Reservoir and Partners Launch Agricultural Robotics Incubator in Washington

Reservoir has partnered with Washington State University’s Prosser Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center (IAREC), the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission (WTFRC), and the Tri-City Development Council (TRIDEC) to announce a new agricultural robotics incubator for Washington growers.

The facility will place agricultural robotics startups in the state’s orchards, vineyards, and berry fields, where they will work alongside researchers and growers to develop and test automation in commercial conditions.

The announcement comes as Washington growers confront rising labor costs and a shrinking workforce for some of the world’s hardest crops to automate. Those crops include apples, cherries, pears, blueberries, wine grapes, and hops—high-value specialty crops that have long resisted mechanization.

By locating startups directly in the field, the partners aim to shorten the path from prototype to practical tool for growers facing persistent labor and cost pressures. The incubator is designed to keep innovation close to production agriculture, where growers can provide immediate feedback.

Reservoir is an agricultural innovation center and venture capital fund focused on helping agtech startups succeed where agriculture happens: in the field. The organization started its innovation center in the Salinas Valley and hopes to expand to other key regions across California and the American West. Reservoir VC backs startups solving real problems in high-value crops and the rugged physical AI stack.

Earlier this year, the company officially opened Reservoir Farms – Salinas, its flagship on-farm innovation hub for specialty crops. The new site features multiple innovation barns and 24 acres of dedicated commercial test fields. According to Reservoir, this creates the most concentrated ecosystem of technology leaders, growers, and startups anywhere in agriculture to rapidly scale solutions for global food production challenges.

More than 300 growers, agricultural leaders, federal and state officials, community partners, investors, and media attended the grand opening of the Salinas site, underscoring broad interest in on-farm innovation for specialty crops. Reservoir’s approach is to keep startups close to growers and commercial fields so technologies are shaped by real operating conditions.

Danny Bernstein, founder and CEO of Reservoir, said the company had listened intently to partners from its early days to understand where innovation in agriculture was stuck. He said that once the vision to create an on-farm innovation center was clear, Reservoir worked relentlessly with partners across the industry to bring the energy, focus, and skills necessary to manifest the space and people needed to make it a reality. With the doors open, Bernstein said the focus turns to execution and impact—in the form of real-world solutions for growers, upskilled jobs for rural communities, and a more secure food supply for American consumers.

Last summer, Reservoir announced plans to expand its on-farm innovation center model across California, Arizona, and other major growing regions. Each hub will be anchored by leading academic and research and development institutions.

As part of this multi-region strategy, Reservoir invited startups to run pilots over the winter months at the University of Arizona’s Yuma Agricultural Center. The startups gained the opportunity to test technologies in commercial desert vegetable production, adding valuable field data before broader deployment.