SureHarvest announced today that Dr. Cliff Ohmart is joining the company as the Vice President of Professional Services. "Dr. Cliff Ohmart is an exceptionally talented and visionary leader in sustainability who combines the rigors of agricultural science with the experiential wisdom from implementing on-the-farm innovations with thousands of growers," stated Dr. Jeff Dlott, President of SureHarvest. "The addition of Dr. Ohmart allows SureHarvest to meet the growing demand for agrifood sustainability solutions."
Cutting-Edge
Discussion on the Science and E-ccounting of Sustainability Performance
(SOQUEL,CA
- March 18, 2009) - Just as Congress and the Obama Administration are debating
the replacement of direct subsidies with 'green' payments, SureHarvest CEO Dr. Jeff Dlott will lead a diverse group of food
industry business and nonprofit leaders to find common ground around meaningful
ways to measure agriculture's impact on climate change, energy, water, and biodiversity.
Kellogg, General Mills, Stonyfield Farms and Fetzer Vineyards will engage each
other in the 8:00 a.m. panel on Friday, March 20 at the Lansdowne Resort in Lansdowne, Virginia.
SureHarvest Announces Agreement to Acquire ScanControl at 2009 Unified Wine and Grape Symposium. ScanControl's GIS mapping and handheld technology expertise extends SureHarvest's offerings to growers of any size and scale.
The Healthy Grown Wisconsin potato label has announced it will price its potatoes at the market price for Wisconsin potatoes instead of at the premium price for eco-friendly grown produce. Protected Harvest certifies and audits all Healthy Grown growers, packers, and shippers to ensure the company adheres to strict environmental standards. Healthy Grown has found sustainability to be economical and is passing these savings on to their customers.
Dr. Jeff Dlott, of SureHarvest, discusses businesses looking inward and finding cost saving opportunities through sustainability practices. The Stewardship Index for Specialty Crops is working to develop a common set of sustainability metrics that businesses in the specialty crop supply chain can use to compare performance metrics against those of industry averages for ultimate efficiency.
Michelle Machado of San Joaquin Lifestyles discusses the sustainable winegrowing practices maintained by the Ripkens Vineyards and Winery Inc. which are audited by Protected Harvest according to the Lodi Rules for Sustainable Winegrowing. These sustainable winegrowing practices support biodiversity while allowing the growth of many varietals of grapes.
Sustainability is becoming increasingly important from farms to governemnt legislation to consumers and it showed at the 2010 Wine and Grape Symposium. Businesses are taking initiative and cutting costs with sustainability while finding ways to profit from it. Jeff Dlott, of SureHarvest, said the winegrape industry has been a leader in the sustainability movement.
Andrew Arnold, of SureHarvest, offers a few recommendations for converting to sustainability from making the decision to convert to the actual process of converting.
Businesses of all sizes are beginning to look toward sustainability programs to reduce emissions, lower costs, and increase long-term profits. Barbara Meister, of SureHarvest, named just a few of the smaller, west coast companies that are taking steps towards sustainability. Just as food safety was once optional, in a few years sustainability will be just as much of a requirement from the government and the public.
Different companies have used different strategies to convert to sustainability practices, from a specific group of employees focused on sustainability to incorporating sustainability as a company wide practice in which everyone is involved. Andrew Arnold, of SureHarvest, urges that sustainability practices are most successful when driven by the top management of a company.
Peter Mitham of Good Fruit Grower discusses the value of farming management software for data-driven decision making to manage toward sustainability. With farming data collected and analyzed through the SureHarvest Farming MIS, growers can determine if their farming practices are having the intended results. Resource use can be optimized if growers can see correlations between inputs, weather and farming practices.
Sureharvest farming MIS allows farmers to benchmark data resulting from sustainability practices. The benchmarks make it possible for farmers to compare themselves to competitors and to show real data to retailers demanding sustainability.
