This year, however, we are equally focused on the Annual Meeting as a barometer of member engagement in the Association. Western Growers holds a unique space in the domestic food system as the pre-eminent representative of specialty crop growers (or, as House Committee on Agriculture Chairman GT Thompson refers to fruits, vegetables and tree nuts: “necessity crops”). Each day, a single mission drives our board of volunteer leaders and staff: to add exceptional value to our member companies.

Although Western Growers’ members represent an incredible array of diverse crops and growing districts, the ties that bind us together are strong and we can emphatically state that it is those powerful shared interests and experiences in production agriculture that unite us in ways the non-ag world doesn’t understand.  But for any association to be of value to its industry, it requires the deliberate, sustained participation of its members – especially in agriculture, where our family farming operations face existential threats everywhere we turn.

Practically speaking, this means being intentional in your engagement with the Association, which we believe involves the face-to-face benefits the Annual Meeting provides. Our finely tuned “necessity crop” system is held in the balance not only by growers and their dedicated and hard-working employees, but also by our partners and allies along the entire supply chain that work to provide us with materials, equipment, services and support.

Please join Caroline and me as we acknowledge, celebrate and strengthen these bonds that tie our Association and protect the future of our industry.

Warm regards,

Albert and Caroline Keck