- Author: Pamela S Kan-Rice
Vice President Glenda Humiston and Associate Vice President Brent Hales were joined by 19 UC ANR representatives for the Council for Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching and Association of Public & Land-Grant Universities Board on Agriculture Assembly joint conference Feb. 26-29 in Washington D.C.
Collectively the UC group met with Rep. John Garamendi, staff representing 29 other congressional offices plus Josh Stull of USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
They visited the staff for Senators Alex Padilla and Laphonza Butler, both Senate and House agriculture committees, members on the House Agriculture Committee and Appropriations Committee, and members whose districts include UC ANR locations, AES campuses and research and extension centers. They urged support for scientists, research, infrastructure and nutrition education, showing examples of the impact with a two-page handout.
“We shared specific examples of the high return on investment of federal dollars to UC ANR and the AES campuses,” said Anne Megaro, government and community relations director. “From new avocado varieties to 4-H benefits to youth, to our work on wildfire and hunger, and the vast network of volunteers, we could clearly point to UC's presence in every district.”
Bill Frost, former UC ANR associate vice president and emeritus UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor, and Ish Herrera, interim California Forward CEO and executive director of the California Stewardship Network, volunteered their time to serve as UC ANR's CARET delegates to advocate on behalf of UC.
Helle Petersen, UC ANR regional director of Small Food and Farm Innovation; Dan Sanchez, UC Cooperative Extension specialist at UC Berkeley; Ricky Satomi, UCCE forestry and natural resources advisor for Sutter, Yuba, Placer, Nevada and Butte counties; and Laura Vollmer, UCCE community nutrition and health advisor in San Mateo, San Francisco and Santa Clara counties; served as subject matter experts.
Representatives from all five Agricultural Experiment Station campuses -- UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Riverside, UC Merced and UC Santa Cruz – also participated.
For congressional staff who are working on reauthorizing the Farm Bill, the UC ANR delegates explained California's need for federal support for specialty crops, artificial intelligence, forestry, wildfire and nutrition programs. UC's Farm Bill priorities are outlined in a 16-page document.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
UC ANR leaders and supporters met with congressional members and staff in Washington, D.C. during the CARET (Council for Agricultural Extension, Research and Teaching) meetings, March 12–15. They discussed the benefits of investing in research and extension for agriculture, natural resources and nutrition.
The CARET meetings centered on global food, agriculture and resource challenges.
UC ANR's CARET delegation included Deanne Meyer, interim associate vice president; Karmjot Randhawa, director of UC Cooperative Extension in Madera Fresno, Kings and Tulare counties; Missy Gable, UC Master Gardener Program director; and Ryan Tompkins, forester and natural resources advisor for Plumas, Sierra and Lassen counties; as well as Ish Herrera and Mike Mellano of the President's Advisory Commission.
Dean David Ackerly of UC Berkeley, Divisional Dean Isgouhi Kaloshian of UC Riverside, Kathy Eiler of UCR Government Relations, and Loressa Uson of UC Santa Cruz Government Relations, Brandon Minto of UC Davis Government Relations, and Gina Daly of UCB Government Relations joined the delegation, demonstrating UC's unified support for UC ANR's work.
The delegates visited congressional offices to underscore UC's priorities for FY24 agricultural appropriations and the 2023 Farm Bill, which is renewed by Congress every five years. The CARET representatives gave examples of how UC ANR's work is improving people's lives and businesses across California.
CARET also presented a moving tribute to the late Jean-Mari Peltier, who served as a UC ANR CARET representative and on the UC President's Advisory Commission on Agriculture and Natural Resources (PAC) until her death in 2021. At the CARET gathering, Peltier was honored with a lifetime achievement award for her contributions to agriculture. The PAC has created the Jean-Mari Peltier Endowment in support of UC ANR Strategic Priorities to carry on her commitment to UC ANR, science and solving problems.
“We visited 24 offices including the Senate and House Ag Committees,” wrote Meyer in her ANR Adventures blog. “We shared our priorities for this year's appropriations as well as Farm Bill items. The conversations were filled with how valuable ANR is to communities. We discussed impacts from trained citizen scientists to identify spotted lanternfly and the importance of prescribed burn associations.”
Read more about the CARET visits at https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=56478.
- Author: Deanne Meyer
It's only been a week since our CARET group met in DC. THANK YOU to our CARET representatives Ismael Herrera and Mike Mellano for making time to travel to DC, walk up and down the halls of the House of Representatives as well as the Senate to meet with staff of our representatives and senators. Also joining our group were select UC employees. We visited 24 offices including the Senate and House Ag Committees. We shared our priorities for this year's appropriations as well as Farm Bill items. The conversations were filled with how valuable ANR is to communities. We discussed impacts from trained citizen scientists to identify spotted lanternfly and the importance of prescribed burn associations. It was easy to share examples of Advisors, Specialists and Community Educators helping to assess damage from fire, floods or other disasters. Impacts from statewide programs to improve lives of Californians (Master Gardener, 4-H, Community Nutrition and Health, Integrated Pest Management, etc.) were shared. After visiting two offices I sent links to the great Small Farms website with a map of California and staffing delivery footprint as well as languages served. We do incredible work that truly impacts the lives of Californians!
CARET is the Council for Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching. Some 300 people from US Universities participated. Sunday afternoon was a heart-warming tribute to Jean-Mari Peltier (may we all remember her with fondness) who received the lifetime CARET achievement award. Jean-Mari set the gold standard as an advocate for research, collaboration, joint funding of projects, use of science to answer questions, engagement, UC ANR and so much more. The Jean-Mari Peltier Endowment in support of UC ANR Strategic Priorities was established to carry-on Jean-Mari's commitment to UC ANR, science and solving problems.
