Progress 09/01/23 to 07/22/25

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for this planning grant is a transdisciplinary team of researchers and extension specialists in the biological, engineering, social, and economic sciences, along with industry stakeholders, data specialists, and government analysts focused on critical Research and Development (R&D) needs and applications to increase competitiveness of Southeastern U.S. seasonal and perishable agricultural products.The target audience for this planning grant is a transdisciplinary team of researchers and extension specialists in the biological, engineering, social, and economic sciences, along with industry stakeholders, data specialists, and government analysts focused on critical Research and Development (R&D) needs and applications to increase competitiveness of Southeastern U.S. seasonal and perishable agricultural products. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?A substantial benefit from our team activities has been raising awareness and understanding of transdisciplinary approaches to research and why they are essential to address major challenges such as competitiveness or labor constraints. Input on priority needs for SE US specialty crops was solicited from stakeholders at the University of Florida Ag Expo, Gulf Coast Research and Education Center, November 9, 2023 and through team member extension and outreach activities. A Mural Board exercise was held with team members to elicit input on (1) top 3 current and anticipated constraints to SE US SC competitiveness and (2) what innovations are needed to address these challenges. Input on research and extension needs related to labor and mechanization (an area consistently identified as high priority) was gathered by team members at the Farm Labor Symposium, held September 17-19, 2024, in Santa Cruz, California. The theme of the symposium was, "The Changing Landscape of Farm Labor Conditions in the United States: What the Future Holds and How to Prepare for It." The event was organized by USDA's Economic Research Service and the Farm Foundation. Multiple undergraduate and graduate students have been engaged in team discussions, meetings, presentations, and publications from the group. The University of Florida IFAS Dean for Research provided support for 3 Undergraduate students to support this project as part of the Undergraduate Research Internship Program. This internship program is open to undergraduate students in a College of Agricultural and Life Sciences major or minor. Graduate students in Food and Resource Economics and UF College of Engineering developed a Meta analysis of specialty crop and presented to academic and industry team members. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been disseminated through team meetings, meetings with stakeholders, and presentations. Three formal team meetings were held during the reporting period. November 2, 2023 - Kick off meeting April 18, 2023 - Discussion of high priority research and extension needs March 13, 2024 - Selection of high priority case studies for preliminary data collection Over 30 working meetings were held among small groups of team members to discuss development of specific research and extension objectives and activities. "Competitiveness in Seasonal and Perishable Produce Markets". Organized symposium AAEA annual meeting July 2023. Organizers: Suzanne Thornsbury and Kimberly Morgan. Speakers: Kimberly Morgan, Steven Zahniser, Marcelo Castillo, Andrew Muhammad, Sreedhar Upendram, Sharon Sydow "Asking Better Questions about Scaling Technology in Food and Agriculture Industries". Organized symposium FDRS annual meeting October 2024. Organizer: Clint Neill. Speakers: Mariah Beverly, Martha Montoya, Suzanne Thornsbury, Kimberly Morgan Max Teplitski Seminar presentation at University of Florida/IFAS - "Advancing Agri-Food Innovation: Industry Priorities in Packaging, Climate-Smart Production, and Beyond" December 9, 2024 Martha Montoya Invited panel participant at University of Florida/IFAS annual policy conference - "Artificial Intelligence Applications for Agriculture" May 8, 2025 In addition, a thematic issue "Why is Mechanization in Specialty Crops So Hard?" was published inChoices, a peer-reviewed publication outlet of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association. The papers utilize a foundational systems-based risk-management approach to consider mechanization in the specialty crop sector. They highlight what is missing from the existing literature on this subject and explore how economists can help to "de-risk" labor-saving technologies for specialty crops and overcome bottlenecks in their implementation. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? RESULTS: We were successful in assembling a team of experts with members from academia, the private sector, and government agencies and identified a gap in building the people-component into assessment of emerging technologies designed to boost competitiveness of U.S. specialty crop agriculture and rural communities. Included in the people-component are training the next generation, facilitating transitions to developing technologies including de-risking strategies. OUTCOMES: The team prepared and submitted a SCRI CAP grant proposal for review in 2023. The project was not funded but feedback was used to focus subsequent team discussion and data gathering activities. The team prepared and submitted a University of Florida strategic grant proposal for review in 2024. It was funded in 2025. IMPACTS: Closer working relationship between government, academic disciplines, and industry to focus on long-term competitiveness and the transdisciplinary understanding needed to address this wicked problem. We were successful in identifying a gap in the R&D needed to support future competitiveness of the U.S. winter produce industries and have secured seed funding for preliminary data collection and analysis.

Publications

Progress 09/01/23 to 08/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for this planning grant is a transdisciplinary team of researchers and extension specialists in the biological, engineering, social, and economic sciences, along with industry stakeholders, data specialists, and government analysts focused on critical Research and Development (R&D) needs and applications to increase competitiveness of Southeastern U.S. seasonal and perishable agricultural products. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The University of Florida IFAS Dean for Research provided support for 3 Undergraduate students to support this project as part of the Undergraduate Research Internship Program. This internship program is open to undergraduate students in a College of Agricultural and Life Sciences major or minor. Undergraduate and graduate students have been engaged in team discussions, meetings, presentations, and forthcoming publications from the group.Slide decks presented by undergraduate students at the April 18, 2024 Team Meeting Shelby Sumner - "Recap of Previous Stakeholder Input" Morgan Smith - "Literature Review Recap" Mary Serviss - "Investments in Mechanization" A substantial benefit from our team activities has been raising awareness and understanding of transdisciplinary approaches to research and why they are essential to address major challenges such as competitiveness or labor constraints. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?In this initial year, results have been disseminated through team meetings, meetings with stakeholders, and presentations. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Although our 2023 SCRI CAP proposal was not funded, reviewer comments were very helpful and the group is working on a future submission. A series of 4 papers written by team members (including 2 students) has been accepted for publication as a thematic issue in Choices, a peer-reviewed publication outlet of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association. The papers in the forthcoming theme issue utilize a foundational systems-based risk-management approach to consider mechanization in the specialty crop sector. They highlight what is missing from the existing literature on this subject and explore how economists can help to "de-risk" labor-saving technologies for specialty crops and overcome bottlenecks in their implementation.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? We were successful in assembling a team of experts with members from academia, the private sector, and government agencies. Input on priority needs for SE US specialty crops was solicited from stakeholders at the University of Florida Ag Expo, Gulf Coast Research and Education Center, November 9, 2023 and through team member extension and outreach activities. A Mural Board exercise was held with team members to elicit input on (1) top 3 current and anticipated constraints to SE US SC competitiveness and (2) what innovations are needed to address these challenges. Input on research and extension needs related to labor and mechanization (an area consistently identified as high priority) was gathered by team members at the Farm Labor Symposium, held September 17-19, 2024, in Santa Cruz, California. The theme of thesymposium was, "The Changing Landscape of Farm Labor Conditions in the United States: What the Future Holds and How to Prepare for It." The event was organized by USDA's Economic Research Service and the Farm Foundation. The team prepared and submitted a SCRI CAP grant proposal for review in 2023.

Publications