SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA - With the drought in California looming and ag tech becoming increasingly popular, it’s no wonder the field of precision agriculture has had everyone talking in recent days. One company, Hortau Inc., has been mentioned in the news again and again for its contributions to the field, and has been recently featured on the popular technology publication Tech Crunch, French Canadian television series La Semaine Verte, and California newspaper the Ventura Country Star.
Hortau’s irrigation technology uses a soil tension monitoring system to achieve maximum results with minimal water amounts. By acting as a “mechanical root,” according to the company, the system measures how hard a crop’s roots are working to extract water from the soil, and then reports precisely how much water is necessary to growers in real time.
In an article entitled “Spurring Investments And Innovation In Agriculture,” Tech Crunch heavily featured technologies created by Hortau. Hortau's CEO Jocelyn Boudreau also spoke with the publication about how investments in technology and irrigation could help the industry and beyond.
“These types of investments not only help ag tech companies grow, but create the high-value jobs we need in rural communities,” Boudreau explained in the article. “With the water and other resource issues we’re seeing throughout the country, we need technology more than ever. Investments in data-driven technology will help improve the decisions being made in the field, and that in return will improve production, make operations more sustainable, and can help revitalize rural communities.”
Hortau was also highlighted in the Canadian television documentary series La Semaine Verte in an episode that took on how some farmers are dealing with California’s historic drought.
“The documentary will focus largely on the drought in California, but will feature a customer in almonds out of Wasco, CA, where grower Ben Schroeder and Jocelyn spoke to the importance of precision irrigation in the face of the drought,” Hortau’s Marketing Director Brian Milne said.
You can watch the entire French language episode here for more details on the program.
Last but not least, the Ventura County Star went in-depth into Oxnard-based Deardorff Family Farms about its experiences using Hortau’s irrigation systems. The company utilized the information from Hortau’s irrigation systems through smartphones and computers to manage its water usage.
“The main benefit of using Hortau has been that we have the ability to monitor our crops environment closely and accurately,” Alec Martinez, Data Analyst for Deardorff Family Farms, told the paper, adding that the technology has led to well-informed irrigation decisions for a range of different crops.
With water usage and the growth of ag tech being more of a focus than ever, you can bet this wont be the last we hear from Hortau Inc. Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for more.
