Day 11 – In Gratitude for a Transformational Experience

The final day of the national trip started at 4:45am as the group had to gather at the hotel lobby in Nogales to load the bus that would take us to the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and fly back to home.

While there were no official activities this day, other than get us back home safely, we must admit that after 11 days of intense travel and exposure to multi dimensional topics, we were full of deep thoughts and views on the context received.

On the two hour plus ride to the airport, some Fellows decided to rest and sleep, others were pensive looking at the beautiful sunrise and the Arizona Mountains, others continued to dialogue about some of the topics covered, and others started to catch up on work issues.

Putting together this trip was a monumental task for those involved and we can’t finish this set of blogs without acknowledging the professionals that work diligently to ensure this was a successful adventure.

We would like to thank the Foundation for all the resources devoted to the trip, this has been a profound experience and we can’t thank you enough for that. We would also like to thank Western Growers Association for their sponsorship; your patronage is highly appreciated.

Thank you to Bob Gray, President and CEO, for helping securing visits, facilitators and for spending with us the week in Washington, we enjoyed your company and conversing with you during breaks and our travel time within the city.

Dr. Charlie Crabb, Program Advisor, thank you for being with us the entire trip, for all the wonderful pictures you unselfishly took in every event and site we visited, and for all your assistance and guidance during this time. Dr. Robert Flores, Campus Coordinator at CalPoly San Luis Obispo, thank you for coming along with us and sharing your views these past days, additionally, your sense of humor is invaluable. Emily Clark, Enterprise Coordinator, for holding the front office together while other staff members traveled with the group. Judy Sparacino, Program Coordinator, you are the star behind the scenes, we know you do a lot without saying much, what a great example of servant leadership.



Dr. Stephen Randolph, USAF (Ret.), Dr. Robert Flores, Bob Gray, and Dr. Charlie Crabb at the Albert Einstein statue in Washington, DC

Our appreciation also goes to all the guest speakers and everyone from their staff that made possible their participation. Your knowledge and information provided on the many topics covered during the trip was impressive and created profound dialogue amongst ourselves, so thank you again for volunteering your time and for the stellar presentations.

Mary Kimball (Class 32) and John Azevedo (Class 37) for joining us during our visit to Gettysburg.

To all members of the DC Exchange, for joining us in different events and for the hosting us at the USDA headquarters, we enjoyed getting to know you and thank you for the warm reception.

Dan Rodrigues (right) conversing with a guest at the DC Exchange reception.

Everett Rhodes, Project CENTRL Director and all the members of the program for organizing all the tours, sites’ visits, and for contacting and confirming all the guest speakers in Arizona. Everything was highly organized. A special thank you to Dan Bell, President of ZZ Cattle Corporation, for opening the doors to his house and hosting the dinner with members of CENTRL and other guests. Dan, the peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream dessert was delicious!!!

Guests and Class 41 Fellows in Project CENTRL's reception at Dan Bell's house.

We also want to thank our employers, direct reports, owners, and business partners for picking up the work while we were away. Your assistance and support is essential for us to be part of this program.

Last, and certainly not least, we want to express our deepest gratitude to all our families for their encouragement, we could not do this without all your patience and understanding while we are away in our journey, we love you all.

Well, this brings Class 41 National Trip to its conclusion. It is now time to get back to work and apply the knowledge and principles acquired to our professional and personal lives.  Our journey continues…

A few of Class 41 Fellows at the Los Angeles International Airport prior to departing to their final destinations.

On behalf of all Fellows of Class 41 we say “so long folks".

-         Respectfully and meekly submitted by Matt Fisher, Christine Ivory, and Jorge Suarez

Day 10 - Enhancing our Common Voice

We started the morning off with a tour of a cattle ranch that extends for over 10 miles along the border. Now, I'm not saying just close to the border, it was actually bordering the 15ft. fence between California and Mexico. This ranch must overcome certain challenges that many cattle ranchers in other areas are not faced with.

