Program News

Visitors

Desmond Jolly, director, Small Farm Center, recently hosted several Korean guests who visited the center after learning about it on our web site. Visitors included Moon Soo Cho, Ph.D., Department of Horticulture, College of Natural Resources, Taegu University; Tae Hwan Choi, director, Kyongsangbuk-Do Provincial Government Division of Agriculture Affairs; Taeho Kwon, Ph.D.,Department of Forest Resources, College of Natural Resources, Taegu University; and Euiho Park, Ph.D., Department of Agronomy, College of Natural Resources, Yeungnam University.

Travel News/Professional Development

Aziz Baaumer, farm advisor, Riverside and San Bernadino counties, attended a Rodale Institute seminar, "Regenerative Agriculture for the 21st Century," which is part of the institute's Natural Resource Management Professional Training Series. Held in Pennsylvania, the seminar served as a valuable source of education and a way to connect those outside of the University of California and other academic institutions with the practitioners of regenerative agriculture.

Ben Faber, farm advisor, Ventura County, spent two weeks in Guatelala on a trip sponsored by Partners for the Americas. He and his traveling companions were invited by Profruta, a Guatemalan organization that develops fruit and vegetable production. The trip included visits to apple, peach and rasberry growers and a two-day workshop that Faber helped put on at the end of the stay.

Ramiro Lobo, farm advisor, San Diego County, traveled to Massachusetts for the "Northeast Community Supported Agriculture Conference" in Hancock, Mass., to learn more about developing Community Supported Agriculture in San Diego County.

Michael Yang, evaluation assistant, Fresno County, recently attended Integrated Pest Management (IPM) training at the Kearney Agricultural Center to upgrade and refresh his pesticide training skills and to share that information with Hmong growers in the Fresno area.

Farm Conference

The annual Farm Conference will be postponed until winter/spring 1999 to give planners an opportunity to review the program and prepare for another top quality conference. Planning meetings have begun, and news regarding exact date, time and program content will be forthcoming as it becomes available.

Promotion

Jill Shore Auburn, associate director of the UC Davis-based Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program, has been named national program leader for sustainable agriculture by the USDA. She will begin work in Washington, D.C., in January 1998.