F3 Featured on Marketplace - National Radio Show

The F3 Initiative is proud to be featured in a four-part series on Marketplace & Marketplace Tech - national radio shows/podcasts that feature daily business news and economic stories. The series, which aired May 20–22 and June 6, shines a spotlight on the collaborative work happening across California’s Central Valley to transform the future of food and agriculture. The Marketplace broadcast is heard by more than 10 million listeners each week on 800+ public radio stations nationwide.

Each episode highlights a different facet of the F3 ecosystem:

• Episode 1: California Farmers Reshape Agriculture with Cutting-Edge Tech – explores how growers like HMC Farms are adopting new technologies to adapt to labor shortages and climate change.
  

• Episode 2: Universities help make the Central Valley a hub for agtech innovation – dives into the research and development happening at UC Merced and the role of higher education in driving sustainable ag solutions.
  

• Episode 3: Farmworkers Head Back to School to Upskill in AgTech – profiles the AgTEC Workforce program and the students reshaping their futures through hands-on, competency-based education.
  

• Episode 4: California's Central Valley is trying to grow an innovation hub for agriculture - explains how climate change and labor shortages are causing Central Valley farms to turn to automation, while also prioritizing its workers through hands-on education.

We’re grateful to Marketplace for sharing the stories of our F3 partners, and to all of the voices who contributed their time and insight. Thank you to the following interviewees:

• Drew Ketelsen of HMC Farms

• Karen Aceves, AgTEC Regional Director

• Nadia Olivos, AgTEC student at Merced College

• Allen Vizcarra, AgTEC instructor at Reedley College

• Victor Morales, AgTEC student at Reedley College

• AgTEC graduates and faculty at Coalinga College

• Leigh Bernacchi, Dr. Kimberly Gibson, and Dr. Reza Ehsani of UC Merced

• Priscilla Koepke, CEO of F3 Innovate

This series is a powerful reflection of the collaboration, innovation, and community that drive F3. We invite you to listen and learn more about how the Central Valley is shaping the future of agriculture. Listen now at marketplace.org