Cal Poly’s Tenth Strawberry Center Field Day Presents Future Farming Innovations

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (KEYT) - The tenth annual Strawberry Field Day was held at the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo campus earlier today.

Over 600 farmers, researchers, students, industry leaders and engineers gathered at the college's 12-year-running Strawberry Center.

Presentations at the Field Day are held at several distinct stations, and small portions of the crowd rotate through them.

Each station exhibits cutting-edge prototypes and methods for safety enhancement, waste-reducing precision techniques, pest and disease management, crop resilience, and more.

To meet some of the agricultural industry's greatest challenges such as labor shortages, water resource constraints, shifting climate, and increasing production costs, innovators literally have a "field day" presenting the latest developments.

Featured at the tenth Field Day at Cal Poly's Technology Park were hybrid and electric tractors, a solar powered mobile shade for break time in the field, and an unmanned bug vacuum.

California Strawberry Commission officials say over $17 million has been invested in research and development to meet the demand of an industry that produces 90% of the nation's strawberries on less than 1% of the state's farmland.

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