Titan Farms first recipient of Produce Innovation Award
Titan Farms first recipient of Produce Innovation Award
Titan Farms in Ridge Spring, SC, has been chosen to receive the first Bayer CropScience Produce Innovation Award, designated for a grower “whose thinking, practices and use of technology enhance the role of produce in creating better lives,” Bayer CropScience stated in a news release.
The award recognizes improved yield and quality of produce, increased accessibility of produce to a broader group of people or increased demand for produce by expanding awareness of the health benefits of fruits and vegetables, the news release added.
Bayer CropScience is a global company offering seeds, chemical and biological crop protection products and services for sustainable agriculture. It invests 10 percent of its annual profits in research and development. Its U.S. offices and seeds research center is in Research Triangle Park, NC.
“Here at Titan Farms we recognize the importance of technology and strive to use it to benefit America’s consumers and to protect our precious natural resources,” Chalmers R. Carr III, president of Titan Farms, said in a statement.
The farm stretches over 15 square miles of three counties and uses a computerized irrigation system and radio signals to control water distribution and weather stations and soil moisture probes to monitor water use, record chill hours and register rainfall, and monitor soil wetness in vegetable beds.
Carr received the award at the recent Ag Issues Forum in Phoenix, the 10th annual meeting of the forum. A Clemson University graduate who has been with Titan Farms since 1995, Carr was named to represent plant commodity producers on a national advisory group by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. The 25-member board helps Vilsack set priorities for agriculture research and guidelines for competitive grants, holds hearings and reviews department programs.
“With my background in farming, especially specialty crops, farm labor, immigration and interaction with land-grant universities, I hope I can bring the voice of the American producer to the issues handled by this committee,” Carr told The Produce News.
Titan Farms is one of the fastest-growing farming operations in America, with more than 5,000 acres of peach trees, 385 acres of Bell pepper and 325 acres of broccoli.
