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A quick tour of every story in the issue. Read aloud by an AI narrator.
A quick tour of every story in the issue.
Read aloud by an AI narrator.
Every story from Enterprise Ag magazine, read aloud. Enterprise Ag covers the business of California agriculture for the people running large operations: technology and its return on investment, labor and compliance, farm finance and the management practices that keep a farm running well. Articles are read word for word by an AI narrator. Read every story, with photos, at enterpriseagmag.com.
This is the Enterprise Ag audio edition for November 2026. Here's what's inside the issue.
What Does AgTech Have to Prove?. At a UC ANR field day near San Juan Bautista, growers saw a mobile irrigation monitor, a steam soil treatment service and a camera-guided precision sprayer. The real test comes after the demonstration: does the technology solve a real problem, work under real farming conditions and make financial sense? UC ANR Innovate's Helle Petersen shares the questions to ask before you buy.
What Makes Farm Technology Useful to Me. Crop advisor Gary Osteen, whose team works with 45 growers each week, starts with a job that needs doing: a scouting note that becomes a record, a measurement that explains the field, information that supports a decision. His five takeaways cover testing tools on representative ground, training people on familiar work and using AI as a tool, not a final authority.
What 16 West Coast Orchards Taught Us About Automation. UC Davis researchers followed 16 tree fruit operations in California and Washington from 2023 to 2025. Technology worked when experienced people could interpret, correct and adapt it, and struggled when it was brought in as a way around them. M. Anne Visser explains what that means for your next equipment purchase.
From Pilot to Payback. A demonstration shows what a machine can do. A commercial investment has to lower a known cost, fit the production schedule and keep working through a whole season. Western Growers, Netafim, Beagle Technology and TopFlavor Farms, where one weeding machine cut hand-labor costs 29%, explain how to judge payback before the 2027 budget.
What the 2026 AEWR Update Means for Growers. H-2A wages now follow the work each employee performs most often, not a single farm rate or a job title. AgSafe's Natalie D. Gupton explains why job classification is now a wage decision, what misclassification has cost growers and six steps every agricultural employer should take today.
Budgeting for the Unknown. In a Farm Bureau survey, 67% of California respondents said they couldn't afford all the fertilizer they expected to need without cutting applications or acreage. Terrain, the California Farm Bureau and Saorsa Growth Partners explain how to build a 2027 plan around scenarios, cash flow and decision points instead of a single forecast.
Getting Back to the Fundamentals. Before chasing the next big idea, publisher Jason Scott asks a simpler question: How well are we doing the things we already know matter? Irrigation checks, follow-through on recommendations, clear ownership of the work and knowing where the business makes and loses money.
Every one of these stories is on enterpriseagmag.com, where you can read it, or listen to the full article. Thanks for listening.