Deal will help WG members evaluate agtech solutions for their toughest challenges

Western Growers unveiled the details behind its three-year, $1.5 million partnership with on-farm agtech robotics innovation center Reservoir Farms, a commitment that gives WG members and affiliated startups exclusive access and opportunities for robotics field trials.

“This commitment confirms our confidence in Reservoir Farms and particularly our strategic alignment with Danny Bernstein and his team,” said Western Growers President and CEO Dave Puglia. “Western Growers members will be in the driver’s seat to prioritize companies with workable automation and efficiency solutions that can address escalating labor and other food production input costs threatening domestic farm viability.”

Reservoir Farms helps startups get to the first viable product in less time and for less capital by providing shared R&D space; shared commercially grown field acreage; shared equipment from partners like John Deere and real-world grower feedback on products they are building.

Western Growers will provide Reservoir Farms $500,000 in partnership funding each year for the next three years in addition to the $250,000 the organization previously provided. In return, Western Growers will have:

WG-branded demonstration days every year at any Reservoir Farms location, including Salinas, Calif.; California Wine Country and a soon-to-be launched Central Valley location. These events will allow growers to evaluate performance, scalability and ROI in real production environments. Demonstrations will focus on solving key challenges, such as labor constraints, input efficiency and operational scalability.

In coordination with the Western Growers Center for Innovation & Technology, select agtech startups will receive a sponsored residency at Reservoir Farms. Startups will test and refine technologies alongside growers in real-world conditions to ensure practical application.

The WG Innovation Committee will receive exclusive insight from Reservoir Farms’ structured technology and business evaluation of emerging agtech solutions; this will serve to inform and guide member engagement.

“This partnership with Western Growers formalizes a direct line between the problems growers are facing and the technologies being built to solve them,” said Danny Bernstein, CEO of Reservoir. “By aligning startup development with WG member priorities and validating those solutions in real farm environments, Reservoir can accelerate the path from prototype to commercial adoption. This is technology as resilience.”