Science Breakthroughs to Advance Food and Agricultural Research by 2030, a report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine was released July 18. The report identifies the most promising scientific breakthroughs that are possible to achieve in the next decade to increase the U.S. food and agriculture system's sustainability, competitiveness and resilience. 

“In the coming decade, the stresses on the U.S. food and agricultural enterprise won't be solved by business as usual – either in the field or in our current research efforts,” said Susan Wessler, the Neil and Rochelle Campbell Presidential Chair for Innovations in Science Education and distinguished professor of genetics at UC Riverside, who was a co-chair of this important new study.

Alison Van Eenennaam, UC Cooperative Extension specialist at UC Davis, served on the Committee on Science Breakthroughs 2030: A Strategy for Food and Agricultural Research, and other UC academics were involved in reviewing content for the 200-page book.

The urgent progress needed today, given challenges such as water scarcity, increased weather variability, floods and droughts, requires a convergent research approach that harnesses advances in data science, materials science, information technology, behavioral sciences, economics and many other fields.

The committee identified five breakthrough opportunities that take advantage of a convergent approach to research challenges and could potentially increase the capabilities of food and agricultural science dramatically:

1. A systems approach to understand the nature of interactions among the different elements of the food and agricultural system can be leveraged to increase overall system efficiency, resilience, and sustainability. 
2. The development and validation of highly sensitive, field-deployable sensors and biosensors will enable rapid detection and monitoring capabilities across various food and agricultural disciplines.
3. The application and integration of data sciences, software tools, and systems models will enable advanced analytics for managing the food and agricultural system.  
4. The ability to carry out routine gene editing of agriculturally important organisms will allow for precise and rapid improvement of traits important for productivity and quality. 
5. Understanding the relevance of the microbiome to agriculture and harnessing this knowledge will improve crop production, transform feed efficiency, and increase resilience to stress and disease. 

They include recommendations for a range of federal agencies, as well as federal and private funders and researchers.

“It is very gratifying to see a strong recommendation for enhanced support to the Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension systems as vitally important infrastructure!” VP Glenda Humiston said.

Humiston and other UC ANR leaders are considering how UC ANR might best use the ideas presented in the report.

The report is available for free download at https://www.nap.edu/catalog/25059/science-breakthroughs-to-advance-food-and-agricultural-research-by-2030.

 

 

To promote the exchange and sharing of agricultural extension information, several U.S. Land Grant institutions have formed an alliance with 10 Chinese agricultural universities. From June 17 to 22, UC ANR took a group of scientists from Chinese agricultural universities on a tour of agriculture in Northern California.

“The Chinese face many of the same issues that we do here in the U.S.,” said VP Glenda Humiston. “The Chinese universities want to improve rural economic development to lift up the quality of life for people in rural communities. They are also responding to global climate change, drought and pests while trying to improve food security and water use efficiency. They see UC Cooperative Extension as an effective research model; we hope that scientific collaborations will accelerate solutions and help maintain relations for California agriculture with China.”

The Chinese Extension Alliance Delegation included Song Hui, vice dean of the New Rural Development Research Institute of Northeast Agricultural University; Sun Wenpeng, professional extension personnel of Northeast Agricultural University; Luo Jian, associate professor of business at Hunan Agricultural University; He Minghui, associate professor of business at Hunan Agricultural University; and Li Peng, director of the Office of Invigorating Agriculture with Science and Education in the Department of Science and Technology.

The group toured Oregon agriculture with Oregon State University representatives, then drove from Klamath Falls with Humiston and Greg Gibbs and Rob Broadhurst of Development Services to begin the California tour at UC ANR's Intermountain Research and Extension Center in Tulelake. Rob Wilson, Intermountain REC director, showed them research being conducted on potatoes and mint breeding. From there, the group headed out to tour Shasta Dam.

In Redding, Larry Forero, UCCE director in Shasta County, and Rick Satomi, UCCE forest advisor, told the Chinese delegates about local research and outreach, then introduced them to 4-H youth and families at the Shasta District Fair, where 4-H members were bringing livestock for show.

