Remembering Christmas on the family farm in Nebraska

By CDFA Secretary Karen Ross

As Christmas approaches this year, I’ve been on the road quite a bit and I’ve spoken with a lot of farmers and their families. On the drive back from Monterey, and before that from Napa and Sonoma, and up and down the Central Valley, I’ve seen the lights strung along fence lines, and the festive decorations at our wineries and dairies and so many other kinds of farms and ranches and agricultural operations.

I find myself getting a bit nostalgic this year, remembering Christmases on my own family’s farm in western Nebraska. How the snow and the solitude and the silence were such a part of the season. How family was always at the center of it. How there was still work to do – no presents were opened on Christmas morning until the cattle were fed!  Even when everything was weighted by a chill, we would take the time to simply be with one another during the holidays, sharing stories, laughing, enjoying good food – lots of it – and letting the laughter seal our memories of things truly worth remembering about each other, about all that binds us together the rest of the year.

Surrounded by wide open spaces on the family farm in Nebraska

There is something special about Christmas on a farm, and it warms my heart to know that so many of the people I work with, both here at CDFA and in the larger agricultural community, are experiencing it as part of their family’s celebration this season.  This farm girl is the luckiest person in the world to get to do what I am so passionate about for people and issues. Though I work in an office most days now, I remember Christmas on the farm, surrounded by the land (these pictures show the wide open spaces of my childhood) and immersed in all the potential that the land gives us. It makes me proud to work for farmers, for ranchers, for Californians who appreciate what this industry does, what it means. And, I am especially grateful for the fantastic people who work at CDFA.  They are dedicated true public servants!

So Merry Christmas to you. And especially for those of you spending the season on the farm, enjoy your family and all that is so special about this wonderful place, California,  that agriculture calls home.

Dr. Kent Fowler

CDFA Animal Health branch chief Dr. Kent Fowler was honored this year by the United States Animal Health Association (USAHA) with its National Assembly Award, presented annually in recognition of outstanding, dedicated service and leadership in regulatory veterinary medicine.

Dr. Fowler was recognized for his work in preparation for potential future outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease; for his support and acceptance of an official treatment for Piroplasmosis in horses, including efforts to establish a communications infrastructure for equine diseases; and for working closely with public health and animal health officials on bovine tuberculosis issues.

“Dr. Fowler’s many years of distinguished service in California uniquely qualify him for this award,” said California State Veterinarian Dr. Annette Jones. “Besides advocating nationally for new, practical regulatory approaches to disease control, Dr. Fowler’s experience in private practice solidified his understanding of the realities of animal production and the importance of practical solutions to challenging problems.”

Before joining CDFA in 2004, Dr. Fowler practiced large-animal veterinary medicine on the central coast of California for nearly 30 years. He attended UC Davis, receiving both his B.S and Doctorate degrees there.

The USAHA works with state and federal governments, universities, veterinarians, livestock producers, national livestock and poultry organizations, research scientists, the extension service and several foreign countries to control livestock diseases in the United States. USAHA represents all 50 states, 4 foreign countries and 34 allied groups serving health, technical and consumer markets.

Thank you to the California Association of Professional Scientists for this video.

Cookies, cocoa and canned goods donations for the annual California State Employees Food Drive set the mood this morning at California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) offices throughout the Sacramento area as CDFA Secretary Karen Ross and Acting Undersecretary Kevin Masuhara made their annual holiday visits. Sharing a snack with staff members and seeing the cheerfully decorated trees and cubicles has become a holiday tradition at the department.

Meeting and greeting plenty of new faces at the CalCannabis office.

On a tour of CDFA’s new CalCannabis offices.

Holiday cheer filled the lobby at the CDFA’s Plant Pest Diagnostics Center.

Sharing stories with CDFA’s Pierce’s Disease Control Program and Audits Office.

CDFA Headquarters gathered in the lobby for a chat with Secretary Ross.

Snacking options were plentiful at CDFA’s Division of Measurement Standards.

When you work at the Division of Measurement Standards, this is how you set the table.

When you work at the Division of Measurement Standards, this is how you set the table.

Catching up with friends at the Center for Analytical Chemistry.

Diet and dietary practices differentially affect mental health in young adults versus older adults, according to new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York.

