On Oct. 23 and 24, AEM hosted officials from California’s Department of Pesticide Registration (DPR) and Occupational Safety & Health Board (CalOSHB) for tours during the FIRA USA Conference in Woodland, California, to educate them on the latest in precision application and autonomous systems.
“This was a great opportunity for our members to showcase how their innovations improve worker safety and environmental sustainability,” said AEM Director of Ag Services Austin Gellings.
Solinftech, Blue-White, John Deere and Verdant participated in the DPR tour. At the start, attending policymakers received a demonstration of the ongoing ASABE Targeted Application test standard and had the ability to provide direct input into the work that AEM member companies, AEM, and ASABE have been doing on the development of this standard alongside EPA. Attendees also engaged with member company experts in discussions on how targeted application tools and autonomous systems reduce the environmental impact of pesticides while significantly reducing worker exposure.
GUSS, Blue-White, Solinftech, and Agtonomy were the stops for CalOSHB participants, including several Board members.
The conversation focused on the redundant safety systems built into autonomous agricultural machines. The recently updated ISO 18497 Standard for Semi and Highly Autonomous Agricultural Machines was also a key point of discussion.
“The ag equipment industry is here to be a partner with CalOSHB,” said AEM Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs Nick Tindall. “We both have farm worker safety as our core concern. After all, many of us in the industry come from still active family farms."
This in-field dialogue was the perfect backdrop to educate CalOSHB on ISO 18497. Ag autonomy regulation in California is at a critical stage, and ISO 18497 can be the guidepost for the future.
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