Ag Circle Spring 2015

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cal poly, san luis obispo spring 2015

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A LETTER FROM THE STAFF Welcome to the Spring 2015 issue of Ag Circle! In this issue, we have a sharp focus on campus events that are sure to make history. You will find an explanation of the Brock Center for Agricultural Communication’s plans to expand into video production with a new agricultural communication course, a feature on the Greek letter organizations who affiliate with agriculture, a behind the scenes look at the making of Cal Poly’s award-winning Rose Parade float, and details about the 25-year-old time capsule that was unearthed and the plan to bury a new one.

The centerfold has a feature on the retirement of Dr. Bill Kellogg, the Agricultural Education and Communication Department Head. Dr. Kellogg has been an amazing influence on us in the Brock Center, and we thought it would be appropriate to honor him before his departure.

We also included a story detailing the process of wine bottling at Chamisal Vineyards, a story showing where various CAFES alumni are today, and a story explaining how grazing regulations are expected to affect the agricultural industry in California.

We hope you enjoy reading this issue!

Jordan, Kenna, Katie & Harrison

CONTRIBUTORS Left to right: Hannah Beeler, Kaity Carpenter, Dani Diele, Sonja Eschenburg, Rylin Lindahl, Diane Meyer, Caitlin Paulus, Trevor Surrock, Marianna Zavala

2 | Spring 2015

CONTENTS 04

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agcircle Volume 33, Issue 2, Spring 201 Published three times a year by the Brock Center for Agricultural Communication California Polytechnic State University Brock Center for Agricultural Communication 1 Grand Avenue San Luis Obispo, CA 93407 805.756.6138 brockctr@calpoly.edu Building 10, Room 234

CAMPUS BUZZ

COMMUNICATING FOR TOMORROW

The Brock Center for Agricultural Communication has plans to expand

RISING UP

One company’s plan to feed the growing population with vertical technology

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LEADING THE WAY

09

11

14

CAFES students take leadership to the next level

AGRICULTURE GOES GREEK

Greek letter organizations on campus that affiliate with agriculture

SOARING TO NEW HEIGHTS

Cal Poly universities win big at the Rose Parade

HISTORY IN THE MAKING

CAFES plans to update facilities with $20 million donation

Faculty Advisor Megan Silcott

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TOMATO MANIA

Associate Editors Kenna Lewis Harrison Reilly Katie Roberti

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ONE OF CAL POLY’S MVPS RETIRES

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TREASURE FOR THE FUTURE

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RINCONADA DAIRY

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THE ART OF WINE BOTTLING

Editor-in-Chief Jordan Dunn

Writers Hannah Beeler, Kaity Carpenter, Dani Diele, Joseph Dominguez, Jordan Dunn, Sonja Eschenburg, Kenna Lewis, Rylin Lindahl, Diane Meyer, Caitlin Paulus, Harrison Reilly, Katie Roberti, Trevor Surrock, Marianna Zavala Photographers Alpha Gamma Rho, Associated Students Inc., Melisa Augusto, Nicole Billington, Mandy Brazil, CAFES Student Council, Alden Caldwell, Kaity Carpenter, Young Choi, Jordan Dunn, Sara Eidman Hallenbech, Carrie Isaacson, Oppenheimer Family, Jennifer Ray, Katie Roberti, Sigma Alpha, Stahlbush Island Farms, Tomato Mania Enterprise, Urban Produce

The Tomato Mania Enterprise prepares for their upcoming event

A feature on Dr. Kellogg , the Agricultural Education & Communication Department Head CAFES reveals contents of 25 year old time capsule

A feature of a local sheep dairy A walk-through of the process of wine bottling at Chamisal Vineyards

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FARMING BEGINS WITH FAMILY

Graphic Designers Jordan Dunn, Katie Roberti Submissions to agcircle are welcome.

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HOME AWAY FROM “SLOME”

Permission to Reproduce All material in this issue may be reproduced with the expressed written permission of the Brock Center for Agricultural Communication.

