Technology Takes the Field

Quinn Jensen stands on the edge of his family’s lettuce field in California’s Salinas Valley, his eyes trained on the New Holland tractor moving slowly through the rows of tiny romaine plants.

All around Jensen stretch fields of green leaf and head lettuce, broccoli, celery and onions, growing on some of the same ground the Jensen family has farmed for 100 years. Flanked by mountain ranges to the east and west, this Monterey County farmland hasn’t changed much over the years, but agricultural practices have. What’s operating in the field today is a prime example. 

The approaching blue tractor pulls a box-like implement called a Stout Smart Cultivator. Beneath its silver shell is equipment that uses machine optics, artificial intelligence and mechanical blades to weed and cultivate fields. In a single pass, the cultivator’s eight knives slash emerging weeds such as goosefoot nettle leaf, often resistant to chemical treatments. Stout’s technology doesn’t only differentiate between the young romaine plants and troublesome weeds. It also directs the blades to encircle the plants to remove weeds on all sides, not just cut in a straight line down the row.

Since the Jensens began using the Stout Smart Cultivator in April 2023, they’ve saved $200 to $400 an acre in labor costs. “One driver with one machine is offsetting an entire weeding crew, which costs a minimum of $200 an acre,” says Jensen.

The Stout Smart Cultivator also means the Jensens can weed their fields when they want without waiting for a 25-person crew to be available. Although the Stout doesn’t entirely replace weeding crews during the season, “it’s got a nice place in our operations,” he says.

The cultivator’s weed removal also reduces the amount of fertilizer the Jensens apply to their crops. They’ve saved one application of nitrogen per field in their first year with the Stout. That’s because fewer weeds mean less competition for nutrients. Jensen says the fertilizer savings can range from 20 pounds to hundreds of pounds per acre, depending on the commodity. He expects the farm to continue decreasing its annual nitrogen use. Not only is that another cost saver, but it is a step toward helping the Jensens meet state requirements for fertilizer reductions.

Striving for efficiency, quality
Although it’s only 20 miles wide and 90 miles long, the Salinas Valley is considered some of the most productive ag land in the world. Its abundance of leafy greens and vegetables has earned it the nickname “America’s Salad Bowl.” On this prime farmland, Jensen, his father Stephen and siblings Ross, Marie and Steen farm 1,300 acres just south of Salinas near Chualar.

Most of the Jensens’ crops, which sometimes include cauliflower, are conventionally grown. 75 acres are organic. All their fields sit within a mile of each other. The family grows its crops for three nearby buyers: Tanimura & Antle, Anthony Costa & Sons and Pacific International Marketing. 

Jensen has been keeping his eyes and ears open for new production methods to keep the family business as efficient as possible while still producing high-quality produce. That’s become a driving force since the pandemic brought a new phase to this fourth-generation operation. What had been  a pre-COVID period of profitability has flip-flopped to  a prolonged stretch of challenges. Like other U.S. farmers, the Jensens wrestle with increased labor costs, lower produce prices, soaring inflation, rising input expenses and higher interest rates. 

Jensen had been looking at the Stout Smart Cultivator for a couple of years before pulling the trigger. After purchasing the implement from the Coastal Tractor dealership in Salinas, he says putting the new cultivator into action “was so easy.” It didn’t take long for Jensen and his tractor driver to improve from slower field passes with the Stout to faster than an acre an hour now.

“We’ll run it two to three times per field,” Jensen says. “The more we run it, the better it gets. It’s at 90% accuracy and improving. And there’s no damage to the crop from the knife cuts.”

Jensen quickly learned to monitor the Stout with an app both he and the cultivator’s driver have on their smartphones. The app includes a live camera that allows them to see the knives at work in the field. Moreover, the Stout specialist at Coastal Tractor “has been here whenever I needed him,” Jensen says. “They can access the cultivator remotely. Troubleshooting was not a problem.”

More cost savings 
Purchasing the Stout Smart Cultivator to reduce labor and chemical costs isn’t the only change Jensen Family Farms has made to improve its operational efficiency. 

“I have to remind myself how much we’ve changed in the last 10 years,” Jensen says.

In 2016, for example, the Jensens installed 800 solar panels to reduce their farm’s energy expenses. Partly funded by tax credits, the solar panels sit where an old reservoir once stood. The solar system powers a large well pump, saving the farm $100,000 annually in energy costs. With a four-year payback, the solar system is already paid for.

The family further improved its on-farm efficiency in 2018 with a new Certa-Set® irrigation sprinkler system. The farm used a state grant aimed at water and energy reduction to help finance the project. The system’s zero-leak pipelines are lightweight and easily movable. “One guy can move the pipelines across multiple fields in minutes instead of hours,” Jensen says. 

Because it’s saving water, the new sprinkler system allows the Jensens to irrigate six plant beds at a time instead of five. That enables the field to gain one-quarter of an acre of ground. That small increase can make a big difference in the fertile Salinas Valley, where every piece of arable land  is coveted.

Staying ahead 
The Jensens continue to rely on their New Holland equipment, too. Their farm has multiple New Holland tractors and other pieces of machinery. “Tillage, planting, cultivating, spraying and irrigating: Every single department involves New Holland equipment,” Jensen says. “Cost was a big factor in the beginning. But now it’s also our New Holland dealer, Coastal Tractor, in Salinas. Their service center has outperformed everybody else. They go above and beyond to be helpful.”

For all the challenges his family’s farm faces, Jensen remains optimistic. “If we can stay current on benefits and advances, we can offer buyers the same, or even better, quality product at a lower cost,” he says. “We don’t do harvesting, shipping or sales, so we need to be attractive to someone who wants to hire us as their grower. If we continue to use advances like the Stout, it helps us stay ahead in the game.”