Ag Technology Takes Center Stage In California

USDA research is driving technological innovation. The agency's annual transparency report shows that USDA scientists send researchers reported 320 new inventions last year.

“We're on the cusp of great inventions here. I'm going down to Driscoll's tomorrow. They're developing a robotic strawberry picker,” said Ag Secretary sonny Perdue when it was at the recent Forbes AGtech summit in Salinas, CA.

“I was just here in Salinas last year where you had a machine in the field there using sensor technology, optics imaging technology, that replaced a crew of 25 workers helping to thin out lettuce and cabbage,” the Secretary continued.

Highlights of the USDA inventions include insect repellant for cattle, energy saving technology to dry almond crops, a treatment for peanut allergy, and using gene editing as the tool to develop an African Swine Fever vaccine.

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