Our next stop was a tour of the Nogales border patrol office. The officers provided us with some eye opening statistics that really forced us to challenge our prior understanding of what is being smuggled into the United States. We learned about the three branches of The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Program, and how they are trying to work more collectively.

After a delicious lunch at the Fresh Produce Associations of the Americas, we heard from a panel of local Nogales business owners who shed some light on how border and immigration issues affect their businesses. This was yet another contrasting view. To the Nogales merchant, reduced crossings that result from increased border security mean decreased business for local merchants. Two vegetable brokers who pack and import produce from Mexico described the regulations they comply with and the challenges of importing goods. All panelists related how safe they feel in Nogales, even though the common perception is that it is a dangerous place to live.

A few miles out of Nogales lies the headquarters for the cattle ranch that we visited in the morning. This is where Class 41 was treated to a meet and greet with some Alumni from Arizona's Central Regional Connections (CENTRL), and a wonderful steak and chili dinner. My favorite was the home-made peach cobbler cooked in Dutch Ovens. What a great location, and evening.

Three intense days of learning about Arizona border issues culminated in our synthesis session. We shared how our previous ideas, perceptions and assumptions were challenged by what we experienced. We also explored how, considering contrasting views from many sides of these issues, we can "enhance our common voice", the theme of our class. Many of us expressed the shock of realizing that our fellow citizens do not feel safe on their own land. We also recognized that polarization weakens our nation and prevents us from solving problems. Our challenge is to rise above the need to always take sides. While we came to an understanding that border security is somewhat a separate issue from immigration, we struggled with how to keep them separate without leaving out important voices. Our views ranged from confusion about whether our common voice exists, to hope that we will find ours in all certainty.

We realized that this issue is much deeper than it appears on the surface, and many of us expressed the desire to investigate it further. This experience has challenged our perceptions and has started a dialogue amongst the Fellows that will continue for many months to come.

Day 9: Immigration Impacts

Today our journey began with a visit to a local resident's house at the
base of Saw Tooth Range in Pinal County Arizona. The retired couple invited the entire class into their home to share with us their experiences with immigrants crossing the border illegally. This particular house is 70 miles away from the border, and the tall mountain range in their backyard
is used as a look-out point for traffickers. Their stories and pictures were
amazing and it gave us all a great first hand perspective on the topic of border security and how it is negatively impacting the local residents.

 

Part of the group with Sheriff Babeu

We then met the well know Sheriff of Pinal County Mr. Paul Babeu. Sheriff Babeu was recently named the United States Sheriff of the year by the National Sheriff Association for his contributions to the office of Sheriff on the local, state, and national level. The Sheriff shared with us his 10 point border plan that he developed with Senator John McCain and Senator Jon Kyl, and gave us a good understanding of the logic behind the proposal. There is no doubt that the Sheriff is passionate about the fight on border security, and he has put a lot of thought into his plans to address this issue in Arizona.

Later this morning we went to the Tohono O'odham Nation which stretches across the US/Mexico border inside what is known as the 'Tuscon Sector' of the Arizona border. We heard from tribal leadership, an elder, and law enforcement for the nation. Our visit was to focus on how illegal immigration and drug trafficking affect their way of life. 

Entrance to the Tohono O'odham Cultural Center

Some views were different from those we heard earlier on the trip and even
just this morning about illegal immigration, but the message of negative impacts was similar. The nation struggles not just with the monetary costs associated with the trafficking, but also the cultural costs. Many of the people cross the border in their daily lives to either check on livestock, work, or just go to school, but must also deal with the Border Patrol on every crossing. Across 73 of 75 miles of the border that is inside the lands of the Tohono O'odham the Nation has erected a vehicle barrier to stop drug and human smugglers from driving across the border. This has slowed the rate if trafficking but has not eliminated it all together. Many of the problems stem from the people desperate for food and water as they cross the desert. 

Next we went down to the actual border crossing in the Nation which is now
staffed 24/7 by US Border Patrol and saw first hand how inspections are carried out.  We saw native  residents who were feeding stock on property south of the US/Mexico border coming through the gate. 

