Transcripts For CSPAN3 House Hearing On The Impact Of Agriculture Technology On Farming 20240713

Everyone for joining us for our first Small Business committee during a 2020. I want to especially thank the witnesses for taking the time to travel across the country to take time away from their businesses in some instance you have this important discussion. As is the case with these hearings, there will be members coming and going forward, or overlapping hearings and other committees so you will see some folks come and go through out and ask questions, so we just ask for your patients in bearing with that as well for. Farming and agricultural are at the heart of strong economies around the country. Investing in agriculture is crucial to ensure that our communities will thrive. Coming from colorado, i understand the importance that farming and agriculture have on our states way of life and economic wellbeing. Nearly half of colorado 66 million acres are dedicated to over 30,000 farms and ranches. Many of these are small, locally owned operations. Colorado is a leading producer of cattle, corn, wheat and dairy, and the small farms for everything from bison to auspice and growing grapes and mushrooms, to name a few. In the 24 Century Technology innovation or changing everyday life. Its a drink how consumers shopped and businesses conduct it. Modern farming is no different. Through advancements in robotics, sensors, artificial intelligence, Gps Technology and digital platforms, agriculture is undergoing a revolution and transitioning from the Industrial Age the digital age. These innovations, commonly known as agriculture technology, wag to, provide an opportunity to help farmers increase yields and profitability while reducing wastes and environmental impact. Todays hearing will provide members with an opportunity to hear from innovators, and farmers and researchers about how big tech is helping farmers modernize their businesses and how entrepreneurship and innovation in egg attack is changing our food and farming systems. Seeing crews increased use of ag tech has the potential to address challenges our country will face in the coming century. Globally, the worlds population is on track to exceed nine billion in the next 20 years. According to the united nations, this means our Agricultural Production will need to increase by 70 to meet the growing demand for food, fiber and biofuels. Meeting this Global Demand for food will be even more challenging in the face of Climate Change that is already impacting our food systems, water and land. Changing temperatures reduce yields and increase pressures. Changes in precipitation patterns increasingly caused crop failure and production decline. As a former army, ranger of also seeing how these threats, including scarce Water Resources and poor Food Security and other countries can have a profound impact on our own national security, readiness and resiliency, but the full potential of agtech to meet global food demands, mitigate the negative impacts of Climate Change and create jobs in our Rural Communities will not be fully realized unless we fully support our farmers and innovators in the research that supports them. Agtech can spur innovation and growth in rural parts of the country but like many other sectors in the economy, agriculture is drugging to find and retain a skilled and stable workforce. To address this, i work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to pass the Farm Workforce modernization act which will help create a reliable workforce for american agriculture. This legislation will help provide certainty for guest workers and for American Farmers and ranchers, an important step in solving the labor challenge facing American Farmers and ranchers. They should also be robust funding of Agriculture Research and development at the usda to support farmers and Rural Communities. I am proud to colorado is a hub of attack in innovation. Growing tech centers in the denver and bolder areas, funding opportunities through quebec and my district, and a pipeline appellant at the university of colorado systems have helped make colorado the second largest agtech ecosystem in the country. As the pipeline develops the high tech skills and food science environmental ear engineering and president agriculture, the specialists will lead the agtech industry forward. Finally, it is crucial to mention the need for greater deployment of high Speed Internet in our Rural Communities. Outside of its importance in Health Care Education and legal services, connectivity is the backbone of agtech. Broadband makes it possible for farmers to aggregate analyze data in realtime while tracking Commodity Markets and operating digital technologies. Small businesses and farms across colorado suffer daily from lack of access to High Speed Broadband Services due in large part to lack of investment. Reliable, affordable, high Speed Broadband is a necessity and why Congress Must work to coordinate federal resources and make investments in infrastructure projects. Technology has become indispensable for Small Businesses and farmers and ranchers on a different. Small businesses play a vital role in providing products and services to support americas digital farming revolution. I look forward to hearing from our expert Witnesses Today on how farming is being impacted by technology, and how r d is impacting Small Business growth and entrepreneurship so the u. S. Can once again be a world leader in Agricultural Research and innovation. I would now like to yield to the Ranking Member, mr. Balderson, for an opening statement. Good morning, everyone, and thank you, mister chairman. Appreciate it. Happy new year and i look forward to a great 2020. I anticipate a great 2020 with another year of bipartisan camaraderie and innovation on Workforce Development subcommittee. Todays hearing, we will explore Agricultural Technology innovations that are modernizing our farms and revitalizing Rural America. Having spent time working on a family farm myself, i understand the impact farmers have on their community and our nation. Agricultural technology, or egg tech, is a broad term describing a diverse range of technologies, including bioscience, vague data, analytics, automation and robotics, supply chain and logistics and alternative Business Models such as hydroponics and meet alternatives. On farms, these technologies can increase productivity, reduce waste and boost profits. On a larger scale, egg tech, entrepreneurship activities boosting role revitalizing efforts are tracking startups, jobs, to more cultural regions. With the diversity of technologies involved, egg tech interacts entrepreneurs and investors for various industries geographies. As we observe the standing growth an impact to tech ventures, we cannot lose focus on the primary stakeholders, our farmers. With uncertain markets and narrowing profit margins, farmers may be hesitant to take on additional risks that come with new technologies. For, example an investment in precision agricultural systems include purchases, installation charges and precisely, precious time spent using and making these technologies. This system must be compatible with preexisting machinery, Internet Connectivity and Business Model. To be worth farmers investments, technologies must have a tangible impact on productivity in profit. As options rapidly increase, how do farmers determine what will work best for the specific business needs, i would like to thank our witnesses for being here today and talking to our experiences on agtech, and talk about what reserve able to minimize the risk of maximize the investment. Thank you for being here today to represent this promising industry. I yield back, mister chairman. Thank, you mr. Balderson, and i agree with you on some exciting when the collaboration we had in 2020, and we will continue that in the next year. The gentleman yields back. I would just like to take a minute to explain the timing role. Each witness gets five minutes to testify, and each member gets five minutes for questioning. There is a lighting system in front of you to assist you. The green light will be on when you began. The light will come on when you have one minute remaining. The red light will come on when you are out of time and you will be asked to stay within the timeframe to the best of your ability. I would not like to introduce our witnesses before doing so i ask unanimous consent to allow congressman Jimmy