Other members not included in this office visit included Divisional Dean Isgouhi Kaloshian, UCR; Government Relations, UCR Kathy Eiler; Government Relations, UCSC Loressa Uson; and Ryan Tompkins Forester and Natural Resources Advisor for Plumas, Sierra, and Lassen counties.
Thursday, Missy Gable shared with the UC Regents the impact of capacity funds (Federal dollars) in delivery of the Master Gardener Program. She zoomed into the meeting from UC DC. It was thrilling to watch Missy present right after we had visited with our representatives about the importance of capacity funds (Hatch, Smith-Lever, and McIntire Stennis).
Meanwhile, back home Anne Megaro prepared for our Ag Day at the Capitol (coming up this Tuesday).
Switching gears, let's give a warm welcome to our some of our February hires-- David Gonzalves, Area Director (Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Benito), Advisors Patricia Laxicki (Capitol Corridor) and Manpreet Singh (Kearney REC), Junior Specialist Alexander Mendenhall, and SRAs Margaret Gallagher, Elle Overs, and Cristian Burgos (all Orange County), Rito Medina Fresno Madera MCP, and Andrea Northup-Warner Sierra Foothill REC. We look forward to seeing your great impacts for Californians.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
UC Vice President for Agriculture and Natural Resources Glenda Humiston led a delegation from California to meet with congressional members and staff on March 6-11 to discuss specific benefits of UC ANR in their districts and the importance of strong federal funding to support programs, including Cooperative Extension, 4-H youth development, nutrition education, and the research and extension centers.
The California delegation was part of the Association for Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU) Council for Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching (CARET), which held their annual meeting and (virtually) visited Capitol Hill for the 40th year to jointly request agricultural appropriations that support the land-grant mission.
The UC delegation met with staff from 27 congressional offices via Zoom to discuss the many critical agriculture needs facing California and the nation. They explained how UC is at the forefront of conducting research to understand and solve problems facing the agricultural industry and encouraged Congress to provide the highest possible funding levels in FY 2022 and FY 2023.
“This year, our request included something new – $365 million for agricultural research infrastructure,” said Anne Megaro, UC ANR director of government and community relations. “We have been working with Congress to include significant infrastructure funding in President Biden's Build Back Better legislation, and we are continuing to make this request through annual appropriations.”
Bringing UC's facilities up to modern standards with necessities such as high-speed broadband would provide capacity for cutting-edge research such as precision agriculture, remote sensing and growing space for CRISPR-based research. It would also ensure that U.S. research can continue to meet the agricultural and natural resource needs of the nation.
Humiston was joined by emeritus UCCE advisor Bill Frost, rancher Dina Moore, nurseryman Mike Mellano, Ish Herrera of California Forward, and Alejandra Sanchez of Driscoll's who shared how UC ANR research and outreach have improved their businesses, lives and communities.
“Our local UCCE advisors have given so much to our communities up and down the state; this is just one way I like to give back in support of their efforts. Congress needs to know how valuable ag research and education is, and how much we trust and depend on UC,” said Herrera, California Forward director of regional stewardship.
Rounding out the group were several UC ANR leaders, including deans David Ackerly, Helene Dillard and Kathryn Uhrich.
Missy Gable, UC Master Gardener Program director; Ryan Tompkins, UCCE forestry and natural resources advisor for Plumas and Sierra counties; and Jairo Diaz, director of Desert Research and Extension Center shared examples of their work throughout the state to adapt to living with wildfire, climate change and drought, and to improve Californians' health and wellness.
“As an extension forester, wildfire not only drives our applied research, but also affects the communities we live in and serve,” said Tompkins. “CARET provides opportunities to share real-life experiences of how federal funding supports UC forest and wildfire research, outreach, and education that have meaningful benefit for communities throughout California.”
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Vice President Glenda Humiston led a delegation representing California to the virtual annual joint meeting of the Council for Agricultural Research, Extension and Teaching (CARET) and the Administrative Heads Section (AHS) of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, March 1-4.
Over a series of Zoom calls, CARET delegates met with California's Congress members to discuss the specific impacts of UC Agriculture and Natural Resources in their districts and the importance of strong federal funding to support the programs, including Cooperative Extension, 4-H Youth Development, nutrition education, and the research and extension centers.
“CARET was our last in-person meeting in 2020 so we weren't sure what to expect with virtual visits in 2021, but they were even more productive than in years past,” said Anne Megaro, UC ANR director of government and community relations.
“We had more time with congressional staffers and members in each meeting and our conversations were more detailed and thoughtful. Congress is working hard to meet the needs of their constituents and they were very interested to hear about UC's work in wildfire and everything we've been doing to support communities through COVID, particularly with our communities of color and those where English is a second language.”
Collectively, the group visited 22 congressional offices, including meeting with members Jim Costa, Jimmy Panetta and Ami Bera.
CARET delegates – new delegate Ishmael (Ish) Herrera of California Forward, San Diego County nurseryman Mike Mellano, Humboldt County rancher Dina Moore, and Environmental Solutions Group managing partner Jean-Mari Peltier – explained how their businesses and industries have benefited from UC ANR research and extension. Bill Frost, former UC ANR associate vice president and UCCE advisor emeritus, also served as a CARET delegate.
UCCE forest and natural resources advisor Ryan Tompkins, UC Master Gardener Program Director Missy Gable, and UCCE County Director for Fresno, Tulare, Kings and Madera counties, Karmjot Randhawa, were the UC ANR academics and staff who described how their work and programs impacted members' districts over the past year. COVID-19 was a strong theme, as well as wildfire and forest management.
Building on the success of the virtual CARET visits, Megaro arranged a few more meetings for UC ANR academics and congressional staffers over Zoom.