- Author: Michael Hsu
UC Cooperative Extension advisors, educators join growers in showcasing rice production
When Tracy Schohr volunteered in her son's pre-K class a couple years ago, she was stunned to find out that only two of the 20 children had ever been around a tractor. And this was in the rural Butte County community of Gridley, in the heart of California's rice-growing region.
Seeking to introduce more young children to agriculture, Schohr – the University of California Cooperative Extension livestock and natural resources advisor for the area – and her friend Lisa Donati created an event to showcase rice farming.
After the debut of “Ricetastic Day” last year with about 140 students from Gridley in attendance, this year's event on Sept. 19 attracted more than 240 schoolchildren – this time from across south Butte County.
First graders from McKinley Primary School in Gridley, Manzanita Elementary School, Biggs Elementary School and Richvale Elementary School – along with their teachers and many family members – enjoyed hands-on experiences at Schohr's rice and cattle ranch.
“There's a dwindling population that produces the food that we eat across America, so how can we have more people know, appreciate and love agriculture if we don't give them that opportunity?” said Schohr. “That's what this day is really about – to teach them about rice, to teach them about their community, how healthy rice can be, and how the farming and ranching can also create habitat for wildlife. It's all-encompassing.”
Event stations share different aspects of rice
Schohr, who grew up on the family ranch in Gridley, remembers coming with her McKinley schoolmates for a visit. But those field trips had comprised only lunch and a quick “drive-through” tour of the historic farming operation.
For Ricetastic Day, however, Schohr organized – with generous help from local growers and community partners – a more comprehensive half-day of activities. After her brother, Ryan Schohr, welcomed the participants to the family farm, the students formed groups that were led by Gridley FFA youth on a rotation through a variety of stations.
At the milling station, Luis Espino, UCCE rice farming systems advisor, demonstrated how his mini mill machines remove the husks from rough rice to make brown rice, and then polish away the bran layer to make white rice. He had the children see and feel the difference as the rice moved through processing.
“I didn't even know brown rice existed!” exclaimed Elsie, a first grader at McKinley.
A native of Peru, Espino came to study agriculture through his lifelong fascination with biology and living things – and he said events like Ricetastic Day can inspire a similar passion in young people.
“It might spark their curiosity so that they might go into these areas of work in the future or have a career in agriculture, when they see that people do this for a living,” Espino said.
Ray Stogsdill, another McKinley school alumnus, returned to Gridley after college to pursue just such a career. A staff research associate in the lab of UC Davis professor Bruce Linquist, Stogsdill manages on-farm rice variety testing across the region. He volunteered to help Schohr with Ricetastic Day by talking about some of the heavy equipment and providing his perspective for the kids.
“They drive by the fields and they don't know what's out there,” he said. “This gives them a chance to know what they're driving by, so they can say, ‘We have rice here and this is how it works; this is how it grows.' It gives them an idea of what's going on around them.”
Where rice fits within a healthy diet was the focus for the CalFresh Healthy Living, UC Cooperative Extension team, comprising nutrition educators Sunshine Hawjj, Joanna Aguilar and Kenia Estrada, as well as community nutrition, health and food security advisor Veronica VanCleave-Hunt. They talked about how rice – like other grains in that vital food group – gives people energy, and then taught the students an energetic “ricetastic” movement activity.
“Because our program is part of UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, it's important to make the connection between where our food comes from and how it gets on our plate – especially with young kids, so that we can promote value for our local agriculture and our food systems,” VanCleave-Hunt explained.
Activities spark further conversations, learning about agriculture
With rice harvest late due to late planting in the spring, Eric Waterbury of Waterbury Farms was able to take some time to attend the event. Although his family has been growing rice for three generations, he said he appreciates opportunities for the broader community to see all aspects of his work – from the equipment to the processing.
“If the kids walk away from this with one thing, I hope it's that they realize every time they have a meal, somebody was out there working hard to provide that meal,” he said. “It wasn't just the person at the grocery store that provided it for them.”