 

Class 41 with the border in the background

Finally we talked to Dan Bell who ranches 35,000 acres directly on the
Arizona/Mexico border about the issues that affect their ranching operation. Dan talked about the increases in trafficking through their grazing land and the increase in wildfires, trash, and destruction of property. 

 

At the end of the day we had heard many different views of the immigration
issue that we hadn't necessarily heard the previous day at the Capital. We are
looking forward to our final day in Arizona tomorrow to finish off our study of the immigration issue.

-Matt Toste, Stuart Mast, Rick Burnes

Day 7 Exploring DC

Changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier.

After a week of great meetings in DC, the class had a free day to explore our nation's capital. The weather cooperated and we had mild sunny day to see the sights. Many classmates visited Arlington National Cemetery and the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Some found their way to the Natural History Museum or American History Museum, while others explored the National Gallery. The day was not only an opportunity to visit places we didn't see during the week, but also offered a chance to see the capital with a broadened perspective that we developed during the tours and seminars throughout the week.

Inside the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum

Our nation's capitol

The Washington Monument

Late in the afternoon we made our way to the airport to catch our flights to Arizona. A couple delayed flights and many hours later we landed in Phoenix. It is time to change gears and get ready to hear some on-the-ground perspectives from those who live and own ranches near the US-Mexico border, those who work in the agriculture industry, and those who enforce border security. The whole class is really looking forward to this part of our trip and expects to gain some important insight into border security, immigration, drug and human trafficking, and how these affect the agriculture industry in this state and our own.  

Matt Lohse, David Shabazian and Stephanie Tillman

Day 8 Immigration reform

Class 41 arrived in Phoenix, Arizona at 11 p.m. last night, and after a quick few hours of rest was back on the road, today to learn about the affect of immigration and illegal immigration on the State of Arizona and our Nation. California Ag Leadership Alumni, class 13, Robert Shuler of Shuler Government Affairs, LLC was our host at the Arizona Department of Agriculture. Shuler, a passonate advocate for the agriculture industry and the state of Arizona invited six of the most active legislators in the state to give our class a 400 level briefing on the very contentious issue. Senator Gail Griffin, district 25 lead off the day painting the picture of the convict on the boarder. Following the Senator, we met with Rep. Frank Pratt, Dist. 23; Rep. John Kavanaugh, Dist. 8; Rep. Chad Campbell, Dist. 14; and Rep. Ruben Gallego, Dist. 16, individually about the issues surrounding illegal immigration and the Arizona boarder. Our speakers, both Democrats and Republicans, spoke passionately about their positions and actively engaged the fellows of class 41 in one of the best exchanges of questions and answers of the entire trip. Both speakers and fellows left the overview of Immigration Reform seminar with new information and prospective about immigration that they didn't bring to the seminar when they loaded the bus this morning.

 

 

Conversation spilled into lunch at the  Department of Economic Security where small groups of class 41 huddled around tables and talked about what aspects of the presentation they agreed and disagreed with.

In the afternoon session, the members of class 41 were exposed to views on immigration issues from a panel of representatives of different agricultural sectors. The panel chaired by Bas Aja the executive Vice-president of Arizona Cattle feeder Association and included speakers from Arizona Cattle Growers, Arizona Farm Bureau and Western Growers. The speakers discussed at length the importance of separating Border Security from Immigration Reform. The class learned about many of the difficulties faced by the farming communities on the border concerning securities and farm labor. The panel also discussed solutions to the problem and emphasized the responsibilities of the Federal government in protecting citizens along the border and providing efficient visa programs that secure labor needs for the Agricultural sector.

Submitted by
- Steven Knudsen, Daniel Rodrigues and Ali Elhassan

Day 6 - Reliving Leadership Success and Failure Lessons at the Unforgettable Battle of Gettysburg

Class 41 started the day very early in the morning with Colonel Stephen Randolph who gave us an overview of events leading up to the battle of Gettysburg over breakfast.

