Before almond orchards are planted across the Central Valley or apple trees take root in the Pacific Northwest, many of the plants begin their lives at Sierra Gold Nurseries in Yuba City.
The Sutter County tree nursery is a one-stop shop, propagating the plants from orchard cuttings and in a tissue culture laboratory, then potting, suckering and budding the trees, and nurturing them for more than a year before shipping them to growers across the country.
The labor-intensive operation, which produces millions of trees each year, requires more than 300 employees during its peak season, with labor making up about 60% of the nursery’s input costs.
Josh Puckett, vice president of operations at Sierra Gold, said rising labor costs combined with a depressed farm economy in recent years threatened the nursery’s profitability. To adapt, the company invested in new technologies to reduce manual labor and make its operation more efficient.
“We’ve implemented a lot more automation,” Puckett said.
This month, where a potting line of 12 people once worked, a 12-armed robot transplanted rootstock into pots of soil. In place of utility vehicles, autonomous shuttles ferried plants around the 65-acre facility, transporting them from one growing environment to another.
Across California’s specialty crop sectors, growers and industry leaders said state labor laws—and costs associated with them—have pushed farms to seek labor-saving technology in an effort to remain financially viable.
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