The US Highbush Blueberry Council's Leadership Class brings together emerging leaders from across the blueberry supply chain: growers, packers, marketers, nursery and equipment specialists. They work in growing regions from Peru and Florida to California and the Pacific Northwest. This year the class has been meeting growers and technology providers at industry events and field days to understand which technologies can make a real difference on blueberry farms.
Their capstone project takes on a persistent problem. Promising agtech often struggles to reach berry growers. Too few growers get to see it working in the field, ownership and subscription costs are unclear, and vendors pull back when uptake is slow. The class is mapping technologies across pre-harvest, harvest and post-harvest. They are also designing a grower-to-grower model, through university extension, state commissions, trade shows and industry channels, so growers hear from peers who have actually put the technology to work.
In this session, class members share what they've seen on the ground, what's holding adoption back, and their ideas for getting growers and technology providers into the same field.
Thu. 22 October
11:00 am - 12:00 pm
Main stage 1