We then traveled by bus along the Potomac river and through the beautiful rolling Pennsylvania farm land to the Gettysburg National Military Park. There was an icy wind as we climbed the Longstreet View – East View Tower where Colonel Randolph pointed out where the Confederate and Union soldiers were, and how and why they got there prior to the beginning of the battle.

He then took us to specific points where the battle took place during the three days to get an actual feel and understanding of the Leadership principles and decision making strategies that each side implemented. Especially moving was Little Round Top where Colonel Chamberlain made his heroic stand against an overwhelming Confederate force.

Another humbling experience was the visit to Gettysburg National Cemetery where we had the opportunity to stand where President Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg address.

Class 41 at the Soldiers' Monument, site of the Gettysburg Address.

Our final activity at Gettysburg was a walk across the field where the famous Pickett’s charge took place. We were all overwhelmed by the feeling those Confederate soldiers must have had marching across open terrain being bombarded by Union artillery, then advancing toward prepared and fortified infantry and cannon; WOW.

The place this battlefield holds in our hearts and history is evidenced by the hundreds of monuments of all shapes and sizes scattered throughout this hallowed ground.

Class 41 at the California Regiment monument.

Gratefully submitted by Christine Ivory, Vernon Petersen, and Jorge Suarez

Day 5-Challenging Our Perceptions to Understand Our Reality

It’s our fifth day in our nation’s capitol and the leadership lessons continue to flow like the Potomac.

As in previous days, our schedule has been packed with visits with a diverse set of perspectives on the issues affecting agriculture, our state and our nation.

We started our day at the Animal Agriculture Alliance, an organization that represents the interests of animal agriculture in the United States.  This session continued to amplify the need, we in the agricultural community, have to reach out and educate our neighbors as well as those in public office who represent us.  It is to our mutual benefit that we share our experience, our understanding and our expertise in providing the safest and most abundant food supply in the world.

Class 41 Fellows at Agriculture Animal Alliance

Later in the morning we met with Dr. Craig Shiffries, Director for Geoscience Policy at the Geological Society of America.  Our class had a very provocative conversation on the science behind climate change, and the data behind the increase of Carbon in our atmosphere.  Dr. Shiffries spoke to us about the gaps in communication between industry and policy makers and why it is important to bring all stakeholders to the table.  As our class realizes how open the policy making process can be, the perception many of us had coming in is being challenged for the better.

In order for agriculture to be at the negotiating table, we must challenge our own status quo, and get out of a defensive mindset to develop and communicate a positive vision; as leaders we must deliver a compelling message of the importance of agriculture to our state and nation.  Agriculture must be able to speak our needs and concerns in order for policy makers to better understand the impact on our livelihoods.

Jorge Suarez, Juan Guzman and Vernon Peterson



One of the highlights of our day was the opportunity to meet at one of the world most influential, most quoted and most trusted think tanks in the world, The Brookings Institution.  Class 41 had a presentation by Dr. Adam Looney, senior fellow in Economic Studies and policy director of The Hamilton Project.   Dr. Looney discussed Labor, economics and immigration.  One of the most critical issues to California agriculture is the need for a stable and plentiful workforce to harvest the crops that our produced in our state.  The reality of the impact of immigration on our economy is extremely complex and has many dimensions.  As leaders in agriculture, we must be equipped with the facts and the tools to better communicate our story about how immigrant workers not only contribute to the viability of agriculture but also to the economy as a whole.   As we get deeper into the study of this issue, in preparation for our trip to Arizona, we will take this knowledge with us to have a more informed conversation and begin to deepen of our understanding of our role as leaders on this issue.

We are looking forward to our visit to Gettysburg as a proper capstone to the Washington DC leg of our national trip.

----- Cesar Hernandez, Joey Mendonca and Matt Toste

Day 4- The Players...executive office staff, congressional staffers, and lobbyists

Class 41 started of St. Patrick’s Day with a visit from the Humane Society of the United States’ (HSUS) Director of Corporate Outreach, Mr. Josh Balk.   Fellows were informed on three of HSUS’ priority areas concerning animal agriculture, including the banning of the use of battery cages in egg production, gestation crates in swine production, and veal pens.  Mr. Balk provided the class with a well put together presentation and graciously answered a multitude of questions on HSUS policy and practice.

