UC goes to Washington

From left, UC Santa Cruz Dean Katharyne Mitchell, U.S. House Committee on Agriculture staff members Halee Fisher, Emily Pliscott and Ricki Schroeder; Sarah Naumes of UC Merced; Glenda Humiston, Ricky Satomi, Bill Frost, Ish Herrera, UC Riverside Dean Isgouhi Kaloshian, and Michael Stein, House Committee on Agriculture staff member.

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.” 

Helle Petersen, Dan Sanchez and UC Berkeley’s Federal Government Relations director Gina Daly met with Rep. John Garamendi, second from right.

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. 

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