The Technology Politics of Mechanizing Crops: Insights from Californian Agriculture

• In Event: Diversifying Agri-food STS Scholarship Across Transnational Borders II

Abstract

Across the 20th century, machines have displaced much of the labor used on industrialized farms. Harvesters, pruning machines, weeding technologies and other examples have come to define what the modern farm looks like. Drones, GPS-directed harvesters, and sensor-driven input machines are another stage in the evolution of farms. Mechanization is viewed as something that is natural and inevitable. But this trend hides large differences in the extent to which diverse crops are actually mechanized, and in the reasons for this transition. What leads to an agricultural crop becoming mechanized? What factors make a crop more susceptible to being mechanized? To begin understanding these, we examine the historical trajectory of mechanization in California’s agricultural industry from the 1940s to the 1980s. Using primary empirical data from industry trade publications, national and local California news outlets, and University of California extension reports, we compare patterns of mechanization between several fruit, nut, and vegetable crops. Adapting a social construction of technology framework, we analyze the politics and dynamics underlying these patterns. We find that mechanization can penetrate into crops to vastly different degrees because of a combination of labor struggles, university research interests, biological characteristics, and pressures from downstream in food supply chains. We conclude with some implications for automation in today’s agricultural industry.

Authors

• Alastair Iles, UC Berkeley

• Patrick Baur, UC Berkeley

• Ayla Peters, University of California at Berkeley

• Brenly Stapley, University of California at Berkeley