From Morning Ag Clips

Hailing from the nearby small town of San Joaquin, Fresno State junior Alejandra Valdez admits that the adjustment to a 25,000-student campus could have been a little intimidating.

However, through a shared love of agriculture with her fellow Plant Science Club students and advisers, she found a supportive family that is equally committed to community outreach.

The impact of those activities were instrumental in helping the 70-member club recently win its seventh President’s Trophy Contest since 2012 against many of the nation’s most distinguished collegiate agricultural programs.

The event was held in Salt Lake City, Utah and sponsored by the Students of Agronomy, Soil and Environmental Sciences organization at the tri-societies annual conference for agronomy, crop and soil science professionals.

Valdez made a five-minute presentation that showcased the club’s long list of professional opportunities, activities, community education, industry partnerships and fundraising the past year.

The presentation also featured its half-acre campus farm plot that the club manages year-round. Students have donated 250 pounds of vegetables this summer and fall from the plot to the Amendola Family Student Cupboard on campus and other area food assistance organizations.

“It was such an unbelievable experience to be able to share these experiences with industry leaders at the contest and get their feedback,” Valdez said. “Our club is so tied to the Central Valley, so being able to help feed other students or community members dealing with food insecurity is a core value of our members. Our campus plot is also an integral way that our students can apply the agronomy principles from our classes that we can hopefully use in our careers, while teaching others the importance of agriculture in all our lives.”

In the final contest standings, Fresno State edged teams from Auburn University, Chico State, Iowa State University, Kansas State University, Midwestern University, North Carolina State University, Oklahoma State University, Purdue University, Texas A&M University and the University of Wisconsin.

Judges evaluated the club’s problem-solving skills, innovation, teamwork, productivity, creativity and delivery.

Previous winning Fresno State presentations were made by then-students Sara Alatorre (2012), Armando Guzman (2014), Elizabeth Diaz (2016), Vivian Maier (2017), Ignacio Mendoza (2018) and Tyler Armbrister (2020).

The club placed second two other years in that span and did not travel to the Texas-hosted event in 2019 due to travel restrictions.

During the week-long conference, Valdez and eight other Fresno State students also competed in a quiz bowl, soil and crop judging contests and attended other professional presentations and networking activities at the conference.

In an oral presentation contest, senior Omar Abulghanam (Clovis) finished in fourth place for his seven-minute presentation on how changing climate conditions affect a vision for a more sustainable planet. The topic was provided five hours before the competition, which proved less time than many of his competitors, since he competed in the soil judging competition that day.

Fresno State’s first competitor in the event was judged on his voice quality, physical manner, speech structure, content development, language, value and effectiveness.

Senior Gurbinder Kang (Fresno) also made a poster presentation on his research related to the efficacy of gibberellic acid treatments to aid cotton plant growth and physiology in high salinity soils. Junior Samantha Corchado (Fresno) also created a poster with an overview of the club’s activities that was similar to Valdez’s presentation.

Other students that attended the conference included seniors Bianey Medina (Salinas) and Paola Vidales (Salinas), juniors Israel Rangel (Marina) and Ignacio Valdez (Gonzales), and freshmen Gagan Gade (Nagpur, India) and Curtis Lefler (Hanford).

Plant science faculty members and club advisers Dr. Ranjit Riar and Dr. Jacob Wenger have served as key resources for the conference and other club projects, which offer independent study class credit and give practical, hands-on experience for students.

Additional support for the club for the trip and throughout the year have come from Associated Students Inc., Belmont Nursery, Culture H20, Dexter and Malen Estrada, Gar & Esther Tootelian Charitable Foundation, Gazebo Gardens, Green Valley Recycling Co., Helena Chemical Co., Hortau, Mazzei’s Nursery, Mendoza Berry Farms, Michael Borboa, My Job Depends on Ag, Netafim, Nutrien Ag Solutions, Olam, Rangel Berry Farms and the University Agricultural Laboratory.

Also invited to attend the conference was plant science student Mario Lemus as a Golden Opportunity Award recipient. The senior from Lindsay is a Jordan College Honors Research Cohort member and was recognized for his outstanding contributions to agronomy through education, service and research.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) joins the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in celebrating the 30^th anniversary of the Agricultural Marketing Service Pesticide Data Program (PDP). CDFA’s Center for Analytical Chemistry (CAC) Food Safety group has partnered with PDP since its inception in 1991.

PDP is a federal partnership with nine states that monitors pesticide residues in the U.S. food supply. PDP data helps demonstrate the high quality of the U.S. food supply — analyses show that pesticide residues are lower than the limits established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in nearly all food samples (typically >99%).

The partnership between the agencies started with a screening list of 28 pesticide compounds. It has since expanded the scope to detect and quantify more than 515 compounds.

Partnering in this project has helped the CAC Food Safety program model its quality system framework into one that generates the highest-quality data for enforcement and regulatory purposes. Innovation was fostered through CAC scientists applying novel analytical methods and custom-made software to automate data processing and review.

“These endeavors opened doors to continuous technical improvement and enabled us to significantly increase our capability to generate high-quality, defensible data in a fast-turnaround work environment,” said CAC Environmental Program Manager Tiffany Tu. “The benefit gained from collaborating with other agencies in the pesticide analysis field in impactful scientific projects helped further our goal of being in the forefront of the pesticide analysis arena, which also ensures CAC Food Safety program’s relevance in our mission of promoting and protecting California agriculture.”

CDFA’s Center for Analytical Chemistry is a branch of the  Inspection Services Division.