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RANCHING IN A STATE OF REGULATION

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SAVING AN INDUSTRY

The contents of agcircle are generated by students, and do not reflect the opinions of California Polytechnic State University, its administration or faculty.

LOCAL

IN THE INDUSTRY

Family values help run a sustainable operation

A feature on various CAFES alumni How grazing regulation may affect California agriculture

The future of the forestry industry and managing natural resource regulations

This issue of agcircle was printed by PRP Companies.

agcircle | 3

Communicating for Tomorrow T he Brock Center for Agricultural Communication is expanding! As of 2015, the Brock Center acquired a new room to offer students more opportunities beyond the classroom experience – this time with an emphasis on multimedia.

“With the paradigm shift in communication these days, we know we have to involve students in more video production and social media engagement, in addition to the print media we already produce,” J. Scott Vernon, professor of agricultural communication, said.

“The room will be used as a supplement to in-class activities and outside projects for agricultural communication students,” Vernon explained.

“We want to stay on the leading edge of what’s happening in the industry,” Vernon said. “We see the impact of video and how it’s evolving and emerging in agricultural communications. That room will be a focus of new media and the visuals needed to communicate agriculture’s story.”

The Digital Video and Social Media Engagement Lab (Building 10, Room 232), located across the hallway from the Brock Center’s current office, will be furnished with a film studio and Mac desktop computers. The computers will be continually updated with current software to provide students with an understanding of the newest industry standards.

“We will have a full studio in the back for producing videos”, Vernon said. “In the front, we will have a computer lab for conducting editing and looking at social media metrics and engagement in social media campaigns.

It’s not just doing social media, it’s understanding and being able to measure the return on engagement.”

Every aspect of the new lab is based on industry input as the Brock Center Advisory Council provided suggestions for professional equipment and programs students should be utilizing in their careers.

“We will be using industry standard software and equipment,” Vernon said. “The students will learn how to use Adobe Premier. As we visit with professionals all over the nation, they tell us this is becoming the standard of which video editing happens.”

With the new lab will come a new course, AGC 301 (New Media Engagement), so students can

4 | Spring 2015

take full advantage of the space. The class will teach students how to operate the equipment, use software to edit videos and track social media trends.

“New Media Engagement is a class that we wrote to start in the Fall of 2015,” Vernon said.

“It’s going to be incorporated into the agricultural communication major itself.”

The Brock Center was started in 1986, and has been improving itself since. With each new team of Brock Associates comes new ideas and opportunities for the Brock Center to educate the public and students. The new lab will continue this trend and is expected to be open for the spring 2015 quarter, Vernon explained.

“By next fall we expect to have the Video Editing and Social Media Engagement fully

running,” Vernon said.

Megan Silcott, the Brock Center Director, describes the new space as an extension of both the Journalism and Agricultural Education and Communication Departments.

“New things are always exciting. We get the chance to offer students new methods of learning and ways of adding to their professional experiences,” Silcott said. “The Digital Video and Social Media Engagement Lab will give agricultural communication students additional skills that will help them be more competitive in the job market. The Brock Center staff looks forward to assisting students in that process.

STORY/PHOTOS BY JORDAN DUNN

CAMPUS BUZZ

Rising Up

One company’s plans to feed the rising population with new vertical technology STORY BY CAITLIN PAULUS PHOTOS PROVIDED BY URBAN PRODUCE

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ooming statistics show agriculturalists will need to produce more food for the world’s growing population than ever before. But how much more?

Just to keep us going, farmers will need to produce 70 percent more food by 2050, according to recent statistics by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The FAO also estimates the world population will increase by 2.3 billion in that time, and approximately 70 percent of the world’s citizens will be living in cities and urban areas.

Although we have heard these daunting statistics time and time again, the question still remains: How are we going to feed the billions of mouths expected to face hunger and malnourishment?

Edwin Horton, Jr. and Malcom Glen Kertz are two agriculturists working to answer this question. As the founders of Urban Produce located in Irvine, Calif., their patented

“We want to provide locally grown, organic, sustainable produce to everyone across the country twenty-fourseven...”

