From left: Ed Ogaz, owner, Seco Spice; Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling; and Western Growers President and CEO Dave Puglia.
Western Growers President and CEO Dave Puglia joined Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling in New Mexico last week for farm tours and a roundtable discussion focused on agricultural workforce challenges and the need for H-2A reform.
In partnership with the National Milk Producers Federation, Western Growers helped host Secretary Sonderling at Seco Spice and Cervantes Industries, two leading chile growers and processors, as well as Big Sky Dairy. The tours provided an opportunity to showcase the journey of chiles from the field to finished products serving a majority of the U.S. chili spice and hot sauce markets.
Puglia and other agricultural leaders also participated in a roundtable with Secretary Sonderling, sharing firsthand perspectives on the workforce challenges facing farmers and the need for reforms to strengthen the agricultural labor system. The discussion included representatives from the pecan industry, which is also facing growing labor challenges.
Western Growers appreciates the opportunity to help showcase the people and businesses working every day to keep American agriculture strong and producing the food we rely on, and we’d like to thank the Department of Labor for making agriculture a part of the conversation.