VofV: Jack Vessey on the Pressing Need to Implement Technology in Desert Agriculture

Brian German Agri-Business, Podcasts, Technology

Jack Vessey

This episode of the Voices of the Valley podcast is brought to you today by the Western Growers Association. Supporting producers that grow the best medicine in the world. Find out more at WGA.com.

For Jack Vessey, President of Imperial Valley-based Vessey & Co., one fact of desert agriculture never changes: You have to do more with less. “We have to be proactive with trying things,” he said, noting that the pressures of labor, irrigation and crop protection lead him to always explore new technologies in his operations. The front of mind of these right now is, of course, water. “The future tells us that in the next five to 10 years we’re going to have to grow every seed with less water,” he said. “We’re looking out to see what the next great innovation is…at the end of the day, we have to have water to grow that crop.” From different irrigation techniques to different crops to soil amendments, Vessey is open to experimenting. “I don’t know about a silver bullet out there, but obviously our goal is to use less and less every year.”