Dirk Barnard has the passion for agriculture and people driven by a quest to make a significant contribution to food security, he helped develop new markets globally by continuously reaching for new frontiers in innovative environment friendly and economical crop production solutions. He follows a holistic approach to economic sustainable agriculture with a focus on soil health and plant vitality.

With extended experience in organic, natural and biological derived compounds as well as chemical solutions, Dirk strives to provide simplistic solutions for everyday challenges on the farm, assisting farmers with growing a healthy, and profitable crop of good quality. He believes in independent accredited research as the base of our marketing efforts, maintaining customer relationships through continuous on-farm visits, providing agronomic service and advice through knowledge and experience.

Luke Carter, and is the Central California Representative for Monarch Tractor. He holds a degree in Horticultural Sciences from Texas A&M University and has been immersed in agriculture my entire life, thanks to his grandfather, a cattle, corn, and soybean farmer in the Midwest. Luke has been with Monarch Tractor for the past year and have and has thoroughly enjoyed working with farmers to demonstrate how the Monarch MK-V can enhance their sustainable practices and provide valuable insights into their daily operations. As profit margins for farmers become increasingly tight, our goal at Monarch Tractor is to make the agriculture industry both more sustainable and more profitable.

Quinn Cahoon graduated with his bachelor's degree in Wine & Viticulture at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and is currently a graduate student in Dr. Kristy Sun's lab studying the effect of biofungicides on grape and wine composition, fermentation performance, and finished wine sensory characteristics. Two different vineyard sites, one on the Central Coast of California and the other in the Central Valley of California were sprayed with three different biofungicides, harvested, and made into wine. The results for year one of the trial indicate no significant effects caused by the biofungicides when they were able to adequately control disease, but in vineyards with high disease pressure, the grape and wine characteristics were negatively impacted. A second year of data collection will begin this coming harvest. After this data is collected, Quinn will present his thesis and graduate at the end of the Spring 2025 semester.

Patrick Baker, a seasoned wine industry executive working in sales, business development, marketing, finance, viticulture and winemaking joins VECKTA as Director of Business Development. His focus in the Food & Beverage (F&B) realm stems from his 20 years of industry experience, starting as a winegrape grower in Sonoma CA.
 

Roy Butler assists with the implementation and progress of the third-party certification program, CCSW. He began with the Wine Institute and CSWA in 2020, and he brings to the role several years of experience in the wine industry as a grower relations representative combined with an educational background in Wine and Viticulture. He graduated from California Polytechnic State University with a bachelor's in Wine and Viticulture.

Dr. Cliff Yu is an assistant professor from the Department of Viticulture and Enology, California State University, Fresno. His current research focuses include: 
• Grapevine physiology and berry chemistry as affected by abiotic stress such as heat waves, solar exposure, and water deficits. 
• Implementation of mechanization and precision viticulture technologies in wine grape vineyards to optimize both vineyard productivity and quality.
• Soil-plant water relations and assessments of soil water content and evapotranspiration by modern technologies to improve vineyard water use efficiency through irrigation.