UCCE advisors Josh Davy and Allan Fulton discussed orchards and water in Tehama County.

In Yuba City, UCCE director Janine Hasey and her staff gave the guests an overview of UCCE programs in Yuba and Sutter counties and plans for celebrating the office's 100^th anniversary on Aug. 24. They met with UCCE pomology advisors, who gave them a tour of Sierra Gold Nurseries orchards and walnut rootstock research sites and discussed collaborations with growers.

Stephanie Larson, UCCE director in Sonoma County, drove the group around areas in Santa Rosa that burned in October and discussed UCCE's fire research and outreach to the community. The group also met with UCCE staff in Sonoma County to discuss food access, 4-H youth development, natural resources and wine grapes.

For a view of UC Cooperative Extension from the campus perspective, Mark Bell, vice provost of Strategic Initiatives and Statewide Programs, introduced the group to colleagues in the College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences at UC Davis. They met with Mimi Rose, program coordinator for international programs; Martin Smith, UCCE specialist in the Department of Human Ecology; Ron Tjeerdema, associate dean for Environmental Sciences; Bruce Linquist, UCCE rice specialist; Jim Hill, emeritus UCCE specialist; and Louise Ferguson, UCCE specialist and founder of the Fruit and Nut Research and Information Center.

Anne Megaro, director of governmental and community relations, introduced the group to Gail Feenstra, deputy director and food systems coordinator of UC ANR's Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program, and Sonja Brodt, academic coordinator. Then they toured the Russell Ranch Sustainable Agriculture Facility with soil science post-doc Daoyuan Wang and the UC Davis Student Farm with its director Katharina Ullmann.

“They have extension in China, but it is not like ours,” said Megaro. “They are looking to strengthen their advisor positions and develop a mechanism for career advancement, similar to what we have in the U.S.”

The Chinese Extension Alliance Delegation wrapped up their tour at UC ANR's offices in Davis to learn about UC ANR's statewide programs. Jim Farrar discussed the Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program, Missy Gable described the Master Gardener Program, Shannon Horrillo talked about the 4-H youth development program, Greg Ira explained California Naturalist; and Katie Panarella covered the Nutrition, Family and Consumer Sciences, Expanded Food Nutrition Education (EFNEP) and Master Food Preserver programs.

Humiston, who met with the China-US University-based Agricultural Extension Alliance in China in March of 2017, said, “We look forward to collaborating with our agricultural extension colleagues in China.”

See more photos of the tour at https://www.flickr.com/gp/151501801@N07/YVBqk6.

 

FOOD IT: The Full Stack will be held June 26, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., at UCSF Mission Bay Conference Center and UC ANR is a sponsor.

If you missed early registration, you can get a 40 percent discount by using the code  SPECIALSAUCE at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/food-it-the-full-stack-tickets-39785715145. Click on the blue text Enter promotional code above the “Order Now” button.

FOOD IT: “The Full Stack” will use the tech developers' full stack model to assess the current digitization of food and agriculture, to identify areas of progress as well as near-term developments needed to overcome impasse.

Action-oriented entrepreneurs, investors and representatives from leading global food and agriculture innovation hubs will gather to explore the challenges and innovations in each layer of the stack 

The event will use four distinct elements to explore the progress of this development effort:

1. Moderated group discussions on the four layers of the stack

• Physical layer: digitizing food/ag physical world data
• Data layer: getting food/ag data flowing
• App layer: doing food/ag jobs with tech
• UI/UX layer: digitizing our interface with food

2. Food and ag tech start-ups will pitch to seasoned venture capitalists, vying to win the “Golden Blender Award.”

3. Interactive breakout sessions will give participants the opportunity to take a deep dive together for collaborative discussion of timely topics related to food, agriculture and technology.