Panetta who serves on the house agriculture committee, to join the subcommittee hearing . Without objection, so ordered. Welcome, mr. Canada. Thank you for joining us today and i will introduce to you, our first witness. Thank you, mister chairman. And thank you, thank you Ranking Member balderson, i appreciate both their Opening Statements and agree with absolutely everything but if he had to say so, thank you, so it is an absolute honor to be here, and is quite far away from where i come from, in california, come from the Central Coast of california and it is otherwise known as the solid ball of the world. Trust me, i fellow members on the Egg Committee get sick and tired of me saying that and theyve heard me say it over and over again. Now you get to hear me say it, i say it with a lot of pride because they are on the Central Coast of california, you name, it we grow it, we have hundreds of hundreds of specially crops we have the gala capital, world the official capital the world, we have the barry bull of the, world we have specialty crops but as many of you know, specialty crops can be very difficult to harvest, especially crops that take that human discernment when it comes to soft root vegetables, as to figuring out, what is safe, what is right, what is ready to respect, what is aesthetically pleasing to the consumer . Because as you know, most of the time, those products, once they are picked, they go right into the cartons. Those cars go right under the shelves of the stores, and those cartons then go home with us and then those products go right into the mouths of our sons and daughters and so, it does take at this point a very skilled you have to be very skilled in order to harvest this product. Now, for a long time, we have relied on humans to do that, especially on the Central Coast of california and that is why, jason, i agree with, you the prime Organization Act is a very, very important bill but i am proud to say not only passed a bipartisan basis in the host, it must be passed in the senate signed into law but in the meantime the other way we must go down, as you mentioned, is agtech. For this type of technology, for these types of crops, we are behind it. We are lagging. Now, dont get me, wrong ive been up in our fields there, and i have seen some pretty interesting things from some companies right over the hill from Silicon Valley where ive seen pictures more focused robert 0. 1 afternoon then all the photos taken in Human History of a strawberry plant. Is that time of technology that is needed but more needs to be invested in this technology to do it and i think that is why it is so, so important that we are having this type of conversation here in washington, d. C. So that those type of investment in the fields, not just on the Central Coast throughout this country can benefit from the investment that is needed when it comes to tech and, so its an absolute honor that i am here today with you but also have the opportunity to introduce mr. Kevin france. Kevin france is the chief executive officer of swim systems, a Small Business that provides on farm agricultural water accounting. Supreme has a Satellite Office in my district, maryland Central Coast, and it pardons for the western Growers Association which has one of its main offices in my district as well. Now, under mr. Francis leadership swim has been recognized as a top 25 Big Tech Company by forbes magazine. Mister frantz, i thank you for being here, for your preparation and for your time and all of us look forward to hearing what you have to say in regards to the investment that is needed and what has been done and what needs to be done when it comes to agtech. Thank, you chairman, i yield back. Thank you for being here, mister france and jimmy, you might have a lot of agricultural capitals of the world but i dont think you can claim the mushroom capital of the world because that distinction belongs to miss houlihan sitting next to you, so i just wanted to be clear for the record. Our second witnesses doctor david putter, the head of you innovation at geo indigo agriculture, he is focused on building integrated platforms using special technology to complete tackle complex business challenges. He has been building a living map of the worlds food supply. Using reliable maps could help farmers grow crops that are more profitable in sustainable. Prior to joining indigo, the doctor was the cofounder of tell us labs which provided action, Agricultural Intelligence across the food value chain using machine learning, Remote Sensing and a special analysis. The doctor is a ph. D. Ngo demography from Princeton University and served the country as a Surface Warfare officer in the u. S. Navy. Thank you for your service, doctor potere, to the, country and for being here today. Our third witnesses is mr. Roberto mesa, a farmer and cofounder of Emerald Gardens located in emirate, colorado. Well a grad suited at mit in the technology program, he was inspired by student projects addressing Food Production and urban landscapes. His career quickly transition from the arts to agriculture for the focus on food access. After a high it is working on farms and observing problems in our food systems, rubber to move to colorado where the childhood friend and a stop farm in 2017. Emerald gardens grows, harvest and distribute micrograms to restaurants, grocery, stores food pantries, smaller retailers in colorado metro area. They operate sustainable using geothermal and passive solar energy. Robert was also the chair of membership and a risk for miles high farmers, the local chapter of the National Young farmers collision in the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union. He is also a board member of the High Plains Food coop and is developing a mater for mass distribution to help with jobs and local producers gain access to markets. Thank you for taking time away from a business to be here today, mr. , maze that it is always good to see a fellow colorado in washington d. C. Now, i would like to yield to our Ranking Member to introduce our final witness. Thank, you mister chairman, i do want to acknowledge the Ranking Member of the Small Business committee has joined us also, Ranking Member chabot, mr. , chabot thank you for being here this morning. I am sure a lot of you are looking at the witness list, dr. Jackson smith and i made an agreement will not do the ohiostuff and we want to acknowledge that the ohio state is not the National Championship job borough is, so high was still representing the championship games coming up monday evening, so i just want to make sure that everyone is well aware of that, and he lives in the southern portion of ohio so we are well represented. Well the gentleman yields . You mention missed the borough, he may soon be a cincinnati bangle, which i havent represent, we shall see. We shall see but assistant director of ohio state, is here to represent the universitys initiative for food and agricultural transformation. For joining ohio state 2016, doctor Jackson Smith served 15 years as a faculty member who has a bachelors a masters degree in rural sociology, a masters degree in Agricultural Economics and a ph. D. In sociology. His resort explores the dynamics of Technology Instructional change it agricultural Natural Resource systems. He has helped nearly 25 million worth of Interdisciplinary Science Grant Funding from usda, and sdf, and d. O. E. , we appreciate your research in this field and appreciate you taking your time away from worth to be with us today. Thank, you i yield, back chairman. Thank you mr. Balderson. All due respect to the Ranking Member, mister chabot, dr. Jackson smith received his academic training from the university of wisconsin, so, go badgers, not to be out down this morning. Thank you very much. Mr. , france you are now recognized five minutes. Thank you, mister chairman. Congressman, thank you very much and other members of this committee appreciate the opportunity to speak with you today on the impact of Agricultural Technology in Rural America asks, and i appreciate this opportunity to share some of my experiences. My name is kevin france and i am chief executive officer of swim system. I graduate under hat roger degrees or in Business Administration in my professional experience includes developing technologies through Public Partnerships that can be integrated into the private sector. Part of the internet of things, also known as the iot revolution, centers