DANIELLE HORTON

Director of Marketing, Urban Produce

greenhouse systems are changing the definition of what it means to be a producer of locally grown, organic and sustainable food.

Horton, President and CEO, and Kertz, Vice President of Growing Operations, combined their knowledge and skills of technology and plant physiology to create what is known as a High-Density Vertical Growing System (HDVGS). This innovative technology combines a fully-automated greenhouse system with vertical hydroponics to grow micro-greens, herbs and wheatgrass, while leaving a considerably smaller footprint than traditional row crop farming.

Within the 5,800 square foot facility are 355 carriers, each hooked onto a conveyor belt rotating through the greenhouse at all times. The racks of seedlings are continuously exposed to equal amounts light, water and air distribution as they move throughout the unit. This 1/8-acre greenhouse can grow the same amount of produce as 16 acres of conagcircle | 5

ventionally farmed land. Also, according to Urban Produce’s website, “the patented growing system requires 90 percent less water,” a vital statistic in lieu of recent conditions in California and other drought ridden areas.

In addition to its unique growing technology, Urban Produce uses recycled coconut coir (husks) as a medium instead of soil. Not only is coconut coir sustainably harvested, it has natural anti-microbial properties which reduce instances of mold, fungus and food-borne illnesses. Urban Produce grows USDA certified organic produce and uses an indoor controlled environment eliminating the need for herbicides or pesticides.

Their products vary from mint to micro-greens, including Micro Broccoli and Kale-iforniaTM. Micro-greens, commonly confused with sprouts, are 7 to 14-day-old seedlings grown in soil or a soil substrate with plenty of aeration and light. Sprouts, on the other hand, are generally grown in water and are harvested much sooner. Since the leafy delicacies are not grown to a mature stage, they require little added nutrients; in fact Urban Produce currently does not use any fertilizers.

Though Urban Produce is a fairly new company in an emerging market, there are currently plans to expand across the country, and eventually go international. Within the next 12 months, they aim to establish five new growing units on the East Coast with more to come in the following years.

Cal Poly agribusiness graduate Danielle Horton, Director of Marketing for Urban Produce said, “The goal of Urban Produce is to eventually expand across the United States, and to have growing

6 | Spring 2015

units strategically placed within a certain radius of each other. We want to provide locally grown, organic, sustainable produce to everyone across the country twenty-four-seven, 365 days a year.”

Their products can be found in supermarkets such as Albertsons and Fresh & Easy and will likely become available at other retailers as the company moves east.

Urban Produce plans to place each greenhouse system within 350 miles of each other, in order to provide people with the freshest produce. This will allow the produce to be labeled as “locally grown”, because it travels no more than 350 miles.

Horton posed the question, “Why should someone in California be able to purchase a variety of fresh produce year round, while those in the Midwest and on the East Coast can only get it seasonally?”

The adaptable greenhouses can be placed above or below ground, inside or outside, and can be scaled to different sizes. This versatility means these units could potentially be placed in restaurants and schools and on cruise ships and military bases. Although they are fully-automated, the units do require minimal staff, which Urban Produce plans to hire from the surrounding areas, stimulating the economies they are placed in.

Providing fresh produce year round is not the only benefit of Urban Produce’s cutting-edge greenhouses. In the long term, this technology could provide a means of feeding a growing population with a shrinking amount of resources. As developments and urban centers encroach on agricultural land, advancements in greenhouses and hydroponic technologies will be all the more necessary, with Urban Produce leading the charge.

Leading the way

CAMPUS BUZZ

CAFES students take leadership to the next level STORY BY RYLIN LINDAHL PHOTOS PROVIDED BY ASI

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any students decide to get involved in their major or department. Some even choose to get involved with their college. A select group of students hold positions to represent the university as a whole.

Jacob Rogers is an agricultural business major and decided to get involved in Associated Students Inc. (ASI) during his senior year. He is the Chief of Staff where he leads the Executive Cabinet and assists the ASI President.

Throughout the school year, he has been part of numerous committees and involved in the ASI Facilities Master Plan, the University Master Plan, and the voter registration drive. “The largest benefit that I experience within my role is the opportunity to serve Cal Poly students by having a seat at the table where decisions are made and ensuring that the voice of students is heard,” he said.

