Subterra Green on the Ground in Yuma: S4’s AgTech Takeaways from The Desert Difference AgTech Conference
- S4 Blogger
- 5 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Last month, S4 Mobile Laboratories attended The Desert Difference AgTech Conference in Yuma, Arizona, a two-day event held November 13–14, 2025 that brought together growers, startups, researchers, and technology partners focused on the future of farming in arid regions. Partnered with Trilogy Networks, S4 joined the event to showcase how rapid, in-field soil analysis can plug into Trilogy’s vision for an integrated 5G wireless farming system that unifies cutting-edge ag technologies and delivers live field data to growers.
Hosted by the University of Arizona’s Yuma Center of Excellence for Desert Agriculture (YCEDA), the conference is designed as a “proving ground” for new AgTech, pairing real-world field demonstrations with discussions about commercialization, adoption, and research. S4’s goal is to deepen collaboration with YCEDA as they expand their role as a hub for validating technologies that help farmers manage inputs, productivity, and resilience in desert conditions.
Day one took place outdoors at the Yuma Agricultural Center, where attendees walked fields filled with everything from small drones to large autonomous equipment, seeing how different tools perform under real farming conditions. In the demo area, S4 ran hands-on demonstrations of the Subterra Green, showing how fast, in-field nutrient insights can complement the sensing, connectivity, and automation solutions featured throughout the day. A guided bus tour later in the day took participants across nearby fields to discuss irrigation practices, technology deployments, and how growers are adapting to labor and climate pressures in the region.
The second day shifted indoors to the Yuma County Fairgrounds’ Legacy Event Center for panels, presentations, and startup-focused discussions. Many sessions highlighted the unique challenges AgTech startups face - from proving ROI in the field to integrating with existing farm workflows - and how partners like the University of Arizona help by acting as early adopters and research collaborators. These conversations aligned closely with S4’s mission to deliver practical, field-ready soil intelligence that fits into growers’ operations.
Across both days, S4 leaders met farmers, innovators, and academic teams, gathering valuable feedback on how Subterra Green can better support nutrient management and soil health decision-making at the field edge. The event also strengthened S4’s relationship with Trilogy Networks, reinforcing shared plans to tie S4’s soil analytics into Trilogy’s integrated system, to expand detection capabilities across a wider suite of soil nutrients for “smart field” deployments, and to kickstart the creation of a robotic Subterra Green unit we call the “Model-M”.
Ready to see how rapid, in-field soil insights can plug into your connected farm operations? Connect with S4 Mobile Laboratories to explore the Subterra Green demos, collaborative trials with partners like Trilogy Networks, or pilot projects with your operation.