were not generally connected to the internet, and as a result, it was gathered manually, normally by a grower, onetime permitted in between growing. That sensors are being connected to the internet, and it is being made it available in near real time. Goers need better access to this Game Changing technology in order to sustain our agricultural economy in the face of ever increasing water shortages. So, what it is a non farm agricultural water accountant . Right recognized the top 25 ragtag company by forbes magazine, we maintain distribution with the Growers Association, one of the largest agricultural trade organizations in the nation. Our clients are made up of growers of all sizes and shapes. We provide complete water use reporting including applied and consumed Water Resources on a realtime basis, by fielded by crop. Similar to the way your cpa provides a detailed statement of financial accounts, money in, money out, and from what source, we enable growers to quantify and protect their water allocations well into the future. Our National Research was funded by private investment and underpinned by state Water Conservation brands. The technology was then developed over a fiveyear period through an agreement with the usda, colorado state, and utah state universities. Our first issued patent was actually codevelop with direct health, directly alongside the spca the usda. Depending on, location ago or may have access to river, water access to groundwater, some have access to both. Unlike other farming, however, it waters the only company to a farming operation that has no alternative source and if not available could put the farmer completely out of business. By way of example, take the Colorado River. It is a prime surface water source for seven western states, and it is over appropriated by as much as 40 , leaving some farmers without water to grow crops, which our nation severely depends upon. Years of greed drove exacerbate the situation. As another example, take californias recent passing of the sustainable groundwater management act, to manage over pumping of its aquifers. With these upcoming restrictions, at least 500,000 acres of farmland in the Central Valley of california will be without water, most likely, which means no crops can be grown on those acres. Our clients tell us that they fear the livelihoods and legacy of their operations, many which had been in their families for generations. Growers need access to updated technologies to face like the technology of drought throughout the u. S. The equipment we most often see in the field fails to provide the accurate water accounting needed today. We have seen roughly about one in five flow meters into the field producing data that is off by as much as 25 . An oldfashioned open canal measurement with a shove a yardstick in the water is off by as much as 40 . Consider what this means, our experience shows us that many of the current Funding Sources are geared toward research. This contribution is valuable but the net some result of many of these projects simply means more research usda and our seas has programs that are designed to help farmers implement technologies. They include equipped, and our cpp finding sources. These programs are all the well funding cycles do not track with grower needs and any application process is difficult to complete. Funds for these programs are managed and distributed generally on a basis making larger benefit multiple regions more challenging to implement, we have seen that firsthand. One example relates to a project that we are currently finalizing in the Colorado River in arizona with support to the federal government. In the affairs and bureau of reclamation to call fun these swiim deployment in an area that would benefit this funding project could be expanded through a partnership would be i am bureaucracy multiple users along the Colorado River or meaningful scaling could be achieved. To provide a paradigm shifting, technology and embracing of that technology on a wider scale, Funding Sources must be flexible, allow approval from a opposed to a region by region basis as it has currently done. Thank you again for the opportunity to share the story with you today. I look forward to answering your questions. Thank you, mister france through the testimony. It would be remiss if i did not recognize that you are bringing your family here as well and that it is my understanding that it is your youngest daughters first time in washington. Welcome to our Nations Capital to the French Family as well. Youngest and oldest. Thank you mister chairman. Thank you. Doctor you, are now recognized for five minutes. Thank you. Chairman crow, other members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to testify in todays hearing. Fundamentally, growing food has always been a venture of Small Businesses. That is true here in the united states, despite all that we hear about consolidation of farms. Today, in the u. S. No sector has a higher percentage of Small Businesses ventures then agriculture. That is not only the farmers that are growing the food but the shippers and carriers that bring the food to market. The accountings in cpas, that help bring that crop out in the world. Of course, Small Businesses are challenging and no Small Businesses is more challenging than. Agriculture i come to today as a technologist. A bill technologies, i am not a farmer but i have been serving farmers for the last five years building out a better system of Agricultural Intelligence using satellite and whether technology that is the result of hundreds of millions of dollars of government investments over the last many decades. I am now proud to be a member of the indigo agriculture, which is a Company Whose mission is to use technology to help farmers sustainably feed the planet. Those challenges that those face today we have seen 49 profitability since 2013. We are looking at 404 farmers in the last 40 years. In the last 15, you think about where that increase input go it is not going to Small Businesses. Think about how challenging it is to market that into the world. As an asset class, commodity futures are one of the most volatile Asset Classes on the planet and farmers every year. They figure out when and how to market their crop out into the world. It is hard to be small in the food system and at indigo we believe that technology is a part of the solution to making farming a more valuable profession in that Small Business opportunity a more viable profession. Two aspects of our business that i want to share most with you today are around bringing that crop out into the world, via Indigo Marketplace and learning how to grow a new kind of cropped. Learn how to become a carbon farmer. We think this is one of the most hopeful things that we have heard of when it comes to the Climate Change story. Bringing farmers into the solution, it is true that farming represents 25 of carbon admissions, but at indigo we believe that farming can be a definitive part of the solution for Climate Change because of the potential for agricultural soils to absorb carbon. It is really an old technology. It is called regenerative farming it basically means planting cover crops and learning what we all are to a great science. Plants are really good at turning atmosphere comebacks into soil carbon. We should let them do that and let them do that yearround by helping farmers move to a system where they plant crops during the winter, cover crops that actually make the soil healthier. Make the food healthier for consumer consumption and actually create resilience for farmers to better resist the changes of Climate Change, which if unmitigated look like they could create a 20 headwind when it comes to Agricultural Production in the country. That Carbon Solution requires a marketplace and Indigo Marketplace technology is designed to match buyers and sellers. That is a really tough problem and i have sat at the farm gate with many, many farmers in my time at indigo around harvest time trying to make that decision of where and when to sell their grain. They are not armed with the same technologies as the Big Companies they are selling into. We work to democratize to make smart rational decisions at that key moment including learning how to sell carbon. One of the things that we make sure to mention today as we speak with all of you it is an opportunity to support farmers in that chance to sell carbon and the thing we like to