Voices of the Valley

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Eurofins U.S. Chief Science Officer Joelle Mosso on Why Testing Can't Solve Food Safety Problems Dec 13, 2022

Show notes

On this episode of Voices of the Valley, Joelle Mosso, Chief Science Officer of Eurofins U.S., discusses her expertise in microbiology and food science and how it relates to food safety.

Mosso shares her thoughts on the complexities and challenges of working with a rapidly evolving biological environment. When asked about how food safety has changed over time, Mosso said, “In respect to what has changed [in food safety], it's that whole comment of 'Everything is safe until it’s not.' In food safety, we have to recognize that just because we haven’t seen something before doesn’t mean it’s not a risk… Food safety is dynamic, and I think that’s one of the things that makes food safety really, really hard to handle.”

The discussion shifts toward the benefits and limitations of testing. Mosso notes that the value of data collected from testing is in the utilization of the information in a proactive food safety strategy: “Tests don’t solve problems. I can have the best tests in the world, it’s not going to solve it. So [it’s] what you do with that information that solves something.”

For Mosso, adaptability is key when it comes to the science behind food safety. “I think that’s the thing with food safety - or anything with science and research - is that we are always understanding and finding new information, and some of it sometimes invalidates something we were completely sure on before,” she says. “I think that’s where food safety is: Recognizing on the day-to-day how to apply a food safety program to continually improve it to make it a safer and safer product.”

Carl Casale of Ospraie Ag Science on Doing More With Less Dec 06, 2022

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Carl Casale, Senior Agricultural Partner at Ospraie Ag Science, joins the podcast to talk about his company's overarching goal in venture capital: to produce more high-quality food with less impact on the environment.

"By 2030, half the world's population is going to be middle class or wealthy and the other half of the population is going to have the same issue of needing more calories to meet their basic needs," he says. "But for half the population - they aren't going to need more calories, but they are going to care deeply about how those calories are produced."

To that end, Carl is exploring the potential for biologicals, biopesticides, soil testing and management that will allow ag to adapt to consumer preference and global regulations. But the bar for innovators in these fields has gotten higher this year, he says.

"What we're seeing as investors is that we're immediately learning what's good and what's not," Carl says. "Before, if there were 100 companies in a given space, the top 75 would get funded just because they're along for the ride. Now you better be in the top quartile or you're not getting any money. It's the separation of the wheat from the chaff right now."

Trimble's Mike Dentinger on Strategies to Reach the Finish Line with Global Harvest Automation Nov 29, 2022

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As the data for the next edition of Western Growers' Global Harvest Automation Report are being crunched, Mike Dentinger, the Director of AG OEM Development at Trimble, joins the podcast to discuss the potential of automated harvest becoming a day-to-day reality soon.

"It's a really tough equation," he says. "How many carrot harvesters does California really need that Grimmway isn't already building themselves?... And what is it going to take to do this if it ends up being a one million or two million dollar machine and you are going to sell 12 of them a year? The math really falls apart very quickly."

The key to getting to the finish line, he says, is to figure out where the commonalities exist in specialty crop harvest automation and then innovate from that point. For instance, 80 percent of that hypothetical carrot harvester can have common components, and the rest could be swapped out per the needs of the particular commodity. "You don't have to swallow the elephant in one bite," Mike says. "You can take it in pieces."

The Produce Moms' Lori Taylor on Educating Consumers About Food and Farming Nov 01, 2022

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Lori Taylor, Founder and CEO of The Produce Moms, joins Voices of the Valley this week to talk about how she uses her multimedia platform to pull back the veil for the general public about the process of produce farming. "Our mission is to simple: To get more fruits and vegetables on every table," she says. "We want fruits and vegetables to be the number one thing people think of when they write their grocery list." Lori aims for TPM to have the same influence and longevity as brands run by Martha Stewart and Oprah Winfrey - and to use the immediacy and impact of digital communications for family-friendly ag education that goes beyond recipes. "One of the pillars of The Produce Moms is to help people know where their produce comes from," Lori says. "If you're buying a Simple Truth branded item from Kroger and it says Cincinnati, Ohio, [on the packaging] there is a huge amount of shoppers who think that tomato was actually grown in Cincinnati, Ohio." Listen to this week's episode and learn more about how Lori delivers her message as part of a thriving digital community.

