Semios’ On-Farm Innovation: A Conversation with General Manager Stephen Pistoresi
A Familiar Valley Name Returns to the Spotlight
When Ag Meter host Nick welcomed his next guest, it felt like a reunion nearly two decades in the making. Stephen Pistoresi — a name well-known across the Central Valley — joined the show for the first time since 2007. Fans from Fresno to Madera remember him as one of the standout baseball stars from San Joaquin Memorial High School, later becoming a Cal Berkeley Bear. Now, years after his athletic career, Pistoresi has taken a new leadership role in agriculture as the General Manager of On-Farm Solutions for the Semios Group.
During the interview, Nick joked about Stephen’s “perfect radio voice,” reminisced about his baseball glory days, and asked how the body was holding up after years on the mound. Stephen laughed, admitting he hasn’t picked up a baseball in years, but said he’s feeling good — though he’ll need “rehab-day training” when it’s time to throw batting practice for his future kids.
A Deep Agricultural and Community Legacy
The Pistoresi name runs generations deep in the Valley. Nick highlighted the family’s long-standing community presence — from Stephen’s grandfather building an ambulance service in the late 70s and 80s, to the family’s history in mushroom farming. Stephen acknowledged how meaningful that legacy is, calling it an important part of his identity and personal history.
Despite stepping away from the family’s earlier agricultural endeavors, Stephen is very much back in the ag world through his role at Semios.
What Is Semios? A Global Ag Tech Platform
Stephen described Semios as a major West Coast—and increasingly global—ag technology company. Founded in 2010, Semios was built on a mission to make farming more predictable, more profitable, and more data-driven. Today, the Semios Group includes several technology brands—Semios, AgWorld, Altrac, Greenbook—and manages more than 100 million acres across multiple countries.
Semios has grown into a comprehensive platform used by growers, agronomists, and ag retailers, offering both hardware and software tools that improve on-farm decision-making. What makes the company unique, Stephen emphasized, is the combination of products, data, and service, all integrated to support growers in real time.
The Power of the Semios Brand Family
Stephen explained that Semios is much more than a single product line. The Semios Group includes:
- Semios On-Farm Solutions – including mating disruption, weather monitoring, irrigation management, frost protection, wind control, and more.
- AgWorld – a widely used farm management software platform in the U.S. and Australia.
- Additional tools and partnerships that support growers, retailers, and ag advisors.
The goal across the entire brand family is consistent:
Make farming more efficient, more sustainable, and more profitable — with accessible technology and real-time data.
Real-Time Weather & Irrigation Tools
Nick pointed out that Semios’ weather systems have become essential for modern farmers. Stephen agreed, emphasizing how critical real-time conditions are for irrigation decisions, pest management, and overall crop health. He stressed that Semios never looks at a product in isolation — it’s always part of a larger suite designed to support growers holistically.
Mating Disruption: Semios’ Flagship Technology
If there’s one product Semios is best known for, it’s their pheromone-based mating disruption. As Stephen explained, it’s exactly what it sounds like:
A controlled release of pheromones that makes it extremely difficult for male and female pests to find each other and reproduce.
This reduces pest pressure in a sustainable, targeted way — giving growers a major advantage without overwhelming reliance on traditional crop protection tools.
Semios currently offers mating disruption for four key pests affecting West Coast specialty crops:
- Navel orangeworm – tree nuts (almonds, pistachios)
- Codling moth – apples in the Northwest and some tree nuts in California
- California red scale – citrus
- Vine mealybug – grapes
Together, these four pests represent some of the most economically damaging pressures in California agriculture.
How Mating Disruption Is Applied
Instead of spraying, Semios uses aerosol-based mating disruption emitters — small canisters with cabinets mounted directly in trees at a rate of one per acre. The Semios field services team installs and maintains these devices, ensuring proper mapping, placement, and full-system functionality.
This model not only improves accuracy and consistency, but also reduces labor needs for the grower and ag retailers who no longer need to coordinate installation themselves.
Semios uses the same full-service approach for irrigation and water monitoring systems through partnerships like WiseConn, giving growers a single provider for installation, servicing, and support across multiple on-farm technologies.
Agriculture’s Rapid Shift Toward Automation
As Nick noted, the pace of innovation in agriculture today is like the jump from a flip phone to an iPhone. Technology adoption has accelerated dramatically, especially in the eight years since Stephen first entered the ag tech industry. Semios, he said, is at the forefront of that transformation — bringing together hardware, software, and field support to help growers navigate an increasingly complex farming landscape.
Driving Innovation Through Automation and Reliability
As the conversation with Stephen Pistoresi continued, the focus shifted toward one of the most defining transformations in modern agriculture: automation. For Pistoresi, automation isn’t just a buzzword—it’s about reliability and freeing farmers to focus their limited time and manpower where it matters most.