Now that we’re in the midst of holiday season, many families are venturing out to cut-your-own tree farms in search of the perfect tree, and California’s tree farmers are extending the welcome mat!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIau9BClAE0

The Federal-State On-Farm Compost Work Group is pleased to announce the launch of an On-Farm Compost Resource Website. The resources on this website include information and tools to help farmers and ranchers compost agricultural byproducts, including manure, and maintain compliance with federal, state, and local regulations.

The website is hosted by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) and was developed as part of a larger collaborative working group that was co-led by the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), US Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service (USDA NRCS), and California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) as well as eleven additional state and regional regulatory bodies. The working group was formed in 2019 to help reduce barriers and clarify regulatory requirements for producers wishing to co-compost off-site agricultural waste.

“California farmers and ranchers have long understood the benefits of this proven practice, just like those who embrace composting at home” said CDFA Secretary Karen Ross. “This multi-agency effort will help meet farmer demand for more on-farm composting to ensure safe, nutrient rich soil, and this new on-line resource provides a single location to show our producers how to put it all together in compliance with California environmental regulations.”

“California will dramatically cut a major source of climate warming gas when we launch food and yard waste composting statewide in 2022,” said California Environmental Protection Agency Secretary Jared Blumenfeld. “Using this compost on our agricultural and rangelands will add to that greenhouse gas reduction and help drought-ravaged soil retain water.”

“The tools created by the On-Farm Compost Work Group will help promote the composting of agricultural materials in California,” added EPA Pacific Southwest Acting Regional Administrator Deborah Jordan. “Composting is an alternate pathway for agricultural materials, which will reduce ag burning in California, thus protecting air and water quality.”

“Application of compost is a common soil health practice, that can help farmers in our arid climate maintain and build soil carbon,” said NRCS California State Conservationist Carlos Suarez. “Compost application improves plant health and crop yields, increases water retention and infiltration, and sequesters carbon. This effort helps create valuable soil amendments from diverse on-farm resources. It’s a win-win for California agriculture”

The resource website launch falls during California’s Healthy Soils Week which continues through Dec. 10. Please visit the calendar of events focused on the value of soil and the benefits that healthy soil management practices, including compost, have for improving California’s drought resilience.

CDFA undersecretary Christine Birdsong was among those present this week at a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Merced Dairy Digester Pipeline Cluster Project, a group of 15 dairy digesters to start, 12 of them partly funded by CDFA’s Dairy Digester Research and Development Program (DDRDP).

The project will generate renewable natural gas to be sent to a centralized conditioning facility for processing and injection into a common carrier natural gas pipeline. 

The DDRDP is the one of the most cost-effective greenhouse gas programs in California. The methane reductions achieved through digesters are estimated to be equivalent to removing 44,000 passenger vehicles from the roads per year over the course of a decade, or providing electricity to 24,400 homes for 10 years. 

“The opening of this dairy digester cluster is an example of how California agriculture is committed to contributing to greenhouse gas reductions and enhancing environmental sustainability, while at the same time ensuring the long-term viability of our dairies,” said Undersecretary Birdsong. 

The ribbon cutting event was organized by the developer of the Merced Dairy Digester Pipeline Cluster Project, Maas Energy Works.  

https://youtu.be/KQDTMuNJ1WA

CDFA Secretary Karen Ross invites you to join our celebration of Healthy Soils Week and the amazing benefits our soil provides for Californians! This annual celebration aligns with UN World Soils Day and includes a week-long calendar of events from December 6-10 hosted by CDFA as well as state, federal, and private sector partners.

California soils help feed the world, clean the air, and fight climate change among myriad ecosystem services. This year, our events focus on the valuable role our soils play in improving water filtration, water quality, and resilience to drought. Healthy soils hold 20 times their weight in water. Increasing soil organic matter on California’s working lands by just 1% could save 1.5 million acre-feet of water per year – that’s approximately the volume of Lake Berryessa!

Secretary Ross explains: “This year’s Healthy Soils Week theme – Solutions from the Soil: Improving California’s Drought Resilience – highlights why it is more important than ever to invest in our soil. Farmers and ranchers are stewards of our soil and are key to solutions to address climate change and achieve carbon neutrality. Implementing healthy soil management provides many co-benefits beyond the crops they harvest and the food on our tables! That’s something we can all appreciate.”

Healthy soil management practices are part of a suite of climate smart agriculture practices and programs developed by CDFA over the past decade. These programs, housed primarily in CDFA’s Office of Environmental Farming and Innovation, include the Healthy Soils Program, the State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program, the Dairy Digester Research and Development Program, and the Alternative Manure Management Program. Thanks to additional investment in this year’s budget, these programs will be supported by new or expanded programs to help farmers and ranchers with conservation planning and creating pollinator habitat.

Please visit the Healthy Soils Week website for a full calendar of events! Follow us on social media: #HealthySoilsWeek2021 #HSW2021

From CDFA’s Farm to School program

Working alongside second grade students, teacher Stacey Torres and Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) Master Gardener Jill McArthur developed a producer to consumer educational unit that connects plant biology, fractions, fundraising, the school garden, and a new school orchard.

After a year growing and drying loofahs in the PUSD school garden, the second graders harvested, de-seeded, and transformed over 70 of the overgrown fruits into sponges for a fundraiser. During the processing phase, students pulled over 7,000 seeds from the dried fruits, becoming intimately familiar with the plant’s structure and functions, and discussed the many uses of the loofah as a food and skin-care product.

Once processed, each second grader sold two bags of loofah sponges, and together they used the proceeds to purchase 10 peach and nectarine trees to start their school orchard! This project is a perfect example of the way school gardens and educators create opportunities for cross-cutting educational lessons for students who are empowered, engaged, and excited about learning.

Click here to read the full story from the Pasadena Educational Foundation.