observe is that for a decade now, to the changes in the tax code, oil and Gas Companies have had the opportunity to sequester atmospheric carbon as part of enhanced extraction. The question we have for the committee is, if it makes sense at 50 dollars a ton for the government to subsidize oil and gas to put Carbon Dioxide back into the ground, wooden it makes sense to allow farmers to do the same thing . And to allow farmers to do that a lower cost putin and do that in every small Rural Community in america and allow them to become a part of the same solution that we know is so origin for the agricultural system. I will leave you with that question. I look forward to answering your further questions. Thank you doctor. Mr. , you are recognized for five minutes. Chairman crow, and members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. My name is roberto meza. I farm located 15 miles east of denver on 35 acres in bender, colorado. My Business Partner and i operate as a controlled environment. In which, we cultivate herbs, edible flowers and over 20 varieties of micro greens. Every week, we harvest more than 300 pounds of micro greens destined for restaurants, grocery stores, food pantries, public schools, farmers markets and for direct deliveries for consumers. I am a member of the Rocky Mountain farmers unit, which represent approximately 20,000 family farmers, ranchers and rural members across colorado, you mexico and wyoming. I am also the chair of membership out of mile farmers. A cold chapter of market Farmers Union and the National Young farmers coalition. My Business Partner and i are proud to be building a small farm with a focus on environmental stewardship, technology, innovation and community engagement. Micro greens are the primary crop of our farms and our labor of love. They have low input needs, have a cooked or an around time and can be grown yearround and having high future density. It is triggering and incorporating micrograms into my diet that i experienced healing and renewal when i was struggling with personal health issues. Furthermore, they exhibit beautiful colors, have distinct flavor profiles, which make them highly softer by chefs in restaurants and consumers. On our farm, we use Innovative Technology that helps reduce our cost and be strong environmental stewards. Our greenhouse use a passive solar design that is both Energy Efficient, economically sensible and environmentally friendly. It works by using clear, polycarbonate material on the south side to let the light through, an insulated metal panel on the side and north wall to trump that he. This allows us to charge our ground to care a design refined by serious Greenhouse Solutions that is based on the principle of a climate battery. This allows us to channel that heat in the greenhouse to a series of tubes that run below the Structures Foundation and allowing us to reduce our reliance on auxiliary heating and cooling implements. Regrow vertically to maximize our 3000 square feet to be Energy Efficient and cost effective. Over the next few weeks we are going to be installing to power the lights and the fans in the greenhouse. Also, as colorados know very well the state monitoring because of the earths climate. We use a automated recirculating water system to supply the roots only what they need while reducing evaporation. Many people are still unfamiliar with micro greens. Social media is a critical tool we used to raise awareness about their nutritional benefits as well as the Important Role they play in local food systems. By posting videos that show our Farm Practices in the technology we use in our Production Systems, it builds trust, transparency in a deeper connection for consumers and their food source. A major puzzle weve been working to solve is optimal distribution of our product. We are a boot straps business, so on surprisingly we relied on some relatively low tech methods of distribution, such as attending farmers markets, but we also have an online farm stand so customers can place orders from their smartphone. For broader distribution, weve partnered with the innovative local grocery delivery startup. They allow us to deliver to all of our wholesale and Retail Markets through a single weekly pick up. We also partner with them to share data that helps us optimize their delivery routes. As technology advances, including Agricultural Technology, it has become increasingly important for todays farmers to have a College Education. Indeed, its become an asset of many farms as well as our own. A College Education is out of reach financially for many, and Student Loans are essential. Unfortunately, Student Loan Debt is one of several key factors preventing young and beginning the farmers from getting or staying involved in agriculture. As the first generation and beginning farmer with my own Student Loan Debt, i believe a federal Student Loan Debt Forgiveness Program is essential. Looking ahead, we are excited by the opportunity to partner next year with the Technology Startup that will pilot new centers in our facility. These sensors will generate data that will help us understand the micro climate in our greenhouse, to increase the precision of our production methods. Support for technologies such as these, which can improve environmental and economic efficiencies are increasingly important within the context of our changing climate. I want to close by saying innovation is borne of struggle. While we face a myriad of challenges a Small Farmers and Small Business owners, we remain committed to a mission of feeding our communities, improving our farm and food systems, and remaining careful stewards of colorados natural environment, technologies, both high tech and low tech, as well as grit and determination are helping us get there. Thank you for the opportunity to testify and i look forward to your questions. Thank you, mister mayor, and i know tomorrow is youre distribution day, so i especially appreciate you flying out to do this today. Always good to see you at the stanley marketplace of market, thank you. Doctor Jackson Smith, you are now recognized for five minutes. Thank, you and i want to begin by thanking the subcommittee for the opportunity to speak to this important issue. As you were introduction pointed, out i april im a professor of sociology at Ohio State University announcement my career studying for the drivers implications of technical change for farmers, with a particular focus on small and mid sized farms in Rural Communities. My comments today also reflect the contributions of a colleague, doctor kacey hoi, who is the kellogg now chair of Ecosystem Management and the director of the initiative for food agriculture transformation, but i can speak more about later at ohio state. So, many of the challenges faced by Small Businesses them from structural disadvantages they face in competing against large scale specialize businesses that serve global Commodity Markets and benefit the food economies of scale. But that said, there is reason for optimism in the future, a small and medium sized farms, agribusinesses and food companies, changes in consumer preferences, expanding markets for Food Products that offer social, economic, environmental and health benefits, support of Public Policies and most importantly for todays hearing, a whole raft of cutting edge Technological Innovations provide a foundation for reinvigorating Small Businesses in Rural America, specifically, over the last 20, years a rise in consumer interest and awareness of how the food has is produce, has contributed to the rapid growth of new markets and in response we are witnessing the researchers of diversified farm and Food Supply Chains in the u. S. Certainly it includes farmers who incorporate cover, crops everest corporations, relies more on aggregate system processes instead of synthetic imports, and those who produce niece or especially product, it also includes fall small supported Food Supply Chain businesses that are nimble and able to meet the specialized needs of various types of customers. In our written testimony, my colleague and i list many examples of innovations that could help support these diversified farm and food businesses and for the sake of time i will just highlight a few of them. So, first, there innovations that improve the performance of diversified farms which we see as a foundation for this frontier. The diversified farming systems are the 24 century are not your grandfathers