Schohr added that Ricetastic Day was only possible through the support of the community. Butte County Farm Bureau and Natural Resources Conservation Service staff helped kids make art with colorful dyed rice; neighboring farmer Tinker Storm described how the harvester and “bankout” wagon work; and rice farmers Shelley Beck and Sue Orme read aloud “Daddy's Got Dirt: A California Rice Story,” a children's book written by a local rice grower.
With rice at the center of physical activities, arts and crafts, and science lessons for the day, the students learned a lot to take home.
“It's nice that the kids got these hands-on learning experiences,” said Ryan Schohr, “so they can go home tonight and, at the dinner table, talk about it with their parents or brothers and sisters, over dinner or over homework – and share what they learned here on the farm and about their community.”
Rebecca Christy, a first- and second-grade teacher at Biggs Elementary, said she is excited to return to the classroom and hear from her students about all that they learned during the day.
“Every morning right now I'm seeing the big trucks going by our school, and so I'll be able to point that out to them, ‘Where are they going? What are they doing?'” she said. “I can't wait to get back to school and let them tell me about all of this.”
One of her students, Ximena, was finishing her brownbag lunch as the group watched one of the Schohr Ranch harvesters rumble over the field. Despite enjoying a rice cake and a rice cracker earlier, she said her meal was missing one thing.
“Where is my rice, Miss Christy?” she said. “I want rice!”
/h3>/h3>/h3>- Author: Elizabeth Moon
July steeped us in some record high temperatures which led me to do some deep thinking in front of fans and out on the lakes with my kayak.
Manzanita Lae Lassen National Forest
I have been thinking and starting to research about the impact of curiosity in the workplace. How does HOW we ask questions and approach conflict shift when curiosity is centered; further ruminating on how this may also intersect with creating a stronger sense of inclusion and belonging among employees at UC ANR.
Initial research points towards curiosity being a way to deepen relationships and create empathetic active listening which can often allow conflict to be solved constructively with the ability of each member in the conflict to see the perspective of others. Professional conflict is often a catalyst for creative innovation. A former collaborator on applied improvisation in the office led attendees in a mantra of 'Through becoming comfortable with the uncomfortable, pushing beyond my mental boundaries and seeing others' boundaries, I will find the opportunities to lead us through our big goals.'
When conflict is interpersonal and negative emotions are rising, curiosity has the capacity to lower these tensions. So, what is the language to engender this curiosity within a negative conversation with co-workers or managers? How do we move ourselves and the other person into the curious zone? Here are three possible steps that may help:
-
Take a breath. Breathing in through your nose and out your mouth 4 - 5 times helps to bring the physiological responses to conflict to a more manageable level.
-
Reframe and mirror the words or situation back to the person you are speaking with, “So if I understand you correctly……..”
-
State your position or idea. “My perspective is that ….” or “My understanding is….” or “The way I was approaching this was….”
-
Now get curious. “Tell me about your perspective on….” or “How does what you are saying relate to the work we need to do?” or “Please share why you felt the need to say ….”
These are a few beginning thoughts on how curiosity could be a catalyst for engendering a shift for yourself in approaching conflict. Let me know your feedback if you try this out in the office - what was the impact or response from colleagues. I am ‘curious' to learn more about the possible intersection of curiosity and belonging in the workplace.
ON THE ROAD in JULY
Heading north this month I was honored to join Greg Ira, Director of the Environmental Stewards Program, to support a facilitation discussion around issues of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion in environmental education at the 30th Anniversary of the California Environmental Education Interagency Network (CEEIN) hosted at Granite Bay State Park. Learning about the history and impact of this network and the partnerships that have been created and are still being developed brought back memories of my time in K12 education and the impact these types of programs and partnerships had on the students I taught.
Walking down to the Valley Conference room in Davis, the HR team warmly invited me to join their all staff meeting. Grouping into tables of 3-5 colleagues, each member brainstormed ways to articulate and operationalize our ANR Principles of Community. One team even created a rap song which they shared with the group.
