Join us for the 32nd annual Farm City Week Agricultural Tour in Manatee County. The event is a day-long, chartered bus tour taking place Thursday, November 9. Each year, Farm City Week explores a new theme prevalent in agriculture. This year, attendees have the privilege of seeing first-hand how Manatee County agricultural productions are leading “Innovations in Agriculture”. Each tour stop explores different facets of the agriculture industry that have their own unique perspective on what innovation means for their operation. Wish Farms’ owner Gary Wishnatzki co-founded Harvest CROO Robotics and utilizes their strawberry harvester on the farm. This harvester can harvest, grade, and pack strawberries with its sixteen independently working robots, their vision system, and vision AI. Jones Potato Farm, which also operates a green bean farm and packinghouse, uses Key Technology’s advanced VERYX® B175 digital sorter that removes foreign material and substandard green beans on their process line. Both innovative processes maintain product quality while providing a solution to the pressing labor shortage. On the nursery side of the agriculture industry, Sweet Bay Nursery is innovating the way people think about pollinator gardens and native plants in the landscape. While a lot of common pollinator plants are not native, like the popular tropical milkweed, Sweet Bay’s philosophy is that planting natives will attract butterflies and other wildlife. In the world of livestock, innovative hay production practices from Gulf Coast Ag have allowed the operation to utilize new forage varieties to increase quality and quantity while also reducing the amount of nutrients and herbicides applied to the crop. Learn more about how local Manatee County agricultural operations are using the latest innovations from technology to ideology, to improve their business, the local economy, and our environment on the 32nd annual Farm City Week Agricultural Tour. The tour is $75 per person plus Eventbrite fees and includes transportation, lunch, water and snacks, and entry to each location. Register here: 2023fcwagriculturaltour.eventbrite.com.