R&D: Part 2 Farming automation and technology - A discussion with the USA's Western Growers Association

This is part 2 of a two part Vegalogue Episode, where we talk to the US Western Growers Association about their research and development of on farm innovation to address issues like labour costs, harvesting automation and weed control, just to name some.In Part one we focussed on autonomous harvesting aimed at cutting labour costs. In part two we’ll look at their work with weeding technology and also their partnership with Hort Innovation and the VegMech project (Project Code VG 23003) funded by Hort Innovation using the vegetable research and development levy and contributions from the Australian Government.’ which is working to boost the adoption of advanced mechanisation technology in the Australian vegetable industry, and is being run by the Queensland Department of Primary Industries.Now, in part two they talk about their work in developing weed control solutions and the US Australia partnership.Guests:Ben Palone, WGA’s Senior Commercialization Director.Walt Duflock, WGA’s Senior Vice President of Innovation. You can find out more about the Western Growers Association here: https://www.wga.com/To learn more about Reservoir Farms please follow this link: https://reservoir.co/You can watch the VegMech presentation at AVIS here: https://ausveg.com.au/knowledge-hub/avis-2026-harvest-automation-where-its-at-and-where-its-going/Vegalogue is the podcast from AUSVEG, the peak body for Australia’s vegetable, potato, and onion industries, where we examine the pressing issues and latest developments in our sector.Thanks for listening! You can find out more about AUSVEG and the Australian vegetable industry at ausveg.com.au. Subscribe to our newsletter, or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, or Tik Tok.