With funding from USDA’s Advancing Markets for Producers grant program, IFPA and member partners recently held a field day where innovative regenerative agriculture solutions were on full display.

As agentic commerce shifts online grocery from rigid, transactional search bars to intuitive, conversational AI, retailers have an opportunity to use autonomous agents to solve the industry’s long-standing fresh produce adoption bottleneck.

From H-2A wage rules to state regulations, the produce industry says escalating labor costs are eating into grower profits and reshaping the future of specialty crop farming.

At the recent Washington Conference, panelist Rochelle Bohm of CMI Orchards warned the “exorbitant” fees associated with EPR compliance will quickly swallow up what little financial breathing room produce companies have left.

John Hollay of the National Council of Agriculture Employers says growers who once avoided the guest worker program as a financial headache see benefits to participation.

The company says that as blueberries continue to lead the category, jumbo varieties offer an opportunity for retailers to differentiate.