Key Takeaways
- Western Growers has announced a three-year, $1.5 million partnership with Reservoir Farms, committing $500,000 per year in addition to the $250,000 previously provided, giving WG members and affiliated startups exclusive access to robotics field trials.
- Western Growers members will gain access to WG-branded demonstration days at Reservoir Farms' Salinas, California Wine Country, and forthcoming Central Valley locations, focused on evaluating automation performance, scalability, and ROI in real production environments.
- Select agtech startups will receive a sponsored residency at Reservoir Farms through the Western Growers Center for Innovation and Technology, enabling them to test and refine technologies alongside growers in real-world field conditions.
- The WG Innovation Committee will receive exclusive structured technology and business evaluations of emerging agtech solutions from Reservoir Farms, informing member engagement priorities around labour, input efficiency, and operational scalability.
- The organization provides startups with shared R&D space, commercially grown field acreage, and equipment from partners including John Deere, with the aim of reducing the time and capital required to reach a first viable product.
Western Growers has unveiled the details of a three-year, $1.5 million partnership with Reservoir Farms, an on-farm agtech robotics innovation centre. The commitment formalises Western Growers' role as a strategic partner in Reservoir Farms' startup development model, giving WG members and affiliated startups exclusive access to field trials, demonstration events, and structured technology evaluations across Reservoir Farms locations in California.
Western Growers Partnership Structure and Reservoir Member Benefits
Under the agreement, Western Growers will provide $500,000 per year for three years, supplementing the $250,000 already committed to Reservoir Farms. Annual WG-branded demonstration days will take place at Reservoir Farms' existing locations in Salinas and California Wine Country, as well as a forthcoming Central Valley site. These events will enable growers to assess automation performance, scalability, and return on investment in active production environments, with a focus on labour constraints, input efficiency, and operational scalability.
“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,” said Dave Puglia, President and CEO of Western Growers.
Startup Residencies and Innovation Committee Access
In coordination with the Western Growers Center for Innovation and Technology, select agtech startups will receive a sponsored residency at Reservoir Farms, providing access to shared R&D space, commercially grown field acreage, and equipment from partners including John Deere, alongside real-world grower feedback. The WG Innovation Committee will also receive exclusive insight from Reservoir Farms' structured technology and business evaluations of emerging agtech solutions, informing how member engagement with new technologies is prioritised and guided.
Reservoir Farms: Connecting Grower Problems to Startup Solutions
Reservoir Farms is designed to help agtech startups reach a first viable product faster and at lower capital cost by providing shared infrastructure and direct grower input. The partnership with Western Growers is described by both organisations as a mechanism for directly connecting grower-defined challenges with the technologies being built to address them.
“This partnership with Western Growers formalizes a direct line between the problems growers are facing and the technologies being built to solve them. 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,” said Danny Bernstein, CEO of Reservoir Farms.
