Plant Tape
P.O. Box 4070, Salinas
630-6001, www.planttape.com
In a year when “ag tech” was a buzzword in the Salinas Valley and Silicon Valley, with esoteric ideas grabbing attention from venture capitalists, the honor of best ag innovation required serious differentiation. It had to be something with real promise for real farmers, not a pie-in-the-sky idea. That idea is Plant Tape, a hyper-efficient method of transplanting seedlings. Tanimura & Antle bought the Spanish company in 2013, and started large-scale testing in the Salinas Valley in 2015. They’re now at work on converting an old bell pepper shed in Hollister into a U.S. headquarters, and expect Plant Tape to go commercial in 2017.