The 4-H Latino Initiative achieves positive youth outcomes and advances practices on culturally relevant programming, contributing to UC ANR's public value of developing an inclusive and equitable society. 

The Issue

Over 39% of Californians identify as Hispanic or Latino. Growth estimates project that Latinos will make up half of all Californians by 2060. In the K-12 public school system, more than 54% of students identify as Latino or Hispanic. Yet, until recently, the youth membership of UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR) 4-H programs did not represent the state's Latino population.

How UC Delivers

In 2015, UC ANR provided $2 million to fund the UC 4-H Latino Initiative, a three-year effort from 2016 to 2019 to develop, adapt, implement, and evaluate culturally relevant and responsive 4-H youth development programs. Seven counties — Kern, Merced, Monterey, Orange, Riverside, Santa Barbara, and Sonoma — were selected, representing rural, suburban, and urban communities. Each county received funding to hire a bilingual and bicultural 4-H program staff. Additionally, UC ANR hired an assistant state director for diversity and expansion. The goal was to develop, deliver, and assess culturally responsive program models to recruit and retain Latino youth, families and volunteers into 4-H.

Over three years, each county made progress increasing its reach with youth using a combination of program models and delivery modes. Statewide, youth enrollment grew from serving 1.1% of the school-aged population in 2016 to 1.9% at the end of year three (2019). The number of Latino youth enrolled in 4-H grew 104% from the year before the initiative to year three. Specifically, the 2016 program year had 34,040 Latino youth members, which was 40% of total 4-H membership, and the 2019 program year had 69,383 Latino youth members, making up 47% of total 4-H membership.

We generated new knowledge to advance the field of culturally responsive youth development programming. For example, in a study of bicultural program staff, published in the Journal of Youth Development, we reported on the competing demands to build relationships, engage youth, and show results, with lessons to help shape future efforts (Worker et al., 2019)

The Impact

Newly recruited Latino young people experienced positive outcomes from participating in 4-H programs such as improvements in mindset and social skills. Additionally, we found that the program experience including relationship building and youth engagement, were similar across community clubs and 4-H Latino Initiative programs (Worker, Fábregas Janeiro, & Lewis, 2019). As a result, the 4-H organizational culture shifted to become more accepting and welcoming, particularly with implementing new, culturally responsive programming. Adopted strategies include incorporating positive development of ethnic identity, tailoring to the needs and interests of local and regional Latino youth and families, removing barriers to participation, and increasing cultural competencies among 4-H volunteers. Resources developed by the Latino Initiative are now located on a web page and continue to be accessed by 4-H academics, staff, volunteers, and 4-H professionals across the nation. They include resources for assessing, implementing, and evaluating culturally responsive programs, as well as marketing and communicating about efforts to engage Latino youth.

“I love having 4-H in my school. I decided to help coach a team, even if I don't know much about soccer. It has been so much fun to learn with the kids and play soccer with them." – Elizabeth, 4-H volunteer soccer coach

CFHL, UCCE San Mateo partnership with JobTrain results in 128 adult students increasing food resource management life skills, contributing to UC ANR's public value of safeguarding abundant, healthy food for all California.

The Issue

Research indicates that approximately 134,443 people in San Mateo County live at or below 185% of the poverty level and 18% are SNAP-Ed eligible. Given the pandemic and ongoing economic crisis, this number is expected to grow next year. Of the SNAP-Ed eligible population, 66% of adults are overweight/obese.

How UC Delivers

To address these health concerns, CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE San Mateo County (CFHL, UCCE) has partnered with JobTrain, a non-profit education and training institution delivering the food resource management curriculum “Plan, Shop, Save and Cook” to adult participants for the past eight years. JobTrain provides career training in fields such as culinary arts, certified nursing assistant (CNA), medical assistance, carpentry, building maintenance, and IT support and services. While this training enables students to move from unemployment into careers offering self-sufficiency, the nutrition and food resource management classes offered through partnership with CFHL, UCCE offer important life skills in consumer decision making, dietary health and wellness.