Pam Mitchell of Sureharvest speaks at the Washington State Horticultural Association about choosing the appropriate farming management information system. The appropriate system for a farm depends on the data that each farm aims to collect and which features of a software program are the most important.
Vicky Boyd, editor of The Grower magazine, reviews the Almond Sustainability Program launched by the Almond Board of California in collaboration with SureHarvest. Modeled after the Sustainable Winegrowing Program, the almond industry recognizes the growing demand for data among its buyers and the value of a grower-driven self-assessment tool to measure how growers are doing and identify opportunities for improvement.
ABC's Sustainability Self-Assessment Program Discussed. The latest step in the Almond Board's industrywide sustainability initiative is a self-assessment program designed to inventory actual practices in the orchard. The program's first module-focused on irrigation and fertilizer management practices-is likely to provide a prototype for additional self-assessment modules down the road.
Food safety and sustainability were the major focus of the recent Washington Horticultural Association Meeting held in Wenatchee, WA. The Packer reports on presentations of Dr. Cliff Ohmart's overview of sustainability intiatives by Walmart, Sysco and others. This article also includes coverage of the presentation by Jonathan Kaplan of NRDC regarding the Stewardship Index for Specialty Crops, and food safety issues by Hank Giclas of Western Growers Association.
The Capital Press attended the Washington Horticultural Association's presentation by Dr. Cliff Ohmart on Trends in Sustainability: An opportunity or an imposition?
"I like the term sustainability, but I know a lot of growers do not," said Clifford Ohmart, vice president of professional services of Sureharvest and former sustainable wine growing director at the Lodi, Calif., Winegrape Commission.
"It's the three Es," he said. "It's economically viable, environmentally sound and socially equitable."
Tom Burfield of The Packer reviews the strategies of several citrus growers in their pursuit of sustainability. SunWest Fruit Co., has chosen to certify its growing practices through Protected Harvest and market its citrus under the Zeal brand.
Tom Karst, national editor of The Packer reviews the progress of the Stewardship Index for Specialty Crops with Dr. Jeff Dlott of SureHarvest. With funding from the USDA Conservation Innovation Grant of $630,000, the metrics will soon be pilot tested to see what works and what doesn't. The USDA grant is supplemented with In-kind support from participating companies including Markon Cooperative, Salinas, Calif.; SunWest Fruit Inc., Parlier, Calif.; National Potato Council, Washington, D.C.; Driscoll's, Watsonville, Calif.; Stemilt Growers Inc., Wenatchee, Wash.; Wada Farms Marketing Group, Idaho Falls, Ida.; Del Cabo Inc., Santa Cruz, Calif.; and Sodexo Inc, Gaithersburg, Md.
The California Almond Board was awarded 3 Specialty Crop Grants from the California Department of Food and Agriculture. SureHarvest will be collaborating with the Almond Board to develop an integrated water and nutrient resource management program to help growers increase water and nutrient resource use efficiency. The project will include developing a self-assessment and benchmarking tool, decision-making tools and industry outreach and education.
The Packer reports on SureHarvest's award of $630,000 from the USDA Conservation Innovation Grant program to fund the pilot testing of the Stewardship Index for Specialty Crops.
The Packer's Bob Luder reports on SureHarvest latest product offering - Farming InSight, a GIS-map based decision support tool for growers and farm managers.
Ashley Bentley of The Packer reviews recent efforts by retailers and grower-shippers to meet new demands for sustainability, as well as the efforts of the Stewardship Index for Specialty Crops. She references a presentation by Jeff Dlott of the scope of sustainability initiatives in the agri-food supply chain.
Dr. Jeff Dlott outlines a strategy for achieving sustainability by focusing on Principles, Practices, Processes and Performance as key to business innovation.
Protected Harvest certification program for fresh produce is cited as one of many suggestions for retailers pursuing a sustainability strategy for their customers.
