The California sun has most certainly followed Class 40 to Washington, DC. Personally, I think it’s because Class 40 is the BEST CLASS EVER! A week after the worst weather in DC, we’ve had another beautiful sunny day. We’re having a phenomenal time in our nation’s capital. Not only is Class 40 learning more than we had ever expected about our government and leadership, we’re bonding and truly using this time to grow.
We had a really interesting day on Thursday, four from our group were able to split off to meet with their representative Congressman Wally Herger. They had a very unique experience, but so did the larger group that stuck together for the scheduled AM.
The large group headed to the Longworth Building (one of the many historical buildings in DC) for presentations with the United States Fish and Wildlife Services as well as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The focus of the panel discussion was ‘Section 7’, an initiative for interagency cooperation between USFWS and NOAA. Our discussion was heavily focused on water issues - we had great discussions and left with aspirations to ‘find common ground’ (Class 40’s theme). The myriad of questions couldn’t be contained within the time allotted and I’m certain our speakers will have more than just a few emails to follow up with once Class 40 returns to their desks and computers.


Our fortunate second group started their day with a visit to the congress. They had a quick tour of Congress and an opportunity to see a live session of Congress from the gallery. The topic on the minds of everyone in Washington is the Health Care Bill. During this session, various speakers were giving their protests (in the form of one minute speeches) to the Health Care Bill. The group then left to meet with their congressman. Congressman Herger gave a brief overview and opinion of some of the various current issues facing congress. The group session was an incredible experience - the four folks who were able to attend took much away from the morning to relate back to their classmates.
Once the whole group reconvened, we headed to a busy lunch. Class 40 hosted both Congressional aids and Lobbyists for a lunch and panel discussion. We started our working meal by hearing from Congressional aids that work with our California Congressmen. Everyone left the conversation with a clear understanding of who we need to contact for an ‘in’ with our representatives. It was fascinating to gain a better understanding of who is involved in our national government - particularly, the folks that work ‘behind the curtain’. One of the congressional aids gave us an analogy between government and the Land of Oz. It’s actually the mysterious folks behind the curtain we need to have an ‘in’ with.
Following the Congressional Panel, we moved on to a very insightful panel with Agricultural Lobbyists. We were thrilled to have a diverse representation of agriculture amongst our panelists. Each gentlemen gave an overview of a pressing agricultural issue such as the Farm Bill, water, food security and more. We were delighted to get to know each gentleman better and look forward fostering those relationships in the future. Once again, we gained invaluable insight into the inner workings of our government and the representatives that make our voices heard.

After the lunch we traveled to the USDA. We met with the Deputy Under Secretary of Farm and Foreign Agriculture, Michael Scuzy. It was refreshing to hear the opinion of a “Farm Boy from Delaware.” To this day, he maintains his family farm in partnership with his brother. He gave us some excellent insight into the ’behind the scenes’ workings of the USDA. We discussed the commitment to inform and more importantly educate the public about Ag - Class 40 left inspired and ready for some serious education and outreach to the non-ag people of California.

High from our briefing with the USDA, we traveled to the Brookings Institute via cab (an incredible feat for 27 folks!) for a briefing. We met with Steve Bennett, the Vice President and C.O.O. of the institute. He gave an overview of think tanks and the policies that the organization actively researches and offers insights on. Most importantly, we were once again inspired to take action on many of the issues California agriculture is facing.
Class 40 finally ended their day at Toscana Restaurant. Time, the Metro and herding 27 leadership-minded individuals offered an interesting leadership learning lesson, but we made it on time, all the better for the experience. Class 40 hosted the evening for alum from the DC Exchange program. Our goal for the evening was to make connections with alum from the program, strengthening existing relationships between the DC Exchange alum and CALP. We hope to further these relationships and work together in the future.
During the dinner, we spoke to the attending alum and heard about how the exchange program made a positive impact in both their personal and professional lives. Despite the fact that a couple of folks had participated in the program 10 years ago, they recalled their experiences with great fondness and appreciation for the valuable understanding they drew from their travels. Clearly, the DC Exchange Program is once that Class 40 looks forward to participating in as hosts in future years. It offers hands-on opportunities in agriculture otherwise not afforded to the folks that promote policy in agriculture.
On behalf our whole class, we must extend our great appreciation to Western Growers for their great contributions to the California Agricultural Leadership Foundation. The assistance from Western Growers has made Class 40’s trip possible. We arrived in DC fairly naïve and under-exposed to our nation’s government. We will leave the capital on Sunday with a renewed passion for our industry and an intense drive to influence those in power to understand our commodities and promote government actions that will support and encourage sound agricultural practices. Western Growers, we salute you and extend our heartfelt thanks.