“These valuable life skills complement the vocational training they receive at JobTrain,” said Elaine Silver, Nutrition Educator for CFHL, UCCE in San Mateo and San Francisco counties. During lessons, JobTrain students learn about MyPlate, shopping on a budget, preparing healthy meals and snacks for families, reading food labels, and the importance of physical activity.

Since October 2020, 128 JobTrain students have taken Silver's virtual Plan, Shop, Save and Cook lessons. In past years, these lessons were delivered in person, but switched to Zoom during COVID-19 stay-at-home orders to allow JobTrain students to continue building these important life skills.

Elaine Silver illustrating how to read a nutrition food label.

The Impact

Overall, 88% of the students reported improvements ranging from 43% comparing unit prices more often to 60% reading/using nutrition facts labels more often. In addition, 28% of participants reported running out of food less often before the end of the month – suggesting they were more food secure after taking the course.

“I started cooking healthier meals for my family, including veggies,” wrote one survey respondent. “Some of the changes I've made is that I now look at the unit price, just to make sure I am getting my money's worth,” wrote another student. “Also, I have started taking a grocery list with me so that I can make sure I can stay on budget and not buy things that I do not need.”

These outcomes demonstrate how CFHL, UCCE San Mateo County is contributing to UC ANR's public value of safeguarding abundant and healthy food for all Californians. When asked about the impact these virtual classes have had on students' lives, the feedback from JobTrain's instructors has been overwhelmingly positive. In addition to increasing food resource management, instructors noted how much students look forward to classes, how they benefit from incorporating new healthy practices, and that learning more about healthy living helps bolster education for students entering the healthcare field.

Agricultural clientele utilize Extension information to inform irrigation management decisions, potentially improving water use efficiency and protecting California's water resources.

The Issue

For farmers to grow high-yielding and good quality crops and be good stewards of our finite water resources, they need to know how much water is used by their crop and how much to refill the soil with irrigation. Weather conditions and the crop's life stage determine the water use, also known as crop evapotranspiration (ET). When farmers have accurate crop ET information available, they can more closely apply the appropriate amount of water at the right time and grow more and better quality food and fiber with each unit of water.

How UC Delivers

Since 1995, UC ANR has collaborated with the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to deliver weekly crop ET estimates to growers for the major crops grown in California. These ET estimates integrate real-time, on-the-ground weather measurements taken by DWR and decades of research by UC ANR on crop water use. These reports provide growers with representative estimates of crop ET each week and a running total of crop water use as each crop develops. The weekly rates of ET can be related to the water application rate of an irrigation system to help determine how frequently to irrigate and how long to run a system. Comparing cumulative ET early in the season to the available soil moisture can help decide when to apply the first irrigation of the season. At the end of the season, a comparison of the seasonal ET to total applied irrigation water provides a yardstick to assess irrigation efficiency. Beginning in 2000, methods of delivering these weekly reports expanded to include email and blogs. In 2015, these reports expanded to UC ANR offices throughout the Central Valley to serve more than 1,200 clientele throughout California.

The Impact

In 2019, a one-time survey was sent to about 1,200 clientele throughout California, including growers, agricultural land managers, and crop advisors to understand how the weekly ET reports were being used, quantify the impact of use of the emails, and assess the needs of irrigation education. The survey findings indicated that 70% of clientele use these weekly ET reports in irrigation management decisions. Of that 70%, 75% use the information to inform how long to irrigate, 73% how frequently to irrigate, 53% when to begin the irrigation season, and 39% when to end the irrigation season.

Research has shown that scheduling irrigation based on ET can improve plant health and yields, translating to more crop per drop. Previous UC ANR research has demonstrated that California growers save approximately $64.7 million per year by using CIMIS weather station data. In this way, UC ANR contributes to improved water use efficiency, demonstrating UC ANR's commitment to the public value of protecting California's natural resources.