Jacob said many of his strengths that aid in this position can be attributed to his roots. “I firmly believe that, on average, individuals who come from an agricultural background possess a strong work ethic that allow them to be successful in anything they do. This work ethic has allowed me to push myself toward success, and although I do not believe that I have achieved success, I am approaching my goal every day,” he said.

In addition to Jacob’s leadership, Nicole Billington is the Chair of the ASI Board of Directors. The agricultural business major has enjoyed getting involved in ASI. In this position, Nicole “supervises the 24-member elected body, manages the policy agenda for ASI Student Government’s legislative body, and serves as one of three corporate officers with signing and decision making authority for the corporation,” she said.

Nicole decided to run for the Chair position after being elected to the Board of Directors. “I ran for Chair of the Board because I believed that, although I would have worked hard to be an effective Board member, I had skills that would allow me to help the 24 other Board members be successful. To me, that seemed like more impactful service and a better use of my skills,” she said.

This position in ASI is setting Nicole apart from her peers. “By the time I graduate, I will have overseen an over $13 million budgeting process, managed a complex policy agenda for a legislative and corporate body, and advocated on behalf of more than 19,000 students,” she said. agcircle | 7

Jake Odello has been elected as Vice Chair of the University Union Advisory Board in his senior year at Cal Poly. He is an agricultural science major with an agricultural business concentration. Student government has always been a passion of his and he has continued that passion in college. “My first position [of leadership was] held was in 2005. I have held one every year since then to date; 2015 marked my tenth year of doing student government,” he said.

The duties of his position vary year to year depending on what projects are going on at the time.

Jake spends most of his time collecting data from students about the Facilities Master Plan. “My job is really about how we can be better. All of the logistics behind it, the communication, the outreach, the marketing for it, is something that I do. My goal this year is to get a lot of input. So then when I leave, I say this is all the data, now go do it!” he said.

ASI is filled with students from a variety of colleges and majors. Many of these students are from the College of Agriculture, Food & Environmental Sciences. They are taking the knowledge from their classes to lead our university and it will pay off in their future career. “Getting involved with ASI gives students the opportunity to learn, grow, and experience Cal Poly in a way unrivaled by any other opportunity that you will have at Cal Poly,” Jacob Rogers said.

8 | Spring 2015

goes GREEK CAMPUS BUZZ

AGRICULTURE

STORY BY KENNA LEWIS PHOTOS PROVIDED BY AGR & SIGMA ALPHA

S

ince 1776, Greek letter organizations have been recognized as a prominent tradition in college culture. Brotherhood, sisterhood, professional development and memorable social events are a few of the makings chapters across the country consider as a part of their collegiate legacy.

For several Cal Poly organizations, Greek life is founded upon enriching agriculture leadership beyond social agendas. Alpha Gamma Rho (AGR), Sigma Alpha and Alpha Zeta represent a few of the chapters contributing to agriculture “going Greek.”

For AGR, the largest agriculturally-connected fraternity on Cal Poly’s campus, the link to the industry can be seen in the organization’s history. Cal Poly’s chapter began in 1974 and is based on both social and professional platforms. The 98-member AGR is a fraternity within Interfraternity Council, and a professional club chartered through the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences (CAFES).

“This makes us one of the most unique

Greek organizations on campus,” Brad Kurtz, AGR President and soil science major, said.

“AGR members have the opportunity to attend all manner of social events in the Greek community, but also have the benefit of engaging in professional events based in agriculture.”

Although the organization is technically open to all majors, AGR is encouraged by its national office to become involved with CAFES by recruiting primarily agriculture majors, or those with strong roots in the industry.

In addition to its member demographics, AGR is connected to agriculture by way of preparing members to be leaders within the industry, largely thanks to an extensive statewide alumni network.

“Alumni speak at our meetings about their industries and careers or lead us on tours of their businesses and facilities,” Kurtz explained. “We provide networking opportunities for our brothers such as our alumni golf weekend for undergrads to net-

work with successful professionals in an informal setting.”

