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June 11, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. PT
Online Webinar

Chinese Supplier Drone Ban: What it Means for Specialty Crop Agriculture

Join us for a timely discussion on the current landscape surrounding the Chinese supplier drone ban, what these developments could mean for agricultural drone use and how growers and ag service providers may be impacted moving forward. The webinar will feature perspectives from industry leaders working directly with drone operations, grower services and agtech innovation. 

Register for the webinar:
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Webinar Details

Date: June 11, 2026
Time: 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. PT
Location: Online via Zoom

There will be an opportunity for Q&A.

Meet the Speakers
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Kevin McDonald
Red Sparrow
Founder and CEO
 
 

Kevin McDonald is the Founder and CEO of Red Sparrow, an agricultural technology company focused on making AgTech adoption more compatible, observable, and affordable for the operators and growers who depend on it.

Kevin brings over 28 years of aviation experience spanning manned and unmanned systems, from fighter operations and defense programs to commercial drone manufacturing and agricultural services. His career includes senior roles across the full arc of agricultural aviation, including work with early-stage eVTOL startups, one of North America's largest aerial application businesses at Wilbur-Ellis Agribusiness, and complex international UAS programs with Insitu, Inc. and BAE Systems.

That breadth of experience, military aviator, defense contractor, drone manufacturer, agricultural operator, gives Kevin a clear-eyed perspective on where AgTech succeeds and where it falls short. Red Sparrow is built on those hard-won lessons: understanding what it actually takes to move a technology from promising to proven, and ensuring that the economics and operational realities of real farms are never an afterthought.

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Ben Palone
Western Growers
Senior Commercialization Director
 
 

Ben Palone is the Sr. Director Commercialization for the Western Growers Innovation team. With a technical background in providing automation solutions for the industrial/agriculture industries, Ben aims to provide third-party unbiased evaluations of ag-tech solutions. He facilitates connections between startups, OEM’s, growers and venture capital firms to ensure that technology solutions align with industry needs. Ben Palone’s commitment to advancing ag-tech underscores his passion for innovation and agriculture.

 

 

 

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Walt Duflock
Western Growers
Senior Vice President, Innovation
 
 

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

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Briana Layfield 
Ag-Bee
President
 
 

Briana Layfield is the President and founder of Ag-Bee, one of California’s first licensed spray drone application companies. Since 2019, she’s led Ag-Bee in pioneering the safe and practical integration of drone technology into specialty crop management. Briana works closely with universities, manufacturers, and growers to advance understanding of spray drone efficacy, precision application, and field operations. A recognized advocate for 
responsible drone adoption, she continues to help shape how agricultural technology is applied in real-world production systems.

 

 

 

 

 

Arelne Haffa
Dr. Arlene Haffa
Professor, Department of Biology & Chemistry
CSU Monterey Bay
Dr. Arlene Haffa is a Professor in the Department of Biology & Chemistry at CSU Monterey Bay. She earned her doctorate at Arizona State University where she used laser physics to study electron transfer in photosynthetic bacteria. Her postdoctoral studies were done at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) in Moss Landing. She taught in the chemistry department at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh for four years before joining the faculty at CSU Monterey Bay in 2011.
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Cole Smith
Staff Research Associate
University of California, Davis and Agriculture and Natural Resources
Cole is a Staff Research Associate with University of California, Davis and Agriculture and Natural Resources. His primary research area is sustainable nutrient management and soil fertility. His Ph.D. research has focused on the use of organic amendments within vegetable cropping agroecosystems of the California’s central coast, aiming to quantifying tradeoffs between conservation management and nitrogen fertilizer use. Cole holds a master’s degree from UC Davis in Soil Science & Biogeochemistry and has been with the UC system for 8 years implementing extension-based outreach and education programs to divert organic waste from landfills, improve soil health and promote the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices.
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Steve Brazeel
CEO 
Elevated Foods

In 2000, Steve Brazeel founded SunTerra Produce, which has grown from a one-person produce brokerage firm into an industry-leading, full-service platform handling sales, marketing, farming, food safety, harvesting, storage, and distribution activities for specialty crop producers on over 10,000 acres throughout the US and Mexico. Born out of SunTerra‘s participation in the USDA’s ground-breaking Farmers to Families Food Box program, Project FoodBox was launched in 2020. Since the program’s inception, the SunTerra/Project FoodBox teams have delivered over 85 Million pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables to communities in need through its network of food banks, community organizations, and health care plans.

Elevated Foods, founded by Mr. Brazeel in 2020, was recently awarded a $20M grant as part of USDA’s Partnerships for Climate Smart Commodities program. Elevated was formed to bring more profit to farmers by incentivizing the adoption of new technologies & practices and providing technical support to help make them more efficient and resilient.

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Featuring Karen Ross
Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture

KAREN ROSS was appointed Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture on January 9, 2019, by Governor Gavin Newsom. 

In re-appointing Secretary Ross, Governor Newsom cited her unmatched leadership experience in agricultural issues nationally, internationally and in California, in areas including environmental stewardship, climate change adaptation and trade. 

Secretary Ross was initially appointed by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. in 2011.

For more information on Western Growers Center for Innovation & Technology please contact innovation@wga.com.

Copyright © 2026, Western Growers

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Jason Resnick
Senior Vice President and General Counsel
Western Growers

Jason Resnick joined Western Growers in 2003 and now serves as Senior Vice President and General Counsel. His responsibilities include overseeing the organization’s legal department, trade practices department, H-2A Services division, and corporate governance as Western Growers’ corporate secretary.  Jason provides advice and counsel on various legal, business and policy matters. Jason has primary staff liaison responsibility over the Western Growers Board of Directors, and the WG Executive and Labor Committees.

Click here for Jason Resnick's full biography.