Hello Small Farms Community! My name is Emily Kraus and I am excited to announce that I have joined the UCCE Small Farms team in Fresno. Back in June (2024), I made the treck to Fresno from Florida. I had a little time to settle in before beginning my new role here in July. Since then I have been BUSY trying to figure out how to serve the community of small farmers in the area. Please read on to learn a little more about me and my hopes for the program.

My Background

My journey began like many others, with one step out the door of my parents' home in Indiana. The first big stop was at Purdue University where I received my B.S. in Entomology, the study of insects! The projects I worked on there involved biological control of soybean aphid and genetic work on the human body louse. Both agricultural and medical entomology were interesting to me and I had a hard time deciding which to pursue. I ended up going to Kansas State University next where I completed my M.S. in entomology with a focus on mosquitoes. It turned out I didn't like being indoors all the time so I decided to join the U.S. Peace Corps as a Sustainable Agriculture Extension Agent. They sent me to Senegal West Africa! That was an amazing experience.

I helped shell peanuts in the village and that was hard work!

From there I decided to continue to pursue agriculture and worked briefly at Monsanto before going on to Louisiana State University. There I did my PhD work in rice production. I loved working on the universities rice farm and talking to rice growers at Extension meetings. Ultimately, I graduated and had to decide what to do next. I decided to do a postdoctoral fellowship at Rhodes University in South Africa. There I worked on biological control of invasive weeds. It was very interesting work. There are not many places where your field work might put you in a river with crocodiles and hippos!

We collected plants and insects from areas where invasive weeds were a problem.

When I came back to the U.S. I wanted to move to Florida to spend more time with my family. First, I worked at the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS). This role also involved biological control of invasive pests. I learned about the Asian citrus psyllid and met a whole new group of farmers. After a few years I switched over to the University of Florida and spent two years in the Pesticide Information Office as an Extension Scientist. It was from this work that I learned all about becoming a certified pesticide applicator. The only problem was that there was no research opportunity in this position which is one of many reasons I wanted to become a Farm Advisor here in Fresno.

Getting Started in Fresno

It has taken me a couple of months to get going in this role. Many of you reading this know I am coming in after Ruth Dalquist-Willard. Due to her extensive success I have quite a large program to take over! I have been spending my time meeting the team and making connections with other organizations in the area. Also, I have made a point to get out on the farms. There is so much diversity in the small farms in this region and it seems it could take a lifetime to learn about them all. 

As a team we intend to continue many of the projects that Ruth had going. These include investigating benefits of cover crops and compost, working with growers to pass food safety inspections, supporting growers with information on pesticide regulations, trouble-shooting various issues with water access and quality, and tracking the expansion of new pests like the Mexican Rice Borer. There is no shortage of things to do! As I learn more about the specialty crops and challenges our stakeholders face, I am designing new projects and will be keeping the team busy!

This was one of my first days in a lemongrass field. Jose and I were checking insect traps.

Looking Forward to Meeting You!

The most important part of getting started in this role is for me to meet our partners and stakeholders. Please reach out and introduce yourself! I will certainly be making the rounds to local farms and networking events, but don't hesitate to put yourself on my radar. The team here in Fresno is excited to continue to serve our stakeholders as I transition into this role. We want to hear about your concerns and figure out how we can continue to support small farms in Fresno and Madera counties, as well as contribute to projects across the state. I'm looking forward to meeting you!