Additionally, AGR sends members across the country to seminars and conferences for further training in leadership, business and recruitment skills.

Similar to AGR is Sigma Alpha, a professional sorority on campus established in 1990. They too, maintain a strong connection to agriculture through involvement in CAFES as well as community service and outreach. Many of the 35 Sigma Alpha sisters hold leadership positions throughout CAFES in clubs such as Latinos in Agriculture and Collegiate FFA. According to Kayla Manning, Sigma Alpha Parliamentarian and agricultural science junior, educating the public about where their food comes from is what sets them apart as a sorority. One way they accomplish this is through the Ag in the Classroom program.

“A group of our sisters go to an elementary school and teach children about the agriculture industry and the role it plays in their lives,” Manning said about the program. “We do so agcircle | 9

by organizing games and other activities for the younger kids to engage in and learn about agriculture in a fun way.”

The sorority also aims to connect with the community through participation in public agricultural education at Farm City Night during the SLO Farmers’ Market and by volunteering at Growing Grounds, a wholesale nursery providing horticulture therapy to adults with severe mental illness. “[At Growing Grounds], we mainly help with the day-to-day activities that help [it] run, such as pruning trees and organizing the general equipment,” Manning said.

Like AGR, Sigma Alpha aims to prepare its members for successful careers by promoting professional development and leadership among its sisters.

Alpha Zeta, another professional club within CAFES, shares similarities with both AGR and Sigma Alpha. The club is comprised primarily of agriculture students and focuses on networking with local agricultural professionals as well as Cal Poly alumni. Like Sigma Alpha, Alpha Zeta strives to reach out to community members by partaking in local events and also volunteering at Growing Grounds.

While Alpha Zeta shares commonalities with the others, it maintains a diverse membership.

“We are a unique fraternity because we are coed, and that gives us a different perspective,” 10 | Spring 2015

Davis Neary, Alpha Zeta Membership Educator and dairy science junior, said.

Although each Greek organization shows their connection to agriculture in a different way, all aim to produce leaders within the industry. Networking, career preparation and

community service are a few of the undertakings aligning these organizations with the tradition of Greek life. But it is the members’ backgrounds and dedication to fueling the industry that give an agricultural twist to a long-standing tradition.

CAMPUS BUZZ

Soaring to New Heights CAL POLY UNIVERSITIES WIN BIG WITH ROSE FLOAT

STORY BY SONJA ESCHENBURG PHOTOS BY NICOLE BILLINGTON & YOUNG CHOI

P

asadena, Calif. is home to America’s annual Rose Parade – a celebration more than a century old. This festival of flowers is aired on national television and viewed by millions of people every New Year’s Day. After 67 years of participation in the parade, this year marked the first time Cal Poly Rose Float took home the coveted Lath-

rop K. Leishman Trophy for the Most Beautiful Non-Commercial Float. “[Thanks to the] artistic skill and expertise of the Cal Poly Floral Design Team, [we were able to] create beautiful arrangements for the float,” Young Choi, landscape architect student who helped work on the 2015 float, said. “This is the first time we have ever won the award, which is a

huge honor.”

As an entirely student-run project, Cal Poly President Jeffery D. Armstrong calls it the “epitome of Learn

by Doing.” A joint effort, each year the two universities, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and Cal Poly, Pomona, work together to create the float.

About 70 student volunteers from all majors carry the Cal Poly Rose Float

agcircle | 11

team while community members are encouraged to participate in the float preparations as well.

According to Choi, the float chassis is designed to be split.

“One-half stays on the SLO campus during spring, summer and fall and is [later] transported to the Pomona campus in mid-October to continue construction,” Choi explained. “[From there on] the SLO team members [travel] to Pomona every Saturday. All team members collaborate with their counterparts for a successful 12 | Spring 2015

float each year.”

The design process starts as soon as the previous year’s parade is complete. A concept contest is held right away to find the new float design for the upcoming year and anyone is allowed to submit a concept. Committee members then pick the best one and go from there to create a more refined and detailed design.

