By Bob Dempel on January 24, 2021
I was fortunate some 50 years ago to be a member of the California Agricultural Leadership Program. I joined 29 other upcoming agriculture leaders for a two-year pro-bono program that included seminars at four agriculture colleges in California, a 14 day national trip, and a 21 day international trip. In total all 30 of us spent around 60 days together during the two years.
Needless to say, we all became close friends. The 30 of us were from all over California. Twenty-four of us were directly involved in agriculture production and the remaining six were in agriculture support management.
I was involved in Class 4 of this program that now has been operating for 50 plus years. Anytime you throw 30 people together, some friendships develop stronger than others. Such is the case with Lloyd Stueve and myself, and two or three other participants. Not that I was not friends with all of the others, it just happened that a few of us developed a closer