;)
;)
Ag Tech and Innovation
Stemilt Growers
Farmer organisation
USA
Derek Tomasini is the Agriculture Technology and Operations Lead at Stemilt Growers and brings more than 16 years of experience spanning field operations, agricultural leadership, and technology implementation. His career has progressed from hands-on orchard operations to leadership roles and now to leading the evaluation, deployment, and integration of advanced agricultural technologies across commercial fruit production.
Today, Derek leads the adoption of robotics, autonomous equipment, precision agriculture systems, machine vision technologies, and digital orchard management platforms. He works at the intersection of operational agriculture and innovation, helping identify, validate, and scale technologies that improve labor efficiency, productivity, sustainability, and return on investment.
Having firsthand experience across all levels of agricultural operations, Derek provides a practical grower-focused perspective on technology adoption. He has led the implementation of autonomous spraying systems, field data collection technologies, and next-generation automation platforms while collaborating closely with growers, researchers, universities, and ag technology companies to accelerate innovation in specialty crops.
Derek is passionate about bridging the gap between technology developers and real-world farm operations, helping ensure that emerging solutions deliver measurable value for growers while advancing the future of agricultural automation.
Thu 22
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Stage 2
Speakers
Connor Park Atlas Vineyard Mgt.
Dattatray Bhalekar Hort Tech Extension Faculty Washington State University
Derek Tomasini Ag Tech and Innovation Stemilt Growers
Suzanne Bishop Horticultural Research and Development Manager Allan Bros., Inc.
Tim Waters Regional Vegetable Specialist Washington State University
Tory Schmidt Applied research & outreach in support of the WA tree fruit industry WA Tree Fruit Research Commission
Supported by