The 2015 parade theme was “Inspiring Stories”, with the winning Cal Poly design being “Soaring Stories.” This design depicted a fairytale castle and a griffin springing from

CAMPUS BUZZ

the inside of a book.

The float exceeded previous entries in quality because of several new technological advances. From animated features such as the flags, the griffin’s wings, the castle’s drawbridge and a flickering candle flame, to a back wall made of living flowers instead of the traditionally hand-cut flowers, this float was unlike any other. To top it off, this same 18-by-55-foot float also featured a running waterfall.

Though the Cal Poly Rose Float’s costs are funded mainly through Associated Students Inc., a good portion of the materials are donated. “RainBird has [been generous] with irrigation supplies and California Organic Fertilizer with fertilizer,” Choi said.

Cal Poly does not grow all of the flowers used on the float, but does operate its own flower field on campus. The university grows the statice, strawflowers and marigolds used on the float. Additionally, this year more than 10,000 roses, 6,000 gerberas, 4,000 irises and various other flowers were used for float arrangements. The building crew tries to keep the materials unique by utilizing unique features such as grapefruit rinds, seaweed, cranberries and different seeds.

The Cal Poly Rose Float has won 55 awards as of January 1, 2015, and students have no intention of slowing down. As participants gear up for the 2016 Rose Parade, high hopes remain for another successful year.

agcircle | 13

History in the Making CAFES plans to update facilities with the help of a $20 million donation STORY BY HANNAH BEELER PHOTOS PROVIDED BY THE OPPENHEIMER FAMILY

H

ave you ever wondered what you can get with $20 million? An island, endless sports cars, or even a tub full of Harry Winston diamonds are all among the long list of luxuries. Why not dream? For Cal Poly’s College of Agriculture, Food & Environmental Sciences (CAFES), this dream became a reality.

In November 2014, Cal Poly announced CAFES received the largest cash donation in the university’s history. The generous donors were Cal Poly alums, Peter and Mary Beth Oppenheimer.

Mr. Oppenheimer graduated with an agricultural business degree in 1985 and Mrs. Oppenheimer graduated in 1986 with a degree in home economics, concentrating in interior design.

Peter later went on to become the Senior Vice President and CFO of Apple Inc. He spent 18 years at Apple before retiring in September 2014.

“The generosity of Peter and Mary Beth Oppenheimer is extraordinary, and will help enhance CAFES’ Learn by Doing experiences for students for years to come,” said Dean Andrew J. Thulin. “The facilities will be built over the next several years with input from the Oppenheimers as well as students, staff and faculty.”

The donation will help pay for several CAFES projects. Cal Poly will be building an Agricultural Events Center on campus where the university will hold livestock shows, industry events and conferences. The expo center will be built in place of the current beef 14 | Spring 2015

unit and will be able to hold more than 2,500 people. Using this money, the university will also be building an Equestrian Pavilion to hold various events for the equine program.

“Our current facility is functional. But with a new arena, we may be able to host English shows in addition to our Western show, which would both increase recognition for Cal Poly and establish our team as a real competitor,” Laurel Thomson, a fourth-year student and Cal Poly Equestrian Team member, said.

“[It] will help enhance CAFES’ Learn

by Doing experiences for students for years to come.”

ANDREW J. THULIN

Dean of the College of Agriculture, Food & Environmental Sciences

In addition to the Agricultural Events Center and Equestrian Pavilion, the university will be building a farm store to hold all of the Cal Poly made products.

“Most students don’t know that Cal Poly sells eggs, meat, and tons of fresh produce,” Mary Merseth, a third-year nutrition major, said.

“My favorite [Cal Poly product] is definitely the ice cream,” Merseth went on to say, “but I’ve been really wanting to try some of the other foods. I’m excited to be able to easily find them at the store.”

With this new store, students and community members will be able to purchase products made on campus under one roof.

Lastly, a portion of the donation will go towards the Cal Poly Scholars scholarship program, Cal Poly’s food pantry, meal vouchers and modernizing other current facilities.

