the changes HMC Farms is making to their orchards and groves to allow for the possibility of automation. © 2018 Western Growers

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