Next, the class made it’s way into D.C. to our first appointment, which was a panel discussion on immigration reform with members of the Agriculture Coalition for Immigration Reform.  Class 41 was privileged to hear from Ms. Barbara Leen of Senator Feinstein’s office; Mr. Monte Lake, a lawyer specializing in immigration and workforce issues; Mr. Craig Regelbrugge with the American Nursery and Landscape Association; and, Frank Gasperini with the National Council of Agricultural Employers.  With immigrant labor being the major workforce for most of the farm operations represented by Class 41, immigration reform of some manner is a priority topic in ensuring the continued viability of CA and US agriculture production.

 

A short break was taken for lunch at the Chesapeake Room, which was shared with congressional staffers and lobbyists, and immediately followed up with panel discussions by the two.  The class was able to interact with staff from Congressman Nunes’, Congressman Farr’s, and Congressman Cardoza’s offices, along with representatives from American Farm Bureau Federation, United Fresh Produce, The Potato Association of America, and the American Nursery and Landscape Association.  Our walk to the next meeting took us by the White House and we stopped for a group photo.  Special note---it was St. Patrick’s day so the fountain was dyed green in honor of the festivities.

The day continued with a visit to the White House Council on Environmental Quality where Mr. Jason Bordoff, Associate Director for Energy and Climate Change and Ms. Ann Farris, Deputy Associate Director for Energy and Climate Change gave a brief overview of the current administration’s energy and climate change policies.  From there, Class 41 made it’s way to the U.S. Trade Representatives office, where our tax dollars are hard at work.  In an office where it appeared that this statement is actually true, the class heard from Ms. Ann Heilman-Dahl, Director for Agricultural Affairs at USTR.  An overview of the recently negotiated fair trade agreement with Korea, Panama, and Columbia was provided, along with further discussion on how USTR negotiates on behalf of US agriculture production, opening up and maintaining markets across the globe.

A long, but fruitful day was wrapped up at the Tuscana West Restaurant, where Class 41 was able to visit with Alumni of the Ag Leadership DC Exchange Program.  Many of the alumni shared what a meaningful experience the program was for them and the impact it had, including introducing them first-hand to the on the ground application of policies and programs they are working on in Washington.  The opposite of a pasture to plate or farm to fork scenario, the exchange program allows these individuals to witness the abstract policies, programs, and regulations developed on their desktops as implemented on the farm. 

Submitted in gratitude to the Foundation and it's supporters, and all the speakers who took the time out of their schedule to visit with Class 41.

---Todd Snider, Juan Guzman, and Breanna Owens

Day 3 - Meeting Congressional Representatives and USDA Policy

The day started out with a visit to the President's mansion.  We were honored to indulge in a self guided tour of the White House.  We were able to visit the third and fourth floors of the White House which included the East Room (where the bodies of Abraham Lincoln and JFK laid in state), the Green, Blue, and Red Rooms, and the State Dining Room.  It was a real honor to be in such a historic mansion where so many great leaders have graced the halls.  We saw the oldest painting in the White House of Benjamin Franklin along with many other recent presidents - Ronald Reagan, William Jefferson Clinton, George Herbert Walker Bush, and John Fitzgerald Kennedy.  This was a special experience for the group.

Matt Toste and Cesar Hernandez at USDA

Next, we headed to Capitol Hill to conduct individual group meetings with our Congressional representatives.  We  saw people from Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy to Devin Nunes to staffers from Congressman Tom McClintock and Dennis Cardoza's offices.  It was interesting to hear each office talk on the issues as most people appear to be focused on how to keep the government running over the next 2-3 weeks or so.  Each had a very different perspective on the political gridlock in DC and  why it is being caused.  Some blamed the Tea Party for their "cut at any and all cost approach" while others blamed the "left wing liberals" for their inability to make things happen in the Senate and White House.  A very educational day it was indeed to listen to and understand both sides of the argument.  We also discussed policy and water issues and what the members of Congress are doing to combat our water issues in California.  Each of us were able to exchange contact info with key Congressional staffers that we feel with help us advance the important issues facing California agriculture today.