In a previous interview with Mustang News, Oppenheimer said, “I think what’s really im-

portant to Mary Beth and me is that we know that the experience that we had 30 years ago was in part due to what people who came before us did for the university, and we very much wanted to give back, so that future students could have an even better experience.”

Although this gift will cover a vast number of opportunities, this donation is more than just new buildings and programs. It’s establishing new experiences for current and future students who will have the opportunity to call Cal Poly their home and continue the Learn by Doing legacy.

CAMPUS BUZZ

Tomato Mania

STORY BY JOSEPH DOMINGUEZ PHOTOS PROVIDED BY TOMATO MANIA ENTERPRISE

C

al Poly’s Tomato Mania event has taken place for the past 15 years. Tomato Mania is an enterprise project for agriculture students and a weekend of garden enjoyment to the public. This event may be new for some, but it has been an annual tradition for many.

A team of six students carry out the enterprise and are in charge of the project from seed to sale. Choosing specialized varieties, growing the young vines and marketing the plants is all part of the course description. This small group of students spends the entire winter quarter planning, troubleshooting and coordinating the Tomato Mania event, which occurs in the spring.

Every team member offers their own unique skill set. “This enterprise project will definitely benefit my future in the horticulture industry through hands-on experience in growing and selling tomatoes,” Dawn Mones said. Mones is the Tomato Mania enterprise project Head Grower and an environmental horticulture science student concentrating in greenhouse and nursery production.

The enterprise team propagates the plants

and sells the garden-ready tomato plants to the public. The event initially began with an original Cal Poly tomato, the Murray Smith.

Named after a renown Cal Poly speech instructor, the Murray Smith was developed at Cal Poly and has always been a popular sell. Its great reputation revolves around the vivid color, small seeds and adaptation to California’s Central Coast climate.

Often misinterpreted as a vegetable, tomatoes have been thought of as America’s favorite garden fruit for generations. Tomato Mania attracts many garden enthusiasts featuring anything but ordinary plants. While traditional heirloom tomatoes and other common varieties can be found, many eye-catching hybrid varieties ranging in color from purple to orange are available for purchase. These are not typical grocery store varietals. Besides color, these exclusive varieties are known for their superb taste and texture.

“We are looking forward to seeing many new and familiar faces during the plant sale.

I know the public will be impressed with our extraordinary selection of tomato varieties,” Gage Willey, Tomato Mania enterprise project

member and agricultural and environmental plant science student, said.

This year, students have chosen many new varieties and past customer favorites to sell. Murray Smith, Beefsteak, Green Zebra, Black Krim, Artisan Purple Bumble Bee and many heirloom and hybrid tomatoes make up the 65 different varieties for sale at this year’s event.

“The average person purchases about four or five [plants] because we have so many unique varieties and they want to try as many as possible,” Derek Toschi, environmental horticulture science student and Tomato Mania enterprise project member, said.

Tomatoes are marketed for $6 a plant and enterprise students are known to profit even after their expenses are paid.

The strong community support for Cal Poly and Tomato Mania make for a great turnout at the sale. Tomato season begins in spring and extends through the summer months.

This year, customers can support this unique enterprise on Saturday, April 11 and Sunday, April 12, at the Poly Plant Shop on Cal Poly’s campus. agcircle | 15

one of

CAL POLY’S MVPS

RETIRES

STORY BY DIANE MEYER PHOTOS PROVIDED BY CAFES STUDENT COUNCIL & BROCK CENTER

I

f you’ve ever walked through the second floor hallway of Cal Poly’s Building 10, you’ve undoubtedly seen Dr. Bill Kellogg working tirelessly in his office – his desk facing the door, ready to welcome any and all visitors. Although his time as head of the Agricultural Education and Communication Department at Cal Poly is coming to an end, he leaves behind an unrivaled legacy and one of the most successful departments in the College of Agriculture, Food, & Environmental Sciences (CAFES).

Dr. Kellogg’s dedication and enthusiasm for teaching makes him a role model to students and faculty. For the past 32 years he has taught at Cal Poly, and for six years prior he taught high school agriculture. His success as a teacher stems directly from his commitment and loyalty to his students.

