Merced AgTech Alliance awarded $9.2M to support projects at UC Merced and Merced College

MERCED, Calif. (KFSN) -- The state of California awarded roughly $80 million to fund ready-to-go projects.

A portion of that money is going to the North Valley.

Construction is underway at Merced College.

The AgTech Innovation Center is in the middle of development.

Cody Jacobsen, the Dean of Ag and Industrial Technology, says it will be a 22,000 square foot facility.

Inside will be fruit, vegetable, tree nut and meat processing facility, nutrition and research development, as well as a retail market.

"There is no other university in the United States that will have a facility like this, let alone a community college," Jacobsen said.

The project is now fully funded thanks to California Jobs First.

A regional investment initiative provided money for ready-to-go projects that will support jobs and drive sustainable economic growth across the state.

A total of $9.2 million was awarded to "The Merced AgTech Alliance."

It's led by the community foundation of Merced County, Merced College, UC Merced and The Reservoir.

While a portion of the money funds the ag tech innovation center, another portion will fund The Reservoir, which will be an AgTech start-up incubator facility.

It will provide a one-stop shop for startups to create and test their technology on the Merced College campus.

"It's an opportunity for them to work with like minds. It's an opportunity for them to have the resources to develop their products or their software," Jacobsen said.

The investment will also support research and advanced skills training just down the road at UC Merced.

Associate Vice Chancellor Josh Viers says it will fund the first building - an AgTech Barn - on the university's Experimental Smart Farm.

"It will be transformative in how UC Merced can engage not just in ag tech, which we're leaders in, but also just agriculture in the Valley. We're building a test bed for the future of agriculture," Viers said.

Multiple research projects are already underway, such as using sensors to understand how much water crops are using.

The new barn will allow the university to store equipment like its electric tractor, and will give students completing capstone projects a place to work on the farm instead of heading back to campus.

"This is an opportunity for our students not just to benefit from the opportunity on the experimental smart farm, but really succeed in the innovation of ag tech more broadly, as we say, the closer you are to the problem, the closer you are to the solution," Viers said.

Because the funding supported ready-to-go projects, the projected completion dates aren't very far away.

The barn raising at UC Merced is scheduled for summer next year, and the AgTech Innovation Center at Merced College should be complete by December next year.

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