Mr. James Gore addressing Class 41 at USDA

 Next, we move onto the USDA Whitten Building.  We met with presidential appointee James Gore (Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary for Administration) along with many other distinguished staff members including Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan, Oscar Gonzalez (Deputy Director of Intergovernmental Affairs), Anne MacMillan (Senior Advisor to the Secretary) and Rebecca Blue (Congressional Relations Confidential Assistant), and Val Dolcini (Acting Administrator Farm Service Agency).  Each of them discussed the mission of the current USDA administration and what the goals were that they are attempting to achieve.  Many of these folks are Californians who should be helping the California agribusiness community become more relevant to the USDA programs and upcoming 2012 Farm Bill legislation.  We covered topics from labor, water, and regulatory issues along with what we can do as members of the California Ag leadership community to get involved with being a part of the solution to solving these problems.  We exchanged contact info whereby a few classmates will be sending emails to a few of these high ranking officials on ideas to improve regulatory and policy issues affecting our industry.  It was very enlightening and powerful to be able to have this kind of access to people who are on the front lines of our regulatory issues.  Now it is on us to follow through with the communication.

Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan at USDA

To cap the night off, we attended a DC Exchange Reception on the USDA's Secretary's Patio hosted by CALP alumni.  We were able to mingle with prospective members of the DC Exchange program and it was a wonderful networking opportunity.  We met a wide array of folks from people involved with International Trade Commission, the State Department, and USDA's APHIS program - to name a few.  This was an excellent networking opportunity for the class which everyone took full advantage of.  It was a fantastic finish to a great second day here in Washington.  Tomorrow we will be getting into more "controversial issues" which should make for some interesting discussion with visits to the Humane Society, a talk on the Obama Administration's Climate Change Policy and Immigration Reform.

- Matt Fisher, Elisabeth Silva, and Stuart Mast

Day 2 - Honoring leaders of the past, present and future

The class had a great start of the second day of the national trip in DC. We embarked on a walking tour of the Washington Mall, which was guided by Dr. Randolph, Colonel, of National Defense University. Touring the monuments of great Americans was a walk through the history of our country that taught us about a number of events, sacrifices and courage that shaped our country and made us who are today.

After lunch at the Smithsonian Castle, we visited the National Association of Counties where we learned about county government and the challenges they face in today’s economic climate. From here we jetted over to the Longworth building where we meet with Congressman Devin Nunes, class 29. Congressman Nunes first got us up to speed on current issues facing our national government. He then gave us a very special tour of the capitol, including a visit to the house floor, the Speaker’s chambers and balcony, and the rotunda. It was truly a unique privilege that will stay with us through our lives.

First Day in DC

An early wakeup call was in store for Class 41on their first day of the national trip.  We embarked on our trip with great anticipation and excitement. However the trip was slightly delayed with a minor mechanical problem with the navigation computer on the plane.  This led to a one and half hour delay at LAX while the problem was fixed. This caused the class to miss their connection in Chicago.  After some time all of the class was able to fly into our nations’ capital with no problem. After arriving at the Crystal Gateway Marriot, Dr. Crabb gave a short orientation meeting on what sites and events we will be part of in the upcoming days. Tomorrow activities will include a walking tour of the monuments and a stop at the Smithsonian for lunch. Also we will meet Congressman Devin Nunes (Class 29) for a short meet and great and tour of the capital.  

On behalf of Class 41, we would like to thank all of the generous individuals who made this trip possible.  We look forward on learning more about the workings of our country and to help us in our journey in leadership. Thank you again.

Graciously submitted,

Dan Rodrigues, Steve Knudsen and Rick Burnes