Lina Begdache, assistant professor of health and wellness studies at Binghamton University, along with fellow Binghamton researchers, conducted an anonymous internet survey, asking people around the world to complete the Food-Mood Questionnaire (FMQ), which includes questions on food groups that have been associated with neurochemistry and neurobiology. Analyzing the data, Begdache and Assistant Professor of Systems Science and Industrial Engineering Nasim Sabounchi found that mood in young adults (18-29) seems to be dependent on food that increases availability of neurotransmitter precursors and concentrations in the brain (meat). However, mood in mature adults (over 30 years) may be more reliant on food that increases availability of antioxidants (fruits) and abstinence of food that inappropriately activates the sympathetic nervous system (coffee, high glycemic index and skipping breakfast).

“One of the major findings of this paper is that diet and dietary practices differentially affect mental health in young adults versus mature adults,” said Begdache. “Another noteworthy finding is that young adult mood appears to be sensitive to build-up of brain chemicals. Regular consumption of meat leads to build-up of two brain chemicals (serotonin and dopamine) known to promote mood. Regular exercise leads to build-up of these and other neurotransmitters as well. In other words, young adults who ate meat (red or white) less than three times a week and exercised less than three times week showed a significant mental distress.”

“Conversely, mature adult mood seems to be more sensitive to regular consumption of sources of antioxidants and abstinence of food that inappropriately activates the innate fight-or-flight response (commonly known as the stress response),” added Begdache. “With aging, there is an increase in free radical formation (oxidants), so our need for antioxidants increases. Free radicals cause disturbances in the brain, which increases the risk for mental distress. Also, our ability to regulate stress decreases, so if we consume food that activates the stress response (such as coffee and too much carbohydrates), we are more likely to experience mental distress.”

Begdache and her team are interested in comparing dietary intake between men and women in relation to mental distress. There is a gender difference in brain morphology which may be also sensitive to dietary components, and may potentially explain some the documented gender-specific mental distress risk, said Begdache.

Link to Morning Ag Clips 

“California Regulates Cow Farts,” is how a New York Post headline put it, implying it was a wacky move by Governor Jerry Brown. In fact, California’s methane law represents a serious attempt by America’s biggest dairy state to come to grips with a potent greenhouse gas.

Methane is responsible for about a quarter of human-generated global warming. While it’s not nearly as prevalent as carbon dioxide, and it breaks down in the atmosphere faster, methane is many times more effective than CO2 at trapping heat. And avoiding a man-made climate catastrophe will require limiting emissions from farms as well as oil and gas pipelines, landfills, and other sources.

In California, most methane emissions are from cows — chiefly the state’s 1.7 million dairy cows, whose manure is typically washed into methane-spewing lagoons. This is why the state, which has pledged to reduce methane emissions by 40 percent by 2030, is looking to the big Central Valley dairy farms for substantial reductions.

Its law limiting methane emissions on dairy farms was passed last year but does not mandate any action before 2024. In the meantime, the state is trying to persuade hundreds of big dairy farms to install contraptions known as methane digesters.

These are basically heavy, lagoon-covering tarps that trap the gas. They can be expensive to install and maintain, but the state is offering grants to help defray the cost, funded with money from its cap-and-trade program. Farmers who use digesters are also allowed to sell carbon offsets or, if their methane is used in fuel, fuel credits.

California utilities are also planning pilot projects to install pipelines to transport methane from dairies and possibly turn it into truck fuel. The state is also encouraging some farmers to do more composting, and to keep manure on pastures and out of lagoons.

Of course, there is also the other end of the cow: They belch a lot of methane into the air. To reduce their output, the state is supporting research on efforts to adjust or supplement their feed — without changing the taste of the milk.

California is keeping an eye on other methane sources as well. The state has the country’s strictest regulation to monitor and repair leaks from oil and gas operations, and it is working to better measure and limit methane from landfills.

The dairy project stands out, however, for its potential to drive a widely applicable technological solution. Bovine gas will always be amusing to headline writers (and middle schoolers, for that matter). But how to reduce dairy methane emissions is a serious and neglected challenge (one that the Trump administration purposely ignores). As with its policies on forests and electric vehicles, California is showing other states how to build the necessary political will and financial commitment to make a difference in fighting climate change.

Link to article

Link to CDFA’s Dairy Digester Research and Development Program

OPN (the Organic Produce Network) had the chance to ask the Secretary of the California Department of Food Agriculture, Karen Ross what CDFA is doing to assist California organic growers and farmers and the growth of organic agriculture throughout the state.

OPN Connect: From your perspective as a California Secretary of Agriculture what are some of the most pressing issues facing producers in California?