HMC Farms: ag tech is about making jobs better

Recent ag tech innovations of HMC Farms include vineyard pre-pruners, electric pruning shears for stonefruit trees, motorized platforms for picking stonefruit, Burro® autonomous carts in the vineyards, PAGO® ag payment system, optical grading and sorting machines in packing houses, and field moisture probes.

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Better jobs for employees

“Less labor continues to be available, and increased costs have impacted every aspect of our operations,” Ketelsen says. “In order to ensure that we are able to continue farming and providing both food and jobs for generations to come, we must use technology to create more efficient and effective ways of operating our business, which in turn creates better jobs for our employees and affordable fresh fruit for consumers.”

As some in the industry worry that jobs could be taken away with the development of ag tech, HMC Farms believes that instead, innovation breeds new job opportunities and breathes fresh life into the industry.