Robotics solves water, fertilizer and labor problems for California agriculture

World FIRA, the premier agricultural robotics event, will kick off FIRA USA in Fresno October 18-20.

Global event in Fresno aims to advance agricultural robotics October 18-20, 2022

California agriculture is extremely threatened by drought, weather effects and labor shortages. New robotics and automation solutions meet these challenges. To accelerate the time to market for this innovation, a team of partners in California and the International Forum for Agricultural Robotics (FIRA), the premier event for agricultural robotics, will launch FIRA USA in Fresno, California, from 18 to October 20 to provide autonomous systems and robots to growers in California and North America.

Organized jointly by the French association GOFAR, the University of California for Agriculture and Natural Resources, the Western Growers Association and the Fresno-Merced Future of Food (F3) Initiative, FIRA USA 2022 will bring together producers of specialist cultures, robot makers, industry members, academics, technologists, startups and investors for three days of problem-solving, decision-making and planning.

Since 2016, FIRA mainly organizes its flagship event in Toulouse, France. According to Maialen Cazenave and Gwendoline Legrand, co-directors of FIRA, "The expert event has decided to join forces with local players to launch the first edition abroad: FIRA USA is born."

An event focused on stand-alone solutions for specialty crops

Specialty crops have a lot to gain from agricultural robotics and automation. Specialty crops, which the U.S. Department of Agriculture defines as "fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, and horticulture and nursery crops, including floriculture," tend to be more labor intensive. to produce and harvest, and require more sophisticated technological solutions.< /p>

Walt Duflock, Vice President of Innovation at Western Growers, is working to accelerate the pace of innovation in this industry through the Global Harvest Automation Initiative, which will be showcased at FIRAUSA 2022. One One of the initiative's goals is to automate 50% of specialty crop harvesting within the next 10 years.

FIRA USA will make its debut at Fresno

FIRA USA 2022 will bring together specialty crop growers, robot makers, industrialists, academics, technologists, startups and investors.

The event site is important for several reasons. Fresno is part of California's fertile San Joaquin Valley, a hub for specialty crop growers. The Golden State also offers a prime location for companies wishing to tap into a highly profitable agricultural market, which produces more than 400 commodities and two-thirds of the total fruit and nut crops in the United States. California farmers and ranchers earned $49.1 billion in cash receipts for their production in 2020 alone.

“We really wanted to host a FIRA event in the US because the US specialty crop market is a key entry point into the agriculture industry for agtech startups, so it makes perfect sense to have this event in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley,” says Duflock. “FIRA USA organizes the entire specialty crop community – educators, commercials, start-ups and small and large growers – and focuses on the whole specialty crop automation event for three days."

From research to robots in the field: a rich three-day program

To ensure the success of this unique event, FIRA has partnered with Gabriel Youtsey, Director of Innovation at the University of California for Agriculture and Natural Resources.

"FIRA USA is designed to develop practical, real-world solutions, which is UC ANR's mission," Youtsey said. “I am excited to advance the agricultural robotics and automation ecosystem in the Central Valley through this event. Our overall goal is to accelerate the pace of innovation and industry adoption of new technologies that create sustainable growth and profitability for our agriculture industry. »

To keep the event focused on real results, FIRA USA is structured to maximize opportunities for networking, learning and collaboration. Each of the three days has a theme: Research and Development, Technology, and Business and Demonstration Day.

October. 18: The...