4. At the Innovation Marketplace, innovators will demonstrate products, services and programs. UCANR will have a booth to introduce The VINE – The Verde Innovation Network for Entrepreneurship – to cultivate regional innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems in rural communities. Led by GabrielYoutsey, UCANR chief innovation officer, The VINE connects entrepreneurs with resources such as small business development centers, community colleges, UC Cooperative Extension county offices, makers labs, incubators and accelerators.

“For the fifth year, thought leaders from the food, ag and tech sectors will once again gather for this thought-provoking event,” said Rob Trice, The Mixing Bowl's founder. “Through a day of interactive engagement, we will seek to better understand the whole picture and the full stack of food and ag digitization, the challenges and some of the solutions and technologies in each part of the stack.”

UCSF Mission Bay Conference Center is located at 1675 Owens St #251, San Francisco, CA 94158. General admission is $250 before applying the SPECIALSAUCE discount code. Register at bit.ly/FITFullStack.

 

 

On May 29, 2018, IT will be implementing a new login process, which may affect your access to services and applications.

The following information is available with screen captures at http://anrcs.ucanr.edu/isc/access. 

You may have noticed a link to “UCANR Active Directory (Beta test)” on the UC ANR Portal login page. The link was a test of our effort to manage staff computing credentials which are separate from UC Davis and other campuses. We created this new process in support of UC's transition to a new personnel system called UC Path. This system is scheduled to launch for UC ANR in March 2019.

Our beta test of this new authentication service is now complete, and we are preparing to launch it. While we don't anticipate a disruption in access to critical services and applications, please review the following information to ensure you understand what we need you to do now, how you may be affected and what you can do if you encounter any difficulties.

Reset your password

To access the new UC ANR authentication service, you must reset your password in the ANR Portal first. This will set up your password on the new service so that you can login to the new authentication service. You can reset your password by clicking the “Edit Profile” link on the upper left side of your ANR Portal. From there, you will see a “Change Password” link on the left navigation. Please read the new password requirements before attempting to reset it. If you need assistance, please contact us at help@ucanr.edu.

Portal account

If you log into the Portal using your ANR account you will have normal access to the tools provided by ANR. This does not include access to any tools operated by UC Davis, such as Kuali Financial System or the timesheets.

UC Trust and ANR account

UC Trust is a program which allows services and applications provided by different campuses and divisions to be easily accessible. If you login with any of the UC Trust links, you will have normal access to the tools provided by ANR, just as if you used your ANR Account. However, depending on which link you use, your access to systems supported by other locations will change. For folks using UCOP, UCR and UCB links, you will get access to the Portal and any services you are authorized to receive from your locations.

For folks using the UC Davis or UC ANR links, there are key differences which are important to understand.

Logging in with UC Trust

If you have a UC Davis email address, you can use the UC Davis link will log you into the ANR Portal and UC Davis Central Authentication Service. This will grant you access to any UC Davis services and applications you are authorized to use. This includes timesheets for ANR employees who are not located at UCOP or another campus besides UC Davis. It also includes other systems like KFS, Box and Office 365 for folks with UC Davis email accounts.

Logging in with ANR account

If you have a UC ANR email address, using the UC ANR link will log you in the ANR Portal and our new authentication service. Currently, this service currently supports the following systems:

• UC Path – services and applications required for the implementation of UC Path, as well as access to UC Path, will all use the UC ANR authentication services. More details about these services, and how they will impact ANR personnel, will be release shortly.
• UC Recruit – this is an academic recruitment system managed by Human Resources
• Site Improve – a new accessibility and website quality assessment tool being rolled out UC-wide. It's still in beta testing, and we will send a separate email when access is arranged for key website administrators.
• SharePoint – ANR has an instance of SharePoint provided by UCOP. It is currently being tested with several administrative units.
• Additional services and applications will be announced and introduced over time as well as transitions of key services currently provided by UC Davis.

If you require any assistance with resetting your password, encounter any issues logging into the different accounts, or if you have any questions or comments about the new authentication service or UC Path, please contact IT at help@ucanr.edu. 

Thank you,

Dave Krause
ANR CSIT