Walt Duflock

Western Growers, Senior Vice President, Innovation

Walt Duflock is a leading voice in agricultural innovation, specializing in the commercialization of agtech and the economics of technology adoption in specialty crops. His work focuses on one of the most pressing challenges facing agriculture today — the structural shortage of farm labor — and the role automation and advanced technologies must play to address it. Over the past decade, Walt has helped bridge the gap between growers, startups, investors, and policymakers to accelerate the deployment of practical solutions in the field.
Walt is widely recognized for his thought leadership on agtech adoption barriers, grower return-on-investment realities, and the ecosystem coordination required to bring new technologies to scale. His insights have been featured across industry publications, research reports, national agricultural forums, and numerous media articles.
Walt is a 5th-generation family farmer from Monterey County that operates cattle, specialty crops, and wine grapes. Walt has over 25 years of experience in Silicon Valley startups, including eBay. Prior to Western Growers, Walt helped SVG-THRIVE build the top AgriFoodTech Accelerator.