Editor Tim Linden of Western Grower & Shipper magazine asked Dr. Jeff Dlott if now is the right time to pursue sustainability strategies in a down economy. Read the full article to find out why Jeff thinks sustainability and profitability go "hand in hand."
FreshSense, a citrus and stonefruit packing company based in Parlier, California, was honored as an IPM Innovator by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation. FreshSense produces citrus and stonefruit using sustainable agricultural practices certified by Protected Harvest.
Greg Johnson, Editor of ThePacker.com, reviews both the Leonardo Academy and the Stewardship Index for Specialty Crops initiatives to set standards for sustainability. Jeff Dlott, president and chief executive officer of SureHarvest, a
sustainability consulting and information systems company based in
Soquel, Calif., and a co-founder of the Stewardship Index for Specialty Crops, said "We have a blank slate now," he said, referring to the original draft by the Leonardo Academy. The purpose of the Stewardship Index is to develop a standard set of performance metrics for assessing sustainability based on outcomes, not practices.
Protected Harvest Partner FreshSense, based in Parlier, CA, was recognized as an IPM Innovator by the California
Department of Pesticide Regulation. FreshSense, a company formed by Fowler Packing Co., SunWest Fruit Co., and Ballantine Produce Co. produces Zeal and Treehouse Kids branded stonefruit under the Protected Harvest certification program, managed by SureHarvest. Read the full article in American/Western Fruit Grower magazine.
SureHarvest CEO Jeff Dlott participated in a panel discussion at the 83rd Annual Meeting of the Western Growers, presenting the Sustainable Winegrowing Program as a model program for sustainability.
SureHarvest CEO Jeff Dlott comments on the efforts by ANSI to develop sustainability standards and advocates defining metrics for measuring performance, instead of practice-based standards.
Abstract: The widespread adoption of sustainable winegrowing practices depends not only on rigorous science, but also on its effective delivery to growers. The Lodi Winegrape Commission (LWC) created a unique self-assessment workbook and implementation program for increasing the adoption of sustainable winegrowing practices. This project was based on results from published research projects — many generated by UC scientists — and on-farm demonstration projects carried out by LWC growers and vineyard consultants. Data from two grower surveys shows that the program led to the increased adoption of specific sustainable winegrowing practices in the Lodi region. It has also served as a model for programs in other wine regions, including in California and New York.
Cliff Ohmart, Research Director for Lod-Woodbridge Winegrape Commission Cliff has collaborated with Jeff Dlott since the 1990s and is credited with inspiring SureHarvest with his early use of barcode technology for field pest scouting and database system to track pest management farming practices.
SureHarvest CEO Jeff Dlott joins Blair Richardson, CEO of FreshSense, in a webinar presentation defining sustainability and describing the certification of sustainably-grown products by Protected Harvest, such as Zeal stonefruit and citrus.
An interview with CEO Jeff Dlott, exploring the history and role of SureHarvest in developing the Sustainable Winegrowing Program for the California wine industry.
SureHarvest CEO Jeff Dlott and Tim Markon, of Markon Cooperative, a leading foodservice distributor in Salinas, CA, argue for an industry-wide focus to create measureable and verifiable performance-based metrics for sustainability in the fresh produce sector.
Megan Pierce interviews two customers, Robert Pirie of Colligere Farm Management and Mike Wolf of Michael Wolf Vineyard Services about their experiences with SureHarvest for vineyard management.
Product Review by Mark Greenspan, Wine Business Monthly
Mark Greenspan reviews 11 different software programs and services for vineyard management, including SureHarvest. See pgs. 4, 7 and 8 to see how SureHarvest compares to our competitors.
Matt Villano interviewed Jeff Dlott for the history of SureHarvest and the software application for the Sustainable Winegrowing Program.
PR Contact
If you are a member of the press and industry analyst community, please contact us by calling
(831) 477-7797 x206 or contact us by e-mail at marketing@sureharvest.com.