farm, rather, their improvements in scientific knowledge to open new windows onto the dynamics of our aggregate systems and how diversification can be leverage to improve farming. Some promising areas for innovation include support for farmers innovation, theyre literally tens of thousands of farmers currently working to diversify their crops and livestock systems, and these farmers represent a reservoir Practical Knowledge that you should start with as a foundation for future discovery and innovation. There is breeding in genetic engineering tools, both traditional and cutting edge that could be used to develop new crop and livestock varieties, optimized for small scale a diverse ride Production Systems and the use of sensors and precision farming data to help farmers use in puts more efficiently and adapt to conditions in realtime. The second cluster of innovations might improve linkages between diversified farms in these emerging markets, now include tools to track the performance of diversified, farms innovations like the Environmental Sensors and tracking systems the previous speaker spoke to. Improving traceability, new Data Management systems in particular, Block Chain Technology that can be harness to track products through nfc Food Supply Chains they do not plays burns on producers, processors and retailers. An increased opportunities for direct marketing, in the digital age, connecting with consumers requires access and a reliable presence on the internet, and comments made earlier about the importance of Rural Broadband internet, i think, so finally, there innovations that expand opportunities throughout this diversified system of that we see. These might include innovative Farm Machinery companies, Food Processing technologies, designed specifically to support diversify production and small steel producers, as well as food safety Monitoring Technology that can address potential threats to the food supply associated with the more distributed and diversified supply chain, including, new sensors and automated, sampling technology, that are less labor intensive and more accurate than many current systems. So, the big, picture while technological innovation can help small and medium sized businesses thrive in a more diversified farm and food system, we are not working in a vacuum and for decades the dominant thrust of technological change in the u. S. Farm and food sector has focused successfully on large scale specialized commodity production. I think without cohen just, public leadership in the, space we are concerned that the future of Technology May not generate the opportunities for Small Businesses, and moral economic development, but all of us desires. Fortunately, i think emerging market, we put Public Policy and hard investments in Research Innovation and Small Business innovation the technology rebel today can develop Economic Opportunities and stimulate research and innovation around diversified farm and food systems that have a significant impact. And i thank you for the opportunity to address the committee and look forward to your questions. Thank, you doctor Jackson Smith, i appreciate everything that all four of you have shared with us today. I will begin with recognizing myself for five minutes and start with mr. Mesa, mr. Mesa, you have done something that not a lot of people are able to successfully do, and that is from, you had no background and experience in this area, to jump in and start a small farming operation and be able to survive your first few years, that is a very challenging, statistically, thing to do and i would love for you to share with us for a minute what advice you would share with other young folks looking at entering the profession im doing this in your lessons learned, very briefly. Thank, you my experience has definitely been challenging, as you mention. I think one of the reasons why would be what we have been successful is our involvement in our community and our Farmers Union, working with extension offices, and also identifying appropriate technology and crops that are sought after in our community. As you know, denver is a blossoming culinary world but it also has an underdeveloped food system, so with those two factors in mind, we have to keep the micro greens is a perfect crop to really address a lot of those factors. For us, it has been an opportunity to explore and Research Different models for how to create a niche for ourselves, and how to create a viable business. With the support of our community and solidarity with other farmers, it has allowed us to get to where we are today. I would say the backbone of our farm, aside from technology, its also the relationships in partnership that we have established, so i would definitely advise beginning farmers to collaborate, especially with their local community. And i know the last time we had a roundtable together at the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, there was some discussion about what you had mentioned in the burgeoning what restaurant market, where you provided almost 50 population, almost 2 million more colorado than the last two decades, which has led to a boom in the restaurant industry, but one of the Biggest Challenges is getting Fresh Produce to those restaurants in a timely way with im sitting on the shelf and having a spoiler, and i know some folks in the union are experimenting with Online Platforms to do that, where restaurant can order something up, in realtime, and get it within hours, have you had experience with that . And all those platforms you think are valuable . Definitely. These platforms allow us to have a really strong communication with our markets and buyers. Growing migrants allows us to generate enough product every week to cover the immediate needs of chefs in restaurants so, weve been able to capitalize on the benefits of micro greens in order to satisfy the needs of our blossoming culinary enterprise. And is the role, in your view, for this committee in helping young folks for the start up costs but the barriers on those platforms because i know one of the things i love about this is you cant outsource Fresh Produce, right . I mean, it has to be grown locally, produced locally, and sent to local restaurants, so i think it is a great opportunity for us, but what are those barriers that you think folks like us, say up, here could help reduce. Absolutely, i think, you know, one of the challenges was accessing capital. When my Business Partner and i decided to start a farm in colorado, we did not exactly know how to approach it. We did not know what products to grow and we also wanted to be mindful of food waste, so, for us it was an opportunity to research what the local menu is in our context. Micro greens became that crop that we focused on and because of their ease of production and low input needs, we were able to boot strap our operation in a very small 150 square foot greenhouse that was adjacent to my initial property that i was renting in colorado, and threw that allowed us to really connect with the markets that were emerging, especially through farmers markets. Now that we have scaled to our commercial phase, we have realize that much more infrastructure and input needs has been required by our Business Model to be viable so access to capital has been quite a challenge but we are boot strapping it as we go along. This allows us to really understand the scale that is needed to address a lot of these factors and make our business viable. Like i mentioned before, Student Loans have been a factor in our ability to address the infrastructure needs of our business, but we are optimistic and determined to innovate new models for helping younger farmers, especially since a lot of our aviation farming population is experiencing this moment of transitions so we are trying to engage, inspire and motivate the next generation of agriculture workers. Thank, you mister, mayor and i do have to cut us questions were witnesses but i want to spread it around a little bit before i look back to all of you for a second round, so my time has expired mister balderson is now recognized for five minutes. Thank you, chairman crow, i will start with doctor Jackson Smith. Doctor, according to a recent article in the minnesota time, excuse me, minnesota star tribune, track is built in 1980 or earlier are in high demand because the price to buy and maintain it significantly lower the new. High tech tractors. Can you give us a brief