Young Farmers and Ranchers Archives - California Agriculture News Today

More People Interested in Ag at Food Safety of California Convention

Agriculture Is Noble Work

By Mikenzi Meyers, Contributing Editor

A panel at the recent Food Safety of California Convention gave viewers a glimpse of hope for a brighter future in the industry. The moderator of the panel was Tom Jones, senior director of analytic sciences with the Safe Food Alliance.

Although important topics like food safety and processing were discussed by the panel, Jones found himself most impressed by the audience.

“The number of young people that are interested in agriculture and the food industry really gives you hope for the future,” he said.

Jones also said he was also pleasantly surprised by the implied support from Capitol Hill in Washington. “They are actually quite excited to be involved with agriculture. They think it’s an important or noble thing to be doing that job for their representative in Congress, which is a real shift from even a few years ago,” he explained.

The Safe Food Alliance was founded in 2016 as a sister organization to the DFA of California, a nonprofit trade association that has expanded beyond quality inspections to servicing new commodities. To find out more about the Safe Food Alliance and their services, you can visit their website here.

California Ag Today2019-06-13T15:45:23-07:00June 13th, 2019|

Looking ahead – December is Farm to Food Bank Month

By: Monique Bienvenue; Social Media Manager/Reporter

California produces one half of the nation’s fruits, nuts and vegetables and is also the largest dairy producing state. Yet in California, the nation’s largest agricultural producer, one in four children and one in six adults regularly go hungry. Join the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the California Association of Food Banks, and CA Grown in combating hunger.

This is why December is ‘Farm to Food Bank Month’. It is an opportunity to not only recognize the great work that is occurring on an ongoing basis – Ag Against Hunger, Hidden Harvest, Young Farmers and Ranchers, and Farm to Family – but also provides a chance for California farm families to give back to their communities.

CDFA is working in collaboration with its State Board of Food and Agriculture to try to increase annual farm-to-food bank donations to 200 million pounds by next year.

Help join the cause and participate at our upcoming Farm to Food Bank event on Wednesday, December 3rdfrom 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Second Harvest Food Bank in San Jose. Let’s work to end hunger in California!

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:32:16-07:00November 7th, 2014|

JCAST Students Claim Back-to-Back State Championships at Discussion Meet

Source: Eddie Hughes; Fresno State News and Fresno County Farm Bureau

Fresno State senior Levy Randolph of Hemet earned the individual state championship in the California Farm Bureau Federation’s Young Farmers and Ranchers Collegiate Discussion Meet on March 1 in Visalia.

Randolph, an Agricultural Education major, was one of eight students who represented Fresno State’s Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology at the meet. Randolph now advances to compete in February 2015 at the American Farm Bureau Federation’s Young Farmers and Ranchers Leadership Conference in Nashville.

The discussion meet competition was designed for young members of the farm bureau to participate in a progressive and collaborative discussion. Participants are judged on content, cooperative attitude, presentation and knowledge of the pre-determined speaking topics.

Competitors discuss pressing issues of the agriculture industry and strive to cultivate solutions from their 20-minute discussion.

This was Fresno State’s fourth team championship all-time and Randolph will be the fifth Bulldog to represent California at the national competition.

Randolph’s winnings included an expense-paid trip to the national competition and a cash prize of $1,250.

Joining Randolph in the final round of competition was Fresno State Agricultural Communications major Jodi Raley of Tollhouse. Raley earned a $500 cash prize. Audra Roland, an Agricultural Business major from Tollhouse, made it to the semifinals.

Dr. Steven Rocca, professor of Agricultural Education and Communications, has coached the competition since 2006. “Our students’ hard work and dedication led to the overall team win,” Rocca said. “We are thrilled that one of our students earned the state championship, enabling our team to become back-to-back champs. The skills these students learn will be valuable tools in their future as our agricultural leaders.”

Additional members of the team include: Ana Lopez, an Animal Science/Pre-Veterinary major from Tulare; Victor Evans, an Agricultural Education-Teacher Preparation major from Fresno; Kyle Mendes, an Agricultural Education-Teacher Preparation major from Modesto; Rachel Wright, an Agricultural Communications major from Tollhouse; and Mallory Harrison an Agricultural Communications major from Bakersfield.

The Young Farmers and Ranchers are active agriculturalists, ages 18 to 35. Members develop leadership skills through community service, service-learning and maintaining active involvement in their county farm bureaus.

The Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (JCAST) offers education needed to be a leader in agriculture and related sciences. They offer programs in the traditional areas of agriculture, including animal science, plant science, agricultural education, viticulture and agricultural business.

JCAST also offers excellent programs in areas uniquely related to agriculture, including industrial technology, food science and nutrition, enology, child development, family science and fashion merchandising.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:38:51-07:00March 7th, 2014|