UC ag assistant's friendship is the secret to farmer's success

The Los Angeles Times ran a profile today of Fresno County farmer Pang Chang, an immigrant from Laos who grows mangoes, papayas, 20 varieties of guava and jujubes. The article said the secret to Chang's incongruous crops is his friendship with UC Cooperative Extension Hmong agricultural assistant Michael Yang.

Yang told reporter Diana Marcum he grew up helping his family raise vegetables — and hated it. But as an adult he circled back, studying agriculture and landing a job with the University of California's Cooperative Extension, a program that uses scientific research to solve community needs.

Yolo, Solano counties look at boosting ag industry
Capital Public Radio

UC is a sponsor of the Solano and Yolo Counties Joint Economic Summit, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 16, at the Buehler Alumni and Visitors Center at UC Davis. Yolo and Solano counties want to develop a food chain cluster network to connect growers with local packing and processing facilities. In addition to UC Davis, the summit is sponsored by Solano County, Yolo County, Solano Economic Development Corporation and First Northern Bank.

Yolo County supervisor Don Saylor said local farmers are shipping about 98 percent of their agricultural products out of the area for processing and then bringing it back for purchase in local outlets. Saylor says another challenge is the ability to quickly ship farm products. He says government money for roads is typically based on population. So rural areas often get left out when it comes to new road construction.

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