OTA.COM 33 and plant products; animal health and production and animal products; food safety, nutrition, and health; bioenergy, natural resources, and environment; agriculture systems and technology; and agriculture economics and rural communities; and the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI), which seeks to solve critical organic agriculture issues, priorities, or problems through the integration of research, education, and extension activities. The purpose of this program is to fund projects that will enhance the ability of producers and processors who have already adopted organic standards to grow and market high-quality organic agricultural products. Despite the opportunities of AgTech for organic, there are many potential pitfalls, such as a lack of data sovereignty, which was highlighted by Dr. Sarah Rotz, a professor at York University, who focused on how agricultural technologies and data bias reinforce agri-food inequities. The Gathering for Open Ag Tech Team spoke about how the open source movement could help overcome these inequalities, as open source tools afford farmers’ and food stakeholders’ ability to exert control over where the data is stored, how it is used, and who uses it. Dr. Julie Guthman, Professor of social sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz, extended the discussion to suggest circumstances in which AgTech can exacerbate the economic challenges of organic farming and in which it might mitigate them. “If AgTech means producing corporate cooperation with organic farmers geared toward enabling agroecological practices cooperatively funded by universities or other non-profits, and made available to coders or produced with open source technology, then we’re talking,” said Dr. Guthman, highlighting the elements that would enable organic and AgTech to complement one another. Dr. Heather Darby of the University of Vermont discussed ways that farmers could be supported to make appropriate tech choices. She noted that AgTech tools should be looked at critically to determine if they meet the needs of the people who are expected to use them. “In my mind, technology should serve a purpose,” said Darby. “It shouldn’t just be there because it’s the newest greatest coolest thing everybody else is doing it.” She also highlighted that some older farmers are less familiar with smartphones and their apps. This is exacerbated in remote rural areas that lack access to strong broadband and even cellular service. Apps that are designed to work offline will help farmers without reliable cell service, and Darby suggested that the younger generation of farmers could become important mentors to older farmers, helping them improve their technological literacy (or increase their experience). Summer Sullivan, a Ph.D. Candidate at the University of California, Santa Cruz followed Dr. Darby’s talk by examining how collaborations between engineers and ecological agronomists and farmers could be developed, highlighting synergies and frictions of agroecology and AgTech using a case study from the University of California, Santa Cruz, which developed an initiative in 2013 focused on AgTech. One of the main challenges that need to be overcome when bringing these distinct groups together is the difference in perspectives: engineers tend to focus in on specific phenomena and processes, while agroecologists see things from a systemsbased perspective. To highlight AgTech projects that include organic perspectives, the conference included talks by Dr. Paula Ramos of North Carolina State University and Dr. Dorn Cox of OpenTEAM and Wolfe’s Neck Center for Agriculture & the Environment. Dr. Ramos discussed projects she has been working on with smart, IoT, and low-cost systems to bridge the technology gap in agriculture. In addition, Dr. Cox spoke about OpenTEAM innovations in collaboration, digital equity, and data sovereignty. The conference concluded with a farmer panel, highlighting the perspectives of five farmers, including Nate Powell-Palm of Cold Spring Organics, Philip LaRocca of LaRocca Vineyards, Earcine Evans of Pure Ciné, Wa Kou Hang of Twin Cities Green Farm, and Jon Bansen of Double J Jerseys / Organic Valley. The farmers spoke about current technologies that they found useful, but also highlighted needs for future technological development, such as a focus on usability. Dr. Jessica Shade is Director of Science Programs at The Organic Center (organic-center.org). tasteforlife.com/retail-marketing/custom Spread the Word. Watch Sales Grow. ® If you sell ORGANIC PRODUCTS, make sure that your prime customers know about it!
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