A key component to the success of the agriculture industry is efficiency through innovation. For Austin Hubbell, ranch manager for Marthedal Enterprises, ag partnerships are a key to innovation. Growers frequently work with public and private entities in the development of new varieties. Hubbell sees these partnerships as crucial to the progression of the raisin industry, as they allow growers to take initiative and help find solutions to production challenges.
“At the end of the day, I don’t feel comfortable just sitting here as a grower and saying, ‘Well gosh, if this or that agency could come up with some data or an answer, we’d be better off,’” Hubbell said. “We’re going to go out and try to find the answers ourselves. We would love to have agencies, like the UC extension service or other private industry companies, partnered with us along the way, because this is a collective effort. We are looking for answers for the greater good of the entire raisin industry.”
Through these efforts, promising varieties have come to the forefront of the raisin industry. Sunpreme and Rais-one varieties have become focal points in the work that Hubbell has been involved in. He began growing these varieties to see what kind of potential they might hold for the industry. “Both the Sunpreme and Rais-one varieties are self-drying varieties, meaning that the intention is the variety will dry 100 percent on its own, naturally, on the vine, without any kind of human intervention,” Hubbell said.
Eliminating or reducing the need for labor and inputs is a core focus and driving factor behind innovation. Partnerships between farmers and developers help move the overall process along, to evaluate the viability of new varieties and approaches.
“It takes a great length of time to fully breed, develop, vet, and release to the public, a grape variety. These things don’t happen overnight,” Hubbell noted. “The more people we have collectively working to further the raisin industry, the better off we all are.”