![]() ![]() The aim should be to keep farmers and dairies sustainable in this state. In the last year, the top ag tech investments have been in lab-cultivated meat and fish, vertical farming and biotech startups. Ag tech startups in this state saw $5.6 billion in venture capital in 2020, 20% of the worldwide total. Fruits and vegetables of all kinds are using recycled water where it is available.Īll these efforts are gaining investor interest. Reducing water usage: Water recycling technologies have shown positive results. Another longer-term project run by UC Davis found that farmland could sequester carbon effectively through changes in cover crops and how soil is tilled. Greenhouse gas reduction: UC Davis scientists are feeding cows small amounts of seaweed, which could lower the amount of methane the animals produce by as much as 82%. This marks the first time meat grown in a lab has been approved for human consumption. ![]() Chicken grown directly from cells was approved recently by the Food and Drug Administration. Growing food in a lab: Rather than using traditional methods of raising animals, lab-grown meat is becoming closer to reality. Methods can include cross-breeding of existing strains of crops or using gene editing techniques, such as CRISPR/Cas9. ![]() ![]() Modifying plants: These ag tech efforts include finding ways to make crops more resistant to drought or heat. Producing food for a population of hundreds of millions, as California does, requires a focus on efficiency and methods that are as advanced as any semiconductor or automobile manufacturing operation. The Nature Conservancy estimates that to fulfill the state’s “net zero” targets would require 1.6 million to 3.1 million acres - up to 10% of current farming acreage - converted to clean energy use in coming decades.Īddressing the needs in the country’s richest agricultural economy lies in building stronger cooperation between state government and farmers, and a focus on researching and implementing new technologies. That year agricultural exports totaled $22.5 billion in 2021, an increase of 7% from 2020.Ĭalifornia agriculture nevertheless faces significant challenges from the changing climate and state policies responding to that change. In 2021, the state’s farms and ranches earned $51.1 billion in revenues for their products. The agricultural industry provides more than a third of the country’s vegetables and three-quarters of the country’s fruits and nuts. While tech businesses and corporate headquarters head elsewhere, California’s agricultural supremacy remains unchallenged. In the latest 2022 Census of Wages and Employment, agriculture employs 419,582 people in this state, more than four times the number in the next-largest state, Washington. Agriculture is, by far, California’s strongest sector in terms of employment. In many ways, advances in agricultural technology will have as much to do for California’s future as AI, streaming movies and electric vehicles. In a new study, “Nurturing California Industries,” we identified it as among the six industries most critical to the state’s economic future. The world may see California largely as home to Silicon Valley and Hollywood, but it’s agriculture technology where we can most clearly outshine our competitors. ![]()
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