interpretation of this trend . Certainly, and i can say that i just retired my 1985 toyota cola, which rusted out before the engine never went, so i bond with those farmers. I find for 25 years and when i farmed i understood the value of this kind of tear of technology. My explanation for that kind of ties into the fact that farmers, at this small and mid sized tear, have limited resources and lots of Cutting Edge Technology especially when or design for scales initially that might exceed their compassionate and take advantage of it, whereas technology from the seventies and eighties certainly Tractor Technology can do the job without having to be very expensive and difficult to acquire and maintain. Farmers also farm for economic reasons. The quality of the labor experience, their ability to achieve independence is critical to farmers that i work with and being able to work on your own tractor was why i kept that toyota cola. I cant fix a car that fixed it carburetor i cannot fix my toyota prius. In fact i am scared to touch my toyota prius. It is a very interesting observation but it does reflect both the lack of development of appropriate technology perhaps in the mainstream machinery historically and therefore old chapters having an itch but also the opportunity for manufacturers to get into that space and find ways to produce technology that is really targeted and suited to that kind of clientele. There are manufactures, i think yyz up to that. Thank you very much. This next question i have is for the whole panel and you all can jump in however you may. According to the ohio statewide broadband strategy, 3000 households at ohio representing approximately 1 million ohioans lack of Broadband Internet access. As a member of the Small Business and Infrastructure Committee i have a including those in my district that suffer from crumbling infrastructure inadequate Internet Access. How does Broadband Access Impact Technology for Rural Farmers . I can make a comment from the perspective of indigo, we have had to build mobile technologies for farmers to validate the work they are doing on farm in order for buyers to pay a premium. We are trying to do commoditize grain agriculture. That means we have to set into the field to take notes on what has happened. The lack of brown that access has required us, as a technology company, to build all of our apps resilient to a lack of Internet Connectivity. The Development Costs of that, and the missed opportunity around a two week streak for the farmers are just mindboggling. It is interesting, from a Software Developed perspective, we bring developers all over the world to indigo. They were shocked to deal with that engine to challenge. They are so trained in solving urban problems, it was a real moment to realize that the lack of bandwidth was going to mean developing against a total blackout from a band perspective. Thank you, that is a good answer. Sir. If i may, i like to second that. Our entire network has been developed based off a cellular and satellite up link because of the fact that in many of the regions we are in, there is not sustainable broadband. We do use broadband where we can because they cost benefit into doing so, but it is a secondary backup. We are in areas where it gets to 130 degrees as a high and of course in areas of colorado where it is below zero. That shift in climate over the year put you in a position where not only do you have to have solid equipment that can sustain itself but also the connectivity to get into the web is still not there. Mr. Missa. We have been lucky in our context in world that we have incredible fiber optic connections. It is essential part of our Business Model because we are able to create a niche for ourselves in a market through the use of communication platform. By educating consumers about our products and connecting them with our food source. That is pretty much how we have been able to create this business for ourselves and we also need this technology to utilize the Sensor Technology that we are using to mitigate any energy waste that we may encounter in our production methods. Thank you very much. Mister chairman, i yield back. Thank you, the gentleman yields back. The gentlelady from kansas is now recognized for five minutes. Thank you chairman and thank you for holding this hearing. Thank you to all the folks who came out here to testify on what i think is a really amazing opportunity for us on the Small Business committee to be talking about issues that really touch on rural, urban and suburban points of contact here. I represent the Third District in kansas, which is home to garments. We have a lot of the precision agriculture technologies. It is very important to the district i represent but also in my state there is really, i would consider a big push towards a Sustainable Agriculture that you have all the talking about today. Community college has a Sustainable Agriculture program that i have had the opportunity to visit. One of the things they have brought up was how hard it can be for people to get into some of the types of farming that you have talked about. The small farms getting into some of the crops that people are less familiar with. I guess the question for anyone on the panel who wants to help in lightness is, how do we how can we as Small Business committee or Congress Help support that pipeline and also the technologies that i think, in particular excite about the carbon piece, i would love to hear from you about how we can really implement or make the programs we have existing better for you all . Congresswoman davis, i appreciate the question and i will maybe address the carbon opportunity. It is something we wrestle with. If this is a winwin come into the system means you can use less input, far more profitably use and make more healthy food. Why have we not seen the transition . Farmers are entrepreneurs. If was that compelling, why are we seeing only two and three and 4 of all American Farmers doing those things . We think the barrier in large part is risk and no house. It is risky to change the model and the conventional farming as well understood. Anything stretch conventional farming introduces risk. I would suggest that anything that congress can do to create incentives around overcoming that first barrier. Once folks have been doing that for two or three years, it is actually more profitable farm but its overcoming that initiation obstacle that seems to be a big part of the blocker. If i may add to that. Swiim are in three states. We have a staff of 30 something, so we are a Small Business as well. We have applied for state and federal fundings and have been successful in some cases and have failed and others. We find ourselves helping our growers maybe 30 of the time using some funding mechanism to help integrate this type of technology. Whether it is meza swiim basic technology or otherwise. The other thing we find has a barrier is a fact that these growers were told over and over, just want to grow. They are not in a position where they want to fill out paperwork, they are not in a position where they want to wait. Many of the programs, are least the ones we are involved in, create a distant set up to predeploy these types of technology. Again whether it is swiim for the technology. You can apply for funding whoever wants to get on it now, if they do so, the funding package will not allow them to be reimbursed. They cannot, and im speaking specifically to equip, im sure there is others. We have had grower say flat out, i am tired of waiting, i want to get this Water Conservation technology in place, to heck with it im going to the point myself. I think we have applied, we have helped our clients apply multiple times and almost every single one of them have just move forth and done it themselves. So a revamp about the process with a grower safe we can just a one master application for all of our field in this one region we would do it in about five seconds. One former every single field, it is the same reason they do not want to monitor their water they want to leave it to professional. The same reason we have found push back on these types of programs. Thank you. Thank you. My time is coming to an end here. I appreciate the tangible suggestions that you have and i will reach out to folks who did not get to answer the question to see what you have to say about it. Thank you and i yield back. Gentlelady is back. The gentleman tennessee, mr. Brush it, is