The President’s Speaker Series was a fruitful exchange on ag and tech

By Walter Ryce

The first President’s Speaker Series of the 2026-27 academic year focused on the relationship between the agriculture industry and technology. Titled  “From Seed to Market: Impacts of New Agricultural Technologies,” it was held, appropriately, in Salinas. 

Interim President Carlos Vargas welcomed a panel of industry leaders to share their perspectives on that relationship with about 60 attendees on Thursday, Oct. 15, at sponsor Hartnell College’s Oldtown Salinas building, One Main Street.  

“The idea is to learn,” Vargas told the audience in opening remarks. “I want to learn as much as possible from our distinguished panelists. We need to look at the future and see what’s coming down the road. The discussion tonight connects the future of the most important industry across our region as well as some of our newest and evolving academic programs – mechatronics engineering and agribusiness supply chain management.” 

The panelists included Pete Melero, vice president of Plantel’s sales, transplanting and FLC operations; Eder Padilla, project manager of RAMCO Enterprises LP, and a CSUMB alum; Leticia Hernandez, operations manager with Reservoir Farms; Richard Chapman, a professor of agricultural engineering technology at Hartnell College; and Lawrence Henrard, director of CSUMB’s Agribusiness and Supply Chain Management program. 

The moderator was Colleen Bailey, president and CEO of the Salinas Valley Chamber of Commerce.

Fielding a question from Bailey, Pete Melero talked about how advancements in genetics are producing more varieties of crops that can be grown in previously inhospitable climates.  

“Now you can grow lettuce in those types of climates. You can grow celery in those types of climates,” he said. “Or you can take them to Wisconsin where it's going to snow in two weeks, and start planting and grow some celery. Those are the genetics that we need.” 

Padilla talked, among other things, about how automation and sensors are tending to crops with great precision and stability. 

“A microtensiometer in the field is sending a tension reading in the pot itself of when the plant is uptaking the nutrition, the water,“ he said. “The electric valve in the field is opening up that valve, that zone, and it's an on-demand trigger. We are running our system autonomously based on the thresholds that we have set it.”

That has allowed his company to go from five irrigators to two irrigators on a 105-acre ranch, which resulted in labor savings. 

Speaking of labor, Henrard said that CSUMB professor Luis Cabrales Arriaga, chair of the Mechatronics Engineering program, as well as students, got to visit Padilla’s ranch and noted innovations, such as aluminum “Ferrari carts” that make transporting crops easier, raised bed substrate farming that doesn’t require workers to hunch over and assigned areas dedicated to specific workers. That results in higher pay, more yield and fewer work hours. 

“Employees are so happy to work at that farm, at that location, because the working conditions are so favorable,” Henrard said. 

In addition to CSUMB’s own focus on ag technology, as well as its partnerships with regional growers, Richard Chapman of Hartnell College voiced support for workforce development to meet the future needs of the ag industry.  

“I'm taking students from ground zero, and sometimes even a little less if they don't have much formal education, and finding ways to prepare them to maintain those systems,” he said, referring to new agricultural tools that are coming online. “You're not going to spend all this capital up front [on technology], and if one little thing goes wrong, the whole system's junk until it gets fixed.”

Panelists said that because Europe doesn’t have access to the labor force that the United States does, and has had to compensate by using technology, U.S. growers are partnering with overseas firms to catch up. Leticia Hernandez said that her company can help there. 

“Obviously we're deeply invested in AI and technology and making sure it's rugged and going to support growers, but we also have folks, technology companies, that come from Spain, that come to visit us,” she said. “They're interested in becoming members with us, so that we can help them develop relationships with growers and trial their tech that has been majorly successful in Spain. [They’re also] trying to find opportunities for them to break into the California market, or the West Coast, or even just the United States.” 

The technologies discussed are integral to the curriculum in programs at Cal State Monterey Bay, where students are encouraged to engage in hands-on learning opportunities through research, internships and community service. The university is currently seeking support to build a Greenhouse Complex and Teaching and Research Farm that will allow faculty and students to engage with ag technology.

The next President’s Speaker Series will take place in spring 2027.