The 2024 Florida Tomato Institute drew a large crowd of growers and other industry stakeholders to Clewiston, Florida, in early September. In addition to educational seminars and learning what’s new from industry, growers had the opportunity to meet a new leader who has come back to Florida.
Robert Guenther was recently named to leadership positions for Florida’s tomato trade associations, replacing Michael Schadler, who has taken a new job. Guenther will serve as the executive vice president of the Florida Tomato Exchange and Florida Tomato Growers Exchange, in addition to being the manager of the Florida Tomato Committee. He attended the meeting and is excited to return home to Florida to take on the new positions.
“A lot of people might not know this, but I was born and raised here, and my family has been involved in farming for almost three generations in Central Florida,” said Guenther. “This position is really a great opportunity to get back to my roots. I have never had the chance to really work on Florida-specific issues. It has always been on much broader national issues. I am excited to come back home.”
As far as job priorities, Guenther said the Tomato Institute is a good example. “Today is a great example. We are talking about supporting a strong research portfolio and enhancing the great research presentations we saw from speakers here. We need to be strategically aligned and working together from a research perspective.
“Certainly, international trade is an issue and has been for years. I have seen it from different perspectives in my career in Washington, D.C., so that will be top of mind moving forward into this year and next year when a new administration comes along. Labor is always a huge issue. And when we will get a new farm bill and all that entails is a big priority.”
By Frank Giles