IFPA honors produce industry leaders, advocates for ag labor

The International Fresh Produce Association’s Washington Conference, held June 9-11, featured more than 185 meetings between Congressional offices and IFPA members advocating for fresh produce and floral industry priorities.

Issues addressed included national food security, protecting the country’s agricultural workforce, advancing policies to increase fresh fruit and vegetable consumption and securing funding for food safety programs, according to IFPA.

The conference also honored advocacy and service leaders, including:

• Little Bear Produce, a Texas-based fruit and vegetable farming and packing business, received the 2025 IFPA Advocate of the Year Award. The company has shown industry leadership through involvement in the former U.S. Government Relations Council, the IFPA Board of Directors and the U.S. Country Council. Bret Erickson, senior vice president, recently testified before the Senate Agriculture Committee, addressing industry regulatory challenges.
• Bruce Summers, former administrator of USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), received the Lifetime Achievement Award. Summers has been a U.S. specialty crop industry advocate for his 40-year career in agriculture.

IFPA is also calling on its members to contact Congressional leaders to encourage proposed budget provisions supporting specialty crops, including increased funding for crop insurance and investments in automation, procurement reforms and USDA programs. A form on IFPA’s website can connect concerned constituents with their representatives.

Additionally, IFPA emphasized the need for predictability and affordability in agricultural labor in response to “escalated immigration enforcement efforts” by the Trump administration.

“Enforcement actions targeting agricultural laborers are highly disruptive to farm operations and the produce supply chain consumers rely on,”  IFPA said in a statement. “They are also the culmination of decades of inaction from policymakers and a broken labor system.”

The association said it continues to support bipartisan solutions to protect the fresh produce and floral supply chain, such as the Supporting Farm Operations Act.