Stout CEO Brent Shedd Explores Artificial Intelligence in Ag Oct 25, 2022

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Brent Shedd, CEO of Stout Industrial Technology, Inc., joins Voices of the Valley to examine Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the agriculture industry. Brent joined Stout with a background in technology and tends to approach farming issues through this lens. The decision for Stout to build its own hardware and software was based around Brent’s background with AI. Brent quotes agtech engineers: “If it’s dirty, dangerous, dull, or difficult, it’s a prime candidate for automation” when looking at where robots are needed on the farm. AI is not encumbered by historical process, and it uses data to focus on output from the farm. The podcast hosts and Brent also delve into what farmers focus on - that growers are not terribly concerned with the technology behind innovation as long as it works in the field.

Global Competition Requires Urgent Supply Chain Tech Innovation Oct 18, 2022

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On this week’s Voices of the Valley podcast, Dennis Donohue and Candace Wilson interview Gary Loh, the CEO of DiMuto and the Executive Chairman of First Alverstone Group, and Claire Pribula, the Managing Director and Co-Founder of Yield Lab Asia Pacific. Gary and Claire discuss the changes in the marketplace that have resulted in an urgent need for supply chain innovation. The DiMuto AgriFood trade solution was developed in response to these pressures to help growers, exporters, and importers trade with better visibility and easier tracking of finances. Yield Lab Asia Pacific invested in DiMuto to help farmers “do more with less” and adapt to a growing population and increasing environmental stresses. Finally, Gary and Claire give an overview of the DiMuto trials taking place all over the world. Technology is not just a business cost, they say, but a way to stay competitive in the global marketplace.

Jack Vessey on the Pressing Need to Implement Technology in Desert Agriculture Oct 11, 2022

Show notes

For Jack Vessey, President of Imperial Valley-based Vessey & Co., one fact of desert agriculture never changes: You have to do more with less. “We have to be proactive with trying things,” he said, noting that the pressures of labor, irrigation and crop protection lead him to always explore new technologies in his operations. The front of mind of these right now is, of course, water. “The future tells us that in the next five to 10 years we’re going to have to grow every seed with less water,” he said. “We’re looking out to see what the next great innovation is...at the end of the day, we have to have water to grow that crop.” From different irrigation techniques to different crops to soil amendments, Vessey is open to experimenting. “I don’t know about a silver bullet out there, but obviously our goal is to use less and less every year.”

Linking Small Farmers and Scientists on the International Stage Sep 27, 2022

Show notes

Dr. Eugenia Saini, the Executive Secretary of Fontagro, joins the podcast to talk about her objective of strengthening public and private strategic alliances that enhance international cooperation between scientists and farmers. It's a goal that requires boundless curiosity and big picture thinking; Eugenia has three degrees from the University of Buenos Aires and was a Fulbright Scholar at Cornell University. "If we're really going to get solutions to the farmers, we need to understand how the business works," she says. "Dedicate a few hours a week to read and learn something." The key to taking those learnings from the page to the real world at Fontagro, she says, is to work as a manager to effectively link small farmers and scientists. "This is a really big question...'We have funding - but why don't we get the impact that we expect?'" Eugenia says. "Working in networks is very important because what we need to do is have more impact."

Genius Beehives with Dick Rogers, Entomologist at Bayer Crop Science Sep 20, 2022

Show notes

In this week's episode of Voices of the Valley, Dick Rogers, Entomologist at Bayer Crop Science, discusses the need to meld nature and technology to create and monitor healthy honeybee colonies. Dick wants to move towards the creation of a "genius hive," which would use data to ensure the right conditions exist for thriving bee populations. Recently, "electronic scales have really helped beekeepers track weight gain and loss in hives," he says. "There are also things like in-hive sensors for temperature and overall humidity." In the coming years, he says, chemical sensors could detect pheromones to give the beekeeper as much information as possible to track colony health. "We need more than just visual inspections - we need data," he says. Listen to this week's episode to learn about funding strategies for these technologies and the future of high-tech beekeeping.

Hank Giclas Tribute, Part Two Sep 13, 2022

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In this episode, Voices of the Valley continues to honor Hank Giclas, the produce industry veteran who passed away in August. Bruce Taylor, Chairman and CEO of Taylor Farms; Edwin Camp, President of D.M. Camp & Sons; Joe Pezzini, Sr. Director of Ag Operations at Taylor Farms and Peter Wren-Hilton, Founder of Wharf42 Ltd., all join the podcast to celebrate the life of their beloved friend and colleague.

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