recognized for five minutes. Thank, you mister chairman. Appreciate the opportunity to be here and i appreciate it shall be in here, when involved in, a gas, on organic business, a composting mulching business for a long time, and i know that, i guess, the learning curve i had to experience, with regulations, they just make them up as they go and then so its kind of im excited to see you all doing what youre doing and a couple of questions. Now, this is for the full panel. How do American Consumers affect agtech industry dynamics . Are they driving the expansion of this industry are they continuing to learn how it works . Thank you, mr. Burton. You can call me jim. Appreciate it. In colorado, there is really strong local Food Movement and consumers are increasingly demanding products that are available locally not only to receive the freshest most high Quality Ingredients but also to limit the food miles the food has to travel to get to play its so, weve been able to address that with the kind of crop that we grow and not only that, but i think there is also this greater awareness of the participation we all have in establishing a local Sustainable Food system. It is really the ecosystem we are taken, farmers, consumers, everybody was involved in food, so, it really is a driving force because we grow for consumers, that our primary goal, and for me, it is important to not only think of it in terms of a transaction but a reciprocal relationship, right . We see it as, we take care of the plants so that they can take care of us and then we can take care of the community and that relationship has been, i would, say the intangible infrastructure that is important to our entire business. Im glad to hear you say that. Im an organic gardener, i grow tomatoes squash and green beans, and i have blueberries blackberries and raspberries. Its all sort of conglomerate id. In my backyard, all kinds of stuff, and my neighbor, oddly enough, was not in my Political Party but told me i need to spray down with some chemicals, you know, and i hesitated. I was mayor of the county but i lived in the city. Kind of confusing. I adopted to goats and they were wonderful. Even the neighbors ended up liking them so i always thought i was going to get in trouble with the good police if there are any but they were awesome. A lot of fun memories. I name them after some friends of mine. But i appreciate that. Its true. You can look at up. Kids were come by and say, can you get a picture with youre goats and i was issue, or come on, back there great, and it was, like they are the family, our onetime eating breakfast, little girl heard this chomping in the background, and i looked over, and me and her mom saw let that go daddy in the screen, and they do it anything, i mean anything, thats no lie, anything that screen, she was feeding it cinnamon life through the kitchen window, all of my girl, so she could come right in the kitchen, by my wouldnt like that but that was all right with me. Anyway, back to my questions. Discover ratings on cspan, by the way, they love that stuff. What motivates or discourages small family farmers from considering new technologies . I was just on the Environmental Issues and it seemed like our universities were not they did not like the organic aspect and i found out later that a lot of the funding comes from some of the big boys who i talked regularly on my twitter page. And im sure brings them to the knees but the truth is that they get a lot of funding, these universities, do from, that and so they sort of discourage that environmental thing, i know one of you said that you grow micro greens and all of that, so im curious about how that all played. In just jump where you want to check ahead this belief. As you pointed out universities, and let me just jumping in on this one and i think the interesting thing about universities, i think the world has changed and the universities are now focused very, much as agriculture the way it was not 30 years ago, on his emerging consumer driven market. There was skepticism when i started my career about whether organics was the real deal for that there is real Science Behind organic farming. It is now a 50, 60 billion dollar industry and so, that is woken up a lot of researchers to the possibilities of being in those spaces and, conventional agriculture systems, and for farmers, the area diversification imaginative regenerative agricultures gonna be the next come frontier. It will require a lot of targeted work, and if i had to be self, serving the universities are going to play a role in helping solve and figure out some of those fundamental signs dynamics in the systems and entrepreneurs and innovators will be able to develop new technologies that can help farmers. All, right i see right over time once again but i really appreciate you are being here. Thank you. In all sincerity and weve been entrepreneurs, we have to encourage, that we have to encourage the university and all of these merging targets, it is very encouraging, im sorry, mister chairman, i yield back none of my time. Thank, you mr. Burchett. I think everyone is disappointed that your time is expired, including me. Always one of my i know the beards. Are some of my favorite five minutes of all the committee hearings, so i appreciate it very much. Im sure youll go viral so, you know, we can watch it later. The gentlemans time is, expired general oklahoma mr. Hurd is recognized for five minutes. Thank, you mister chairman, i have no goat stories but i did go on farms. I think the Ranking Member as well and thank you all for being here today, as a Small Business owner for almost five years, i am a job creator, and all kinds of farming and ranching over the years, but im also an engineer so i appreciate the technology i wanted us to make our lives better, or confuses, one of the other, a lot of, time it allows for increased efficiencies, and you related to that in your testimony and it is also, im very familiar with iot and what is done for changing america, the legacy equipment we have out there, and because Small Businesses have started and created numerous innovation specifically hes innovations have helped identify impact on their crop production, to become more efficient, and theres been a lot of conversation about more sustainable Food Production, the creation of a stronger resistance to environmental factors, which is huge, to create more yield, to continue the success, it is six angel interpreter essential that we as elected officials are fostering growth for startups instead of creating more barriers. One of the things, you know the history of this committee, it is a very Bipartisan Committee that really tries to cut through all the politics of what is out there to really get things into the hands, ideas, and remove barriers for entrepreneurs to create a lot of jobs. Well, unfortunately, a lot of times the trump government has to get, away a lot of time to come here asking for the government again involved, and we could also be the worst nightmare, that, is everybody has a wonderful idea that tends to stifle growth and innovation and one of these examples are the barriers that stem from a 2011 so you may be familiar with which found that through the regulations, bring a new plant biotech variety to market cost an average of 136 Million Dollars and more than 30 years to complete. In an effort to reduce these burdens, both obama and trump, administrations have called for reforming our agricultural biotech rules to reduce costs, improve efficiency, and reflect decades of safe use. That, said there is more that we can do to improve our regulatory environment, this is something i would like to ask each of you about and so, the question, is in our two and a half minutes, and we will just start right here in kind of move down, if you dont mind, do you all have thoughts or recommendations, specific or general, on ways we can improve the regulatory climate, remove unnecessary barriers and allow for better Small Business participation in this critical sector . Sir, i would write a book on that. I can figure that out, it would probably be a bestseller, in my guess, but in all seriousness, as far as regulation goes, we have spent a lot of time in our particular area looking for ways to take already establishments programs and make them work for our client. So, we are talking a quid, funding through a third party, sources directly going to be a, rbi a. I struggle with asking the