Page 15 - MNLGA Free State Summer 2024_WEB

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE (Continued)
International Leadership Alumni Conference (ILAC)

Legislatively, one could say that
California is not a very “ag-friendly”
state; one consistent message from
our host farmers was that every year
they seem to lose ground in terms
of respect and appreciation for their
work, as well as tangible tools to
complete the work of farming. Many
of us on the tour could appreciate
our peers’ woes.

One of the neatest things I saw was a
tractor that “painted” lines of fertilizer
on rows of lettuce seedlings, using AI
and imagery to determine where to
spray the fertilizer. The purpose was
Field of Brussels sprouts, just about ready for harvesting
to fertilize the seedlings that were
to be thinned, leaving the precise Fertilizer “stripes” generated by precision
imagery, to thin romaine seedlings 

Painting on the docks at Cannery Row
room needed for remaining plants to
grow and thrive. The fertilizer served
to both “burn” out the undesired
seedlings and provide some nutrients
to the remaining seedlings.
Another really interesting visit was
to Taylor Farms, which processes
15 million (yes, million) pounds of
vegetables a day, for retail and
commercial markets. Commercial
markets include schools, convention
(continued on next page) The “Salad Bowl of the World,” nestled between the Gabilan and Santa Lucia mountain ranges

Membership Matters • SUMMER 2024 15