From the Cal Poly web site

Cal Poly universities’ Stargrazers float, which brought to life a scene from the classic Mother Goose rhyme “Hey diddle, diddle,” received the Animation Award at the 133rd Rose Parade, held New Year’s Day.

The honor, announced two hours before the start of the parade, recognizes the most outstanding use of animation, said Regina Chapuis, the Cal Poly SLO team president.  

The entry aimed to exemplify the parade’s 2022 theme of “Dream. Believe. Achieve.” — a celebration of education’s ability to open doors, open minds and change lives.

More than 80 students, equally split from each university (Pomona and SLO), worked to finish the float during the COVID-19 pandemic and last year’s parade hiatus. While the Cal Poly campuses are multi-decade veterans of the Pasadena classic, this year’s entry overcame a number of administrative challenges and achieve some milestones: It is the first “two-year float”; and this is the first time that student float leaders who initiated the project had to hand over completion responsibilities to a new group, said Chapuis, whose duties as club president include promoting communication between various departments, heading team events and facilitating the float move to Pomona.

Read more here

Proposition 12, California’s Farm Animal Confinement Initiative, was approved in 2018 with 63 percent of the vote. The voters enacted Prop 12 for the stated purposes of treating farm animals humanely and taking precautionary measures to promote food safety by reducing animal density in confined areas. Specific requirements for veal calves and egg-laying hens went into effect on January 1, 2020.  The final phase of Prop 12, with additional requirements for egg-laying hens and a minimum confinement space of 24 square feet for breeding pigs, goes into effect on January 1, 2022.

CDFA’s role in the enforcement of Prop 12 is to establish a uniform and transparent method to implement the law through the promulgation of regulations in partnership with the California Department of Public Health.  While Prop 12 itself states what confinement standards are required to comply with the law, these regulations create a more streamlined administrative mechanism for demonstrating compliance and will thus ensure that consumers have confidence that products subject to Prop 12 are compliant with the law.  It is important to note that the pursuit of criminal and civil penalties for violations of Prop 12 is under the jurisdiction of local district attorneys, city attorneys, county counsels, and the Attorney General’s office.   

The state is working to complete the regulatory process as quickly as possible while meeting the legally required steps for issuance of new regulations. CDFA and the California Department of Public Health began this work in December 2018, weeks after the proposition passed. Since then, the agencies have gathered input from stakeholders, held informal workshops and meetings to discuss proposals, conducted an in-depth economic impact study, ensured a complete review of the draft and supporting documents, published draft regulations for comment, held a comment hearing, reviewed comments and amended as appropriate, and republished for comment, all as required by California’s Administrative Procedure Act. 

Next steps you can expect to see:

• Comments on the draft regulations are being reviewed following a recently completed 15-day public comment period. Review is expected to be completed by mid-January, 2022.
• If comments require substantial changes to the regulatory package, we may open another comment period on the updated language.
• When this part of the process is complete, we will send the final draft regulations, along with all public comments and our responses to them, to California’s Office of Administrative Law (OAL).
• Upon approval by OAL, the regulations will be sent to the Secretary of State’s office to be published, the final step of the process.

As we head into 2022, we have had many discussions with pork producers who are planning not only to be compliant, but to expand their operations. Additionally, we believe there is sufficient product already in the supply chain to carry through for a number of months.

Proposition 12 reflects the will of California voters, and it is a law that will likely influence food purchases in our state for years to come.

Read more about Proposition 12 here

California accounts for 36 percent of all organic production in the United States, leading the nation, and organic production and organic sales are expected to continue to grow.

According to the must recent figures, organic sales in 2020 totaled $11.99 billion, which is an increase of 14 percent from 2019. The top five counties in terms of overall gross sales for 2020 were Monterey County, Los Angeles County, Santa Cruz County, Kern County and Merced County.

Between 2014 and 2020, California farmland in organic production increased 22 percent, from 1,796,080 acres to 2,186,551 acres.

The information mentioned above and more may be found in the California Agricultural Organic Report for 2020-2021, which is scheduled to be published in early 2022. A link to the the 2019-2020 report may be found here.

California State Veterinarian Dr. Annette Jones has granted a 24-hour permit clearing all brand inspection and health requirements for nine reindeer scheduled to visit California on the evening of December 24 and in the early morning hours of December 25.

The permit application was filed via email and followed by a Zoom meeting bringing together CDFA Animal Health Branch staff and a rotund, jolly man with a red suit, white beard, and a pocketful of candy canes. The signature on the application reads, “K. Kringle.”

State law mandates that all animals entering California be individually identified. The nine reindeer named on the permit are: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, Blitzen and Rudolph.

The permit was granted with two conditions: the nine reindeer may not co-mingle with other reindeer in the State of California, and the visiting reindeer may not be used for breeding purposes while in the state. They are, however, invited to partake of the Golden State’s famous and varied agricultural bounty if they need to refuel.

“We are pleased to issue this permit to Mr. Kringle,” said CDFA Secretary Karen Ross. “We wish him safe travels and plenty of California milk and cookies as he and his reindeer make deliveries to the good children of our state.”

With COVID-19 firmly in mind, Santa Claus recently shared the safeguards he is taking to meet health and safety requirements around the world.

Earlier today CDFA updated one of its Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) related to Proposition 12. All the existing FAQs, first published in March 2021, remain in effect.  The update includes an addition to an existing FAQ emphasizing that CDFA’s implementation priority has been and remains focused on the upcoming January 1, 2022 effective date for requirements for cage-free for hens and twenty-four square feet per breeding pig. The updated FAQ is available here.

Over the past week or so, California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Secretary Karen Ross, Undersecretary Christine Birdsong, and members of their senior staff have been making the rounds, visiting each of our Sacramento-area offices and laboratory facilities.

Sharing a cup of hot chocolate, adding to the department’s collection for the annual food drive, and swapping stories about work and family have become part of CDFA’s holiday tradition over the years. We also share thoughts of the many farmers and ranchers around our state who are gathering with their farmworkers, neighbors, friends and family during this season, in barns and cellars, over potlucks and around barbecue pits, celebrating the season’s harvest and the many more to come. From our CDFA family to yours, happy holidays!

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Just last week, CDFA’s Healthy Soils Incentives Program received more than $4 million in funding requests.

A total of nearly $40 million has been requested so far in the full application period, which began on November 1st. Up to $67.5 million is available in this round of funding.

As a reminder, applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until 5 PM on February 25, 2022 or until available funds are expended. Don’t delay! Get your application in today!

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.