The annual Washington, D.C., fly-in last week took the Western Growers (WG) Board of Directors to Capitol Hill in support of key federal policy priorities, including trade, labor, food safety, water and the farm bill. Significant attention was also given to the anticipated impacts of the Trump Administration’s Make American Healthy Again agenda on WG members and the broader fresh produce industry.

Over three days, directors and participants of the WG Leadership Program met with nearly two dozen Senators and House of Representative members, and top administration officials from the Food and Drug Administration, Department of Labor, Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Agriculture.

Tuesday evening featured an address from Mexican Ambassador Esteban Moctezuma Barragán. Given current tariff uncertainties and the pending review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, Ambassador Barragán stressed the importance of maintaining the longstanding and mutually beneficial trade relationship between the U.S. and Mexico.

Bruce Summers, who will retire as Administrator for the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service at the end of the month, was recognized Wednesday evening for his more than three decades of stellar service to the fresh produce industry, which culminated with Canadian Parliament passage of C-280 in December 2024, which establishes a PACA-like trust for sellers in Canada.