UC ANR Climate Smart Agriculture Educator team assisted growers to win CDFA grants that reduced greenhouse gases equivalent to removing roughly 7,000 cars off the road, supporting UC ANR's public value of building climate-resilient communities and ecosystems.

The Issue

Increasingly extreme and erratic weather patterns caused by climate change threaten crop yields and farm profits across the state. Growers must continue to adapt to climate stressors, such as increased temperatures and occurrences of drought, and can aid in reducing climate change through their farming practices.

How UC Delivers

A collaborative partnership between the Strategic Growth Council, California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), and University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) teamed up to support 10 Climate Smart Agriculture Community Education Specialists (CSA CES) throughout the state to provide technical assistance and outreach to promote Climate-Smart Agriculture Incentive Programs. These programs include:  

• The Healthy Soils Program, which incentivizes the implementation of climate-smart agriculture practices such as cover cropping, composting, crop rotation, and mulching which reduce erosion and greenhouse gases
• The State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP), which encourages farmers to install more efficient irrigation systems that decrease water consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; and
• The Alternative Manure Management Program (AMMP), which awards funds to livestock producers who decrease their methane emissions by changing the way they manage manure.

Healthy Soils Demonstration Project field day in Bonsall, CA

Since establishing this partnership in 2019, the UC ANR Climate Smart Agriculture Educator team has provided hands-on assistance to over 200 farmers and ranchers through the complex application process. Collaborating with other CDFA technical providers to host workshops, field days, and events has expanded reach to a greater number of growers, over 120 of whom were able to receive funding after receiving technical assistance. UC CSA CES efforts don't stop at the outreach or application phase; educators work year-round to ensure successful implementation of climate-smart projects.

After the award process, educators assist awardees in completing grant invoicing and contract reporting requirements and connect them with vendors, industry experts, and service providers. UC CSA CES also engage in a variety of additional support activities. For example, to help establish successful cover crop adoption, one educator created a cover crop decision-making tool. A different educator started a small compost spreader rental program to assist small growers in spreading compost. Another facilitates full project management through translation services to a cooperative of Cantonese-speaking awardees.

Esther Mosase Plants Hedgerows

 The Impact

Through assisting awardees in the adoption of practices such as cover cropping, installing solar panels, and installing dairy manure solid separator systems, the 10 UC CSA CES have collectively supported growers in reducing 33,000 MT/CO2 per year, as measured by California Air and Resources Board (CARB) Green House Gas Emission reduction calculator (SWEEP GHG Calculator on CDFA's website), and the HSP Comet planner tool. That's equivalent to removing 7,000 cars from the road per year.

Table A provides an overview of how much GHG has reduced in counties where the UC Climate Smart Agriculture Educator team has helped farmers implement climate-smart practices. Totals for all projects are much higher.

CSA Eduactor Dana Yount With Glenn County Grower

Glenn County grower, Shannon Douglass says, “When producers have the support from the UCCE office that they already know and trust, they are more willing to implement new practices. The application process is intimidating, but with the help from UC, soil healthy practices are becoming much more widely adopted.”

Research shows that Healthy Soils Program practices such as compost application increases the amount of organic matter in soil, amongst numerous other benefits such as increasing the water and nutrient retention capacity of soils, providing a reservoir of nutrients for plants, improving aeration, improving water infiltration, reducing soil erosion, and supporting the abundance and diversity of soil organisms, which can improve plant health. Compost application is just one fundable practice farmers can implement to help reduce greenhouse gases on their operation.

Thanks to this unique partnership with CDFA, UC ANR is able to provide hands-on support to farmers statewide so that they can improve the health of their soils, reduce livestock methane emissions, and improve water use efficiency. In this way, the Climate-Smart Agriculture program contributes to UC ANR's public value of building climate-resilient communities and ecosystems.