Growing Innovations Set to Solve Growers’ Most Pressing Challenges
May 10, 2018 
The inaugural Growing Innovations conference and tradeshow is slated for Nov. 7-8 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Innovation abounds in agriculture, yet it can feel sometimes as if the gap between exciting new developments and what growers actually need in their operations can be awfully wide. We at Meister Media Worldwide intend to help narrow this gap. Which is why we’re pleased to introduce Growing Innovations – an altogether new type of event that will debut Nov. 7-8 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, NV.
Unlike most agricultural events and trade shows, Growing Innovations is not about technology per se, nor is it about everyday issues that growers face. Instead, this new conference and tradeshow is very acutely solutions oriented. It takes as its starting point specialty crop growers’ most pressing real-world challenges – production efficiency, labor and water shortages, logistics, and data management to name just a few – and showcases advances, both current and up-and-coming, that have the greatest potential to bring many of these challenges to heel.
In fact, in an era with no shortage of events, at Meister Media, we feel so strongly about the pressing need for this particular conference and the opportunity to bring a different type of gathering to agriculture that we’ve partnered with a seasoned events company to help us. Growing Innovations is the first product of a new joint venture between Meister Media and NXT Events Media Group called Meister | NXT, LLC.
Designed Around Your Challenges
In tandem with our event partner, Meister Media is bringing the full weight of our expertise in North American agriculture and horticulture to bear to craft a conference structure with your needs in mind. Joining in this effort is a select event advisory board of industry leaders from across specialty agriculture (see below) along with Meister Media editors representing American Fruit Grower and Western Fruit Grower, American Vegetable Grower, Florida Grower, Cotton Grower, CropLife, Greenhouse Grower, PrecisionAg Professional, and Productores de Hortalizas magazines.
The result of our collective brainstorming is a conference program built around five major pillars that are likely to resonate with anyone facing today’s agricultural challenges:
- Crop Management – including sensors, drones, imagery, deep learning, field applications, and yield monitoring.
- Water Management – precision irrigation including sensors and connectivity.
- Labor Management – robotics and automation.
- Farm Management Systems – including data-driven decision-support systems.
- Postharvest, Processing, and Supply Chain Logistics – innovations that are smoothing the consumer delivery chain past the production environment.
Yet conference programming is just one critical element of Growing Innovations. Building on these themes, we’ll also feature an interactive exhibit area, tradeshow-floor grower presentations and product demonstrations, opportunities for peer-to-peer interactions, an awards program, a look ahead to 2025, and much more.
With a wide range of specialty crop growers from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico in attendance along with service providers, technology manufacturers, and other key stakeholders across agriculture, we expect a vibrant two days in a very exciting town that will help point the way to a more innovative and solutions-oriented agriculture in the years ahead.
We hope you’ll make plans now to join us in Las Vegas Nov. 7-8. And please do keep an eye out for more news and information about Growing Innovations. We’ll be announcing plenty more in the weeks and months ahead.
Growing Innovations Advisory Board (as of May 1, 2018)
- Billy Brentlinger, Seville Farms
- Chris Drew, Ocean Mist Farms
- Steve Fennimore, University of California, Davis
- Joe Petrocco, David Petrocco Farms
- Vince Restucci, R.D. Offutt Co.
- Danny Royer, Bowles Farming
- Michael Treiber, Color Spot Nurseries
- Art Van Wingerden, Metrolina Greenhouses
- Carlos Espinoza Pablos, Sol y Arenas y Anthony
- Jeff Leonardini, Washington Fruit & Produce Co.
Subscribe Today For