government to come up with another program. I was just looking at programs we have there and giving them more leeway to those that already have the ability to kind of look outside the box, for example, with a lot of the usmca funding, that is issued on a regional basis. It is a shoe to regional offices a fuel and a place it. If for example, you found a project that wanted to cross band regions giving one Person Authority to fund all of those under the same terms and conditions, may be flexing within the system that is in place would be my advice because i am not sure you would necessarily want to go out and create a brandnew program. That is my view. Thank you. We certainly feel the effects that you are describing. It is one of the reasons why we have pursued Microbial Technology naturally occurring microbes that are in nature and amplifying those it is one way that is an attractive way it is because of the barriers that you are talking about. This is an example of a private sector reacting to those barriers and id say also that the system of conventional farming is something that needs to change and that is also not a regulatory constrained avenue. In our case, i think while we do face some of the constraints of Regulatory Approval for those microbes we are developing, we found to promising ways kind of a round that so certainly verify what you are saying around the challenges that it creates. Thank you, mister chairman, i yield back. I will extend two minutes. I would like to hear the other two witnesses answer your question. Thank you. I think, the first thing we need to do is go to farming communities and ask them what ideas they have. I think too often we, as experts, think that we have a program that is complete and will remove and allow further development. Contexts are different everywhere and so, the only one that can really speak to those contexts are the farmers themselves. It is really important to take into account the specific cities of each farmers and what they need and how they see the whole matrix of things working. Another thing that i think would help is, we all know that it had been subsidize so we should be able to channel some of the funding into regenerative agriculture, new innovative models to producing food and hopefully we can come up with a nice brainstorming session that will yield some innovative models. Thank you. It is a fantastic question you have stumbled into an area about which i know too much. I will be talking for the next 45 minutes like any good professor. I have worked quite a bit on Agricultural Technology and i started in the bovine Cutting Edge Technology in the dairy industry in wisconsin. It was a controversial, contested and still is technology. It was the opening salvo on the genetic engineering being a political football or at least a very contested issue. I think our regulatory system reflects that. I do not know anyone who thinks our current regulatory system on generically on and genetic engineering make sense. To find our way forward on genetic engineering regulation requires finding some middle ground, finding some balance and coming up with a system that incentivizes careful scrutiny in places where it is necessary and recognizes much of the barriers that have been put in place right now are preventing us from deploying technology for purposes that we always celebrate. There are plenty of examples, we talked about it in our long written testimony that might be for example innovative cover crops. They allow cover crops to succeed. They are a great idea but i know most farmers try them, it is more complicated than they were told, that is because we have not had the cover crafts that suit by diversity of climates and Production Systems farmers use. Biotechnology and genetic engineering could be a tool if we were able to confidently deploy that as part of our portfolio. I recognize, and im sympathetic, that the ways in which it has been deployed to date have not always been percolated down to the benefits of consumers are Small Businesses. The skepticisms and concerns of biotechnology are real but i think you are touching on an area that there is a bottleneck and a bottleneck that somehow we are going to see a way through future. Mister chairman, thank you. Thank you mr. Hearn, the gentlemanly olds back. The gentleman from pennsylvania doctor joyce has been recognized for five minutes. I think the chairman for yielding and for the opportunity to discuss the opportunities that Ad Technology it can bring to Rural America. First, i would like to take a moment to highlight a farm in my congressional district, which has been incredibly successful in utilizing technology to improve their operations. Jen and dan turner own and operate right farm, an 80 acre farm in chip in suburban, pennsylvania. They primarily raise hair sheep and lambs. Several years ago, dan and jim entirely relied on a system of spreadsheets and post it notes, to records the growth and any medication, vaccination, trimmings, other details relevant to managing their flock. The process to collect this data was tedious. It required them to access the sheep one by one, flip through pages of spreadsheet to find the corresponding records and then in put the updated relevant information into this spreadsheet. To improve this process, the very innovative turners joined the National Sheep Improvement Program and purchased a system, which consisted of ear tags within our f id chip and a handheld chip reader as well as a bluetooth enabled scale that works with the chip reader. This technology has allowed them to collect more data and do it in a fraction of the time. They have seen a remarkable four to one time reduction in the barn and a stunning 12 to one reduction in labor on data entry. More importantly, the turner is not only saved time, but the Additional Data enables them to improve quality of care to the flock and decreases the stress on the animals and the shepherds. In the words of the turners and i quote, it is like having a farm hand who has ex revision and almost perfect memory. We can all agree that technology of this magnitude can be revolutionary for small and medium operations. However, as noted by your testimony here today, major hurdles continue to develop and impede the deploying of these technologies and this technology relies in a large part to Broadband Access. One of my Top Priorities since coming to congress has been to increase and expand rural bhatia broadband deployment. Doctor Jackson Smith, you certainly have a broad expertise in this. Can you further elaborate on how a lack of reliable broadband limits opportunities available to small and medium farms to look into diversify, modernize and to improve the moderations . I can and i can speak about the goats that i used to raise, not really. The fact that i used to live on a farm where we did raise goats and sheeps and we had dial up internet. It sensitize me to the realities of what role like americas like for farming and being able to access Cutting Edge Technology. For most developers of kept no knowledge of these days they have very little exposure to agriculture. Most person experience to the realities of what that working environment is like. The complexity of juggling on the demands of the task. They often come from urban areas and so some of the comments made earlier is how surprised people are lebron working in Tech Development for 20 years when, they take on a rural project or an agriculture project at the realities of what Internet Access is like. It is a huge issue, it is a tremendous barrier to be able to deploy things. One of the strategies i think we should explore more is be able to get more entrepreneurs and innovators. This speaks to Workforce Developments out on form and out on Rural Communities before technology is hardened and develop to get an appreciation for what the clientele are like and where they have needs and weather opportunities. I think it is a vastly under resourced place to spend resources an effort that will lead to things we could not imagine but a Design System. I raise sheep. A Design System for small scale she producer that fit with my budget, make my life easier and allows me to be more successful. It is exactly where we ought to be in. Thank you sir. Thank you mister chair and i yield back. Thank you doctor joyce, the gentleman yields back. The gentleman from texas is recognized for five minutes. Excuse me, thank you very much. I want to asky questions for