September 30, 2021

WG Annual Meeting Offering Three Featured Sessions

Delve into the topics of water and agriculture, vertical farming and cutting-edge agricultural technology at the 2021 Western Growers Annual Meeting. From November 7 – 10, Annual Meeting attendees will have the opportunity to attend three educational and exciting featured sessions. Each session will include an all-star panel who will discuss issues most important to industry stakeholders and their operations.

Here’s a sneak peek at this year’s sessions:

Monday, November 8 @ 2:30 p.m. – 4 p.m.

  • Featured Session: Replace or Rejuvenate? The Future of Vertical Farming (“Controlled Environment Agriculture”) in Fresh Produce Production
    • Panelists:
      • Arama Kukutai, Partner and Co-Founder, Finistere Ventures
      • Bruce Taylor, Chairman and CEO, Taylor Farms California
      • Larry Kohl, Vice President, Quality Assurance at Retail Business Services, LLC (an Ahold Delhaize USA company)
    • Moderator:
      • Walt Duflock, Vice President of Innovation, Western Growers

Tuesday, November 9

9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

  • Featured Session: On a Dry Horizon: Water and Agriculture in the West       
    • Panelists:
      • Ellen Hanak, Vice President and Director of the Water Policy Center and Senior Fellow Ellen Hanak Chair in Water Policy
      • Kevin Moran, Senior Director of the Colorado River Program, Environmental Defense Fund
      • Gary Van Schuyver, Senior Vice President and Chief Banking Officer, American AgCredit
      • Stuart Woolf, President/CEO, Woolf Farming & Processing
    • Moderator:
      • Dave Puglia, President and CEO, Western Growers

3 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

  • Featured Session: AgSharks® Competition    
    • Preview: Western Growers and S2G Ventures present AgSharks® — a groundbreaking collaborative forum to advance agricultural technologies for the fresh produce industry. Watch as cutting-edge startups pitch their technologies, venture capital fund veterans look for investment opportunities, and Western Growers members vie for the chance to test the new tech in their fields. In 2019, an agtech start-up company walked away with a potential investment offer of $500,000. In 2018, the winning startup won $250,000 (and they have since raised a $10.9 million Series A funding!). In 2017, two companies received a combined $2.25 million dollars in investments. Annual Meeting guests can expect another exciting year, with new surprises as the AgSharks Judges evaluate startups and technology for real-time investments opportunities.

These three featured sessions will be accompanied by a host of engaging Annual Meeting activities including dynamic keynote addresses from Magatte Wade, Gordon Chang and Timothy Sandefur; the Award of Honor Dinner; Chairman’s Reception; Party with the Partners; and more! Click here to see the full agenda.

The Annual Meeting will be held at the breathtaking Fairmont Grand Del Mar, San Diego. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE 2021 WESTERN GROWERS ANNUAL MEETING.