Glenn County UCCE Staff: Christine Kampamann, Betsy Karle (County Director), Lea Eddy, Jamie Marron, Jamie Ott (Tehama County), Curt Pierce, Rachel Lee (Director UC ANR Publications), Becky Wheeler-Dykes, Sheron Violini (Associate Director Government & Community Relations)
Traveling north up to Glenn County UCCE, I road tripped with Rachel Lee (Director UC ANR Publications) and Sheron Violini (Associate Director of Government & Community Relations) to join Betsy Karle, County Director, and her team at their monthly staff meeting. We laughed and connected over stories of our favorite summer memories. Each member collaborated and shared their expertise of how we may want to operationalize the ANR Principles of Community (A visual of a three-legged race) and articulated some simplified buckets to group the more detailed points already written. Most importantly, I learned about their community and the positive impact they are each having with youth, farms, and ranches.
For each person I met this month, thank you for sharing yourself and your experiences, helping me to practice my ‘curiosity muscle'.
CONTACT
Interested in sharing ideas and challenges? Please visit the following feedback form: https://forms.gle/AWCinz3MYWGhzH5n9
Wish to discuss an issue directly with me, email: emoon@ucanr.edu , call 530-883-1174 (Ext 1612) or connect with me in-person.
- Author: Jeffrey P Mitchell
Steve Gruenwald, a pest control adviser for Wilbur-Ellis Co., explains the strip tillage production system the company began using last year. Following a winter triticale crop, the company planted strip-till corn for silage.
"We're learning a lot," Gruenwald says. "By improving our cropping system, we are saving money and saving soil."
Click the arrow to see the 2:45 minute video:
- Author: Mandi Bottoms
For more information about 4-H clubs, call 865-1107 or visit the 4-H Advisors Office at 821 E. South St., Orland.
It is National 4-H Week. Glenn County supervisors got into the spirit of the event Tuesday by proclaiming Oct. 3-9 as National 4-H Week in Glenn County.
They were addressed by County 4-H all-stars Natalie Massa and Kassidi Buttermore, who read the proclamation to the board.
Massa is involved with Clover 4-H Club in Willows and is a sophomore at Willows High, while Buttermore belongs to Orland 4-H Club and is a freshman at Orland High School.
The girls noted 4-H is one of the largest youth organizations in California and the largest in the nation with 6 million young people. They said 130,000 4-Hers are in clubs across California and there are 20,000 adult volunteers in the state.
In Glenn County, 4-H is a big deal because the program numbers 4,034 members and has 159 adult volunteers, officials said.
It is part of the University of California, Davis, Cooperative Extension system and is a program where children and teens can learn through hands-on experiences with science, engineering, technology and more.
Raising livestock for county fairs, having horse projects and doing other agricultural activities are strong components of the organization, but officials note there are many opportunities for participation.
Members have the choice of 50 projects from college-bound activities to quilting and sewing.
Nutrition and foods, archery, arts and crafts, swine and sheep were some of the most popular projects this past year in Glenn County, 4-H officials said.
Enrollment is open to youth from 5 to 19. Glenn County's 4-H program began in 1913, and the first Glenn County club was organized in 1914. It was the second club in California at that time.
Supervisor Leigh McDaniel told Massa and Buttermore he had some "fun" math facts for them.
He said his quick calculation indicates close to 3 percent of California's 4-H members live in Glenn County, which is a big number considering its population.
"I believe as do the other supervisors, 4-H is a good program that keeps children engaged," McDaniel said.
Orland resident Byron Denton fondly recalled his days as a 4-H member.
"That was a 100 years ago," he joked, since Denton is in his 80s.
He added it's been around a long time and kept him out of trouble while he cared for his calves. "I cried every time they hit the scales."
Original article: www.willows-journal.com/news/county-5475-glenn-california.html.