8:00 a.m. - Registration and check-in with continental breakfast

8:30 a.m. - 8:45 a.m. - Introductions / Welcome 

8:45 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. - Morning Keynote Speaker with Questions and Answers Session

• Jim Wiesemeyer currently serves as a Washington policy analyst for AgBull Media, contributes to Farm Journal’s AgriTalk radio program, and hosts the weekly podcast “Wiesemeyer’s Perspectives."

10:00 a.m. - 10:10 a.m. -  Break

10:10 a.m. - 10:40 a.m. - Special Speaker on Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA)

• Bill Wolman, Partner, Sagaser, Watkins & Wieland PC

10:40 a.m. - 10:50 a.m. - Break

10:50 a.m. - 11:50 a.m. - Panel #1 -  The Forces Reshaping Agricultural Risk

• Abby Taylor-Silva, Managing Director of Regulatory Affairs, Kahn Soares & Conway 
• Emily Rooney, President, Ag Council of California
• Julie Adams, VP of Global, Technology and Regulatory Affairs, Almond Board of California
• Moderator: Casey Creamer,  President, the California Fresh Fruit Association

11:50 p.m. - 12:45 p.m. - Luncheon and Keynote Speaker - Walt Duflock, Vice President of Innovation, Western Growers

12:45 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. - Networking (Dessert to be served at this time) 

Jim Wiesemeyer - For five decades, Jim Wiesemeyer has covered our nation’s capital providing insight and analysis on the business of agriculture, economic trade, energy and tax policy. He also covers the monetary side of Washington in his Federal Reserve analysis. 

Congress has a role in many of those topics and Jim has covered hearings and key legislation during his long career, including interviews with key lawmakers and a long list of top congressional staff aides. He has also interviewed USDA secretaries since Dr. Earl Butz and other USDA personnel, and has had personal discussions with presidents and presidential candidates. 

Jim is also a noted speaker and has traveled across the United States talking about Washington policy, connecting the dots so listeners and readers can better understand the impacts of Washington, D.C. on business and farming operations. He brings those perspectives to his podcasts and writing. 

After working decades for Pro Farmer and Sparks Companies/Informa Economics, Jim is now Washington Policy analyst at Ag Bull Media where he writes daily and weekly articles and has a weekly podcast  Wiesemeyer’s Perspectives.

Bill Wolman, Partner at Sagaser, Watkins & Wieland PC, will provide an informative overview of California’s Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) and its significance for employers.

Panelists:

Abby Taylor-Silva, Managing Director of Regulatory Affairs, Kahn Soares & Conway 

Abby Taylor-Silva joined KSC in 2025 as the firm’s Managing Director of Regulatory Affairs. Abby previously served as the Executive Vice President of the California Agricultural Leadership Foundation, a non-profit public benefit corporation that supports leadership development for members of the agricultural industry. The Foundation supports the longest continuously operating leadership educational experience of its kind in the United States, and is widely regarded as the premier program, in its niche, in the world. She is a proud alumna of the Foundation’s Class 45.
Prior to joining the Foundation, Abby spent two decades working on behalf of growers, shippers and processors on the Central Coast of California. In her various roles with the California Strawberry Commission, Ag Against Hunger, and the Grower-Shipper Association of Central California she engaged on a variety of issues, including water supply and quality, food safety, sustainability, crop input management, community hunger solutions, and various industry-wide philanthropic endeavors.

Julie Adams, VP of Global, Technology and Regulatory Affairs, Almond Board of California 

Julie Adams is vice president, global technical and regulatory affairs of the Almond Board of California. She has overseen ABC’s U.S. and global trade and regulatory programs for more than 20 years. Her responsibilities include monitoring and developing strategies to address international trade policy, market access, and technical issues that impact production and worldwide shipment of California almonds.

She also oversees the Almond Board’s marketing order services team, which administers the Board’s compliance with requirements under the Federal Marketing Order.

Emily Rooney, President of the Agricultural Council of California

Emily joined Ag Council in 2008 and became President in 2010. She manages the organization and handles regulatory and budget policy matters on behalf of Ag Council members.

Prior to her work with Ag Council, Emily served as director of farm policy for the California Farm Bureau Federation where she represented the interests and objectives of California’s farmers and ranchers as they relate to farm policy, tax and biotech issues before the U.S. government and administrative bodies. In addition, Emily has legislative experience in Washington, D.C. where she worked for two members of Congress advising on issues including agriculture, budget, taxes and judiciary matters.

Moderator: Casey Creamer,  President, the California Fresh Fruit Association

Casey Creamer serves as President of the California Fresh Fruit Association (CFFA), where he leads the organization’s efforts to advocate for California’s fresh fruit growers, shippers and marketers. He has more than 20 years of experience in
agricultural association leadership, public policy and regulatory advocacy.
Throughout his career, Creamer has served on numerous boards and advisory committees addressing agricultural trade, water quality and supply, air quality, and pesticide policy. These include USDA and USTR’s Agricultural Technical Advisory Committee for Fruits and Vegetables, the Water Blueprint for the San Joaquin Valley, Central Valley Salinity Alternatives for Long-Term Sustainability (CV-SALTS), and California’s Sustainable Pest Management Work Group.
Creamer earned a degree in Business Administration from California State University, Fresno, and is a graduate of the California Agricultural Leadership Program, Class 47.
Casey and his wife, Megan, live in Clovis, California, with their three daughters.

Walt Duflock, Vice President of Innovation, Western Growers

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.