UC ANR greeted state leaders, elected officials, legislative staffers and members of the public at Ag Day at the Capitol on March 19, a lovely day in Sacramento.
“This was quite possibly the busiest Ag Day I’ve ever attended!” said Anne Megaro, director of Government and Community Relations. “We met so many new members and legislative staff and visited with countless members of the public.”
Sheron Violini, associate director of Government and Community Relations, coordinated UC ANR’s participants while Sherry Cooper handled logistics for the event celebrating agriculture.
The annual showcase, organized by the California Department of Food and Agriculture, celebrates the contributions of the state’s farmers, who lead the nation in production, feed the world and cultivate careers and community prosperity.
Vice President Glenda Humiston; Betsy Karle, UC Cooperative Extension dairy advisor for Glenn County; Clarissa Reyes, orchard systems advisor for Sutter, Yuba, Butte and Placer counties; and Sarah Light, UCCE agronomy advisor for Sutter and Yuba counties, met with legislators and other Ag Day participants to give examples of how UC ANR supports California agriculture.
Karle had the honor of introducing Ag Day speaker Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria, chair of the Agriculture Committee, on stage. Soria and state Sen. Melissa Hurtado – chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee – both spoke about the need to protect California agriculture.
At one table, Missy Gable, UC Master Gardener Program director; Mimi Enright, UC Master Gardener Program coordinator for Sonoma County; and UC Master Gardener volunteers showcased their home-hardening educational tools for wildfire resilience and answered gardening questions.
“One of my favorite moments was when our Sonoma County Master Gardener volunteers met their representative, Assemblymember Damon Connolly, and shared all the good work they’re doing in his district from gardening tips to food safety to wildfire prevention,” Megaro said.
Seeing avocados grown at UC South Coast Research and Extension on display at the UC ANR booth, Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris said she had volunteered at South Coast REC to harvest crops for the Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County.
The 4-H Youth Development Program’s Sheldon Club members brought their rabbits, which drew hundreds of people to pet and photograph the charismatic animals. Erica Pettey, 4-H animal and equine community educator, club leader Rondalyn Solano and the 4-H members discussed animal care with visitors.
State Senator Angelique Ashby and staff stopped by to pet the rabbits and provide certificates to Sheldon 4-H members, commending their participation in Ag Day.
Suzanne Morikawa, marketing and communications specialist for youth, families and community programs, and Eve Dowdell, 4-H communications intern, and former 4-H State Ambassador, took photos for social media. California 4-H State Ambassador Laurelyn Roeser, who co-emceed last year’s Ag Day program, also attended this year to distribute bags and discuss 4-H activities.
“Sheldon 4-H youth did a fabulous job representing the program while demonstrating animal husbandry with their rabbit projects,” said Violini.
The other animals attracting attention were two Highland cows that Assemblymember Heather Hadwick, a former 4-H coordinator, brought from her family farm in Modoc County.
During a ceremony at the end of Ag Day, two members of the Shiloh 4-H club in Turlock were among the youth honored as state winners of the Ag in the Classroom short stories contest.
Hanif Houston and Lucie Cahierre of the UC ANR Innovate (formerly The VINE) team and some ag tech partners demonstrated robots and discussed how new tools can make farming easier.
CalFresh Healthy Living, UC educators, led by Director Kamaljeet Khaira, shared nutrition tips.
Randall Oliver, UC Integrate Pest Management Program communications coordinator for the statewide Invasive Shothole Borer Program, explained how the pests bore into avocado trees and common landscape trees, spreading fusarium dieback disease. Thousands of trees in Southern California have been killed by the disease, which threatens urban and natural forests.
The Strategic Communications team – Linda Forbes, Doralicia Garay, Michael Hsu, Ethan Ireland, Pam Kan-Rice, Miguel Sanchez and Ricardo Vela – photographer Evett Kilmartin, and student assistants Julienne Cancio and Mary Jendricks documented the day’s activities in video and photos for social media.
Judi Eppele, UC Davis graduate student in community development and UC ANR’s UC Bonnie Reiss Climate Action fellow, helped Hsu hand out mandarins grown at Lindcove Research and Extension Center and describe for visitors UC ANR’s citrus and avocado breeding programs.
Legislators, their staff and agency employees also were invited to a coffee break on April 9 at the Capitol to meet Fire Network Director Lenya Quinn-Davidson and UC Master Gardener Program Director Missy Gable and learn about community wildfire resilience, prescribed fire and fire-related research.