He explained that Semios partners closely with WiseConn to install fully integrated irrigation monitoring and control systems. These systems streamline labor demands, reduce the number of hands required on a job, and ensure precision across every step of water management.
In California, where water scarcity is a constant challenge, leveraging automation and accurate field data is no longer optional—it’s essential. Semios’ tools allow growers to use every gallon more effectively while keeping costs down. And with the entire system feeding into the Semios platform, growers gain a centralized, real-time dashboard for monitoring and control. Whether from the ranch truck or an iPhone, farmers can adjust irrigation schedules, confirm system performance, and maintain oversight without unnecessary time in the field.
This shift, Pistoresi shared, grants growers peace of mind: “I don’t have to drive out somewhere. I don’t have to manually manipulate something. I’m sitting in the truck… doing that work very quickly, very effectively.”
A Coast-to-Coast Support Network
Pistoresi attributes much of Semios’ success to its growing service footprint. With warehouses and branches from Bakersfield to Washington, Semios designed its support system to be as responsive as the data it provides. Behind the technology is a field services team grounded in agriculture and dedicated to precision.
They don’t just install hardware—they understand crops, growers, and the stakes of every decision in the field.
“There is a sense of pride,” Pistoresi said. “We’re putting things in the field that are helping our growers… with a level of precision and care that would be very hard to find somewhere else.”
A One-Stop Shop Built on Understanding Growers’ Needs
Semios Group’s strength is rooted in a deep understanding of the challenges growers face today. Pistoresi emphasizes that effective tools must be grounded in real-world farming experience.
His inspiration comes from watching his grandfather—an innovator ahead of his time in mushrooms and fresh vegetables—value collaboration, curiosity, and meaningful problem-solving.
That philosophy carries through Semios’ entire family of brands:
- Semios – On-farm solutions including mating disruption, weather monitoring, frost control, irrigation management, and automation
- AgWorld – Farm management software used across the U.S. and Australia
- WiseConn (via partnership) – Irrigation monitoring & automation integration
- Greenbook and other group technologies – Complementary tools built around data, compliance, and crop protection
Together, these solutions are designed not only to perform well individually but also to integrate seamlessly. The goal: to provide daily value, simplify operations, and strengthen long-term sustainability.
Learning From the Past, Building for the Future
The ag industry has tested many tools that didn’t live up to expectations. Pistoresi sees these lessons as essential to development. Knowing what doesn’t work informs the innovation that Semios delivers today.
He believes that a year from now—or five—the Semios conversation will evolve again as even stronger technologies emerge from their pipeline. The company is committed to continual improvement and long-term solutions growers can trust.
Farming Today Requires New Tools, New Thinking
Pistoresi reflected on how drastically farming has changed since his grandfather’s era. Today’s growers face financial pressure, water restrictions, environmental challenges, and relentless pest pressure.
The constants may remain—family, land, community—but the methods have had to evolve dramatically.
“You absolutely have to be smarter and more efficient,” he said.
And the Semios team, from California to Washington and beyond, is fully aligned with that mission: to make modern farming more sustainable, more profitable, and more resilient for decades to come.
Delivering Smarter Pest Control and Lower Input Costs
Semios’ pheromone-based mating disruption remains one of the most valuable tools in its lineup. By disrupting the ability of pests to mate and spread, growers can reduce populations, improve crop quality, and lower chemical inputs—all without sacrificing protection.
Installation by the Semios field team ensures the system works correctly from day one. For growers facing rising input and labor costs, this combination of precision, reliability, and reduction in manual effort is essential.
Growers using Semios’ solutions have already seen year-over-year improvements in pest reduction and program efficiency—proof that the system works not just once, but season after season.
A Team That Loves What They Do
Those who visit the Semios or AgWorld booths at industry conferences—such as the Almond Conference—often notice something consistent: everyone there is smiling. Pistoresi sees this as a reflection of company culture.
The team genuinely enjoys the work because they genuinely care about agriculture. They’re connected to it, many through their own families, and show up each day with pride and purpose.
A Message to the Agriculture Community
Before closing the interview, Pistoresi shared heartfelt thanks with AgNet West listeners:
“If you’re listening to this, then you care about agriculture… across California or across the U.S. And that’s extremely important.”
He encourages anyone curious about Semios solutions to reach out—whether growers, PCAs, retailers, or ag partners.
The team is ready to help growers become more sustainable, cut costs, improve efficiency, and “fight the good fight” in their fields every day.
How to Connect With Semios
Growers can learn more or get in touch by visiting:
👉 semios.com – Information on all products, solutions, and contact options
👉 sales@semios.com – Direct email to the Semios team
The Semios and AgWorld teams will also be at the upcoming Almond Conference, ready to meet growers, answer questions, and talk through on-farm solutions.