Reservoir Farms Launches Pilot in Arizona for Physical AI Innovation in Specialty Crops
Reservoir has announced its pilot expansion into Arizona with a new location live and operational on October 1, 2026, in time for the fall and winter growing season. Developed in collaboration with the University of Arizona’s Yuma Center for Excellence in Desert Agriculture (YCEDA) and the Yuma Agricultural Center (YAC), Reservoir will extend the company’s on-farm innovation model into one of the nation’s most important specialty crop regions.
“Expanding our model into Arizona is a signal that the Reservoir Farms model is working for both growers and startups,” said Danny Bernstein, founder and CEO of Reservoir. “We help rugged physical AI move faster from concept to commercial impact by creating real-world environments for testing and iteration and following crop production across the largest growing regions.”
The Arizona pilot launch builds on Reservoir’s multi-region strategy and its previously announced collaboration with YCEDA. In March 2026, with the opening of Reservoir Farms – Salinas, the company committed to growing its on-farm innovation center model across California, Arizona, and other key production regions.
Reservoir’s new Arizona-based pilot will be located on 500-acres starting in October, in collaboration with the University of Arizona’s Yuma Center for Excellence in Desert Agriculture and Yuma Agricultural Center. Photo credit: University of Arizona’s Yuma Center for Excellence in Desert Agriculture
Reservoir startups now have the opportunity to run pilots in commercial desert vegetable production during the winter growing season from October 2026 through March 2027, using 500 accessible acres at the Yuma Agricultural Center to advance automation in specialty crop production. Startups operating in Reservoir’s Salinas facility now have the option of extending their engagement to a year-round cycle.
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“The Yuma Agricultural Center provides a living laboratory for evaluating emerging technologies under the real production conditions that define desert agriculture,” said Tanya Hodges, executive director, Yuma Center of Excellence for Desert Agriculture. “This pilot collaboration with Reservoir gives innovators the chance to test and refine tools in specialty crops alongside the growers, researchers and industry partners who know this region best — a region that serves as a critical hub for specialty crop production when many other areas are out of season.”
This expansion builds on a longstanding relationship between the agricultural industries of Salinas and Yuma. Often called Salinas’s “sister city,” Yuma grows an estimated 90% of the nation’s leafy greens during the winter season, from November through March.
Reservoir is advancing its Arizona site in collaboration with the University of Arizona’s Yuma Agricultural Center, Western Growers and partners across Arizona, building on relationships that have helped shape the Reservoir Farms approach from the beginning. By placing the Yuma Agricultural Center at the center of the Arizona effort, Reservoir is strengthening the connection between field research, commercial production and startup development in one of the country’s most important specialty crop regions.
“Reservoir Farms makes sure agtech is built for the real world, not the lab,” said Walt Duflock, senior vice president of AgTech Innovation, Western Growers. “Our growers operate in some of the most demanding specialty crop environments in the country, and they need technologies they can rely on. The work we’re doing together in Arizona and California keeps innovation grounded in those realities and focused on tools growers can trust.”
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