“The best part of my job and my favorite memories are of working with students,” Dr. Kellogg said. “I’m most proud of the students that have graduated in our program and the success that they are experiencing in their lives right now.

They are successful in industry, they are leaders in the teaching profession, and as a teacher you

16 | Spring 2015

like to think that maybe you had a small part in that.”

“The best part of my job and my favorite memories are of working with students.”

DR. BILL KELLOGG

Agricultural Education & Communication Department Head

Many successes of the agricultural education program, its faculty and students are attributable to Dr. Kellogg. “Dr. Kellogg is somebody that you want to strive to be,” Jake Odello, a thirdyear agricultural education student, said. “I gen-

uinely try to make time for people and be there for people, just like he does. Knowing him, I’m just going to be a better, genuine person.”

Dr. Kellogg’s many relationships with people across campus are not by accident. He doesn’t just see faces as another student or another coworker; he remembers people’s names, what they do, even their birthdays. “Dr. Kellogg has been able to establish some really wonderful relationships with people all over campus,” J. Scott Vernon, an agricultural education and communication professor who has worked with Dr. Kellogg for more than 30 years, said. “The carpenters, the plumbers, the painters; all the people who help run this place that are important to the success of Cal Poly, but aren’t in the public’s view; Dr. Kellogg has made a strong network with all of them.”

With so many close friendships, Dr. Kellogg has built a devoted team within the Agricultural Education and Communication Department and CAFES. It is well known behind his hard-working, organized and dependable exterior is a dedicated prankster and lover of all things concrete.

CAMPUS BUZZ

“His pranks are the funniest,” Donetta Rosson, the Administrative Support Coordinator for the Agricultural Education and Communication Department and a close friend to Dr. Kellogg and his family, said. “I remember helping him ice a birthday cake for some co-workers that was actually made out of concrete.”

“I remember helping him ice a birthday cake for some coworkers that was actually made out of concrete.”

DONETTA ROSSON

Agricultural Education & Communication Department Administrative Coordinator

Jerry Clark, a past professor in agricultural education, fondly recalls falling victim to his pranks as well.

“When I first came to the department, I found an actual urine test kit in my mailbox accompanied by official paperwork indicating the stepby-step process for acquiring the sample and to what administrative office it was to be delivered,” Clark said. “Good thing I took time to question it or I would have been quite embarrassed standing there at some receptionist’s desk in administration, proud of my first ‘assignment’ completed and submitted in a timely fashion.”

Despite his never-ending pranks and sense of humor, Dr. Kellogg is diligent and holds himself and others to the highest standards. He is extremely hard working and renowned for his organizational skills, namely his complicated “BK Filing System”.

“Nobody knows what those numbers mean, but he does,” Robert Flores, agricultural education professor, said. “He’s very organized. If he does something it’s going to be planned out and designed correctly. He doesn’t cut corners, not just with concrete, but with everything.”

When Dr. Kellogg first became a faculty member at Cal Poly, he already had a plan to be successful. “I remember as a student watching certain faculty helping and working alongside the students,” Dr. Kellogg said. “They didn’t have to do it, but wow, they’re making that student’s experience at Cal Poly a fun, successful one. When I came back as a faculty member I was very involved, especially with Poly Royal.”

Dr. Kellogg has dedicated the past ten years to Poly Royal, now known as Open House. He is the only faculty member to have served as an advisor for the Ag Pavilion committee for the entire ten years it has been in place. He is also the designated safety guru for CAFES. He has taught CPR classes for the past 25 years, and fire safety for ten years. For more than 20 years, Dr. Kellogg taught the Advanced Ag Mechanics class in the BioResource and Agricultural Engineering Department. All of these activities are very hands on and exemplify the Learn by Doing model, which Dr. Kellogg is very passionate about.

“I’ve always wanted to instill the Learn by Doing philosophy in my classes because that is the right way to learn, with students experiencing their learning,” Dr. Kellogg said.

“Cal Poly has most impacted me through the Learn by Doing model and philosophy. I embraced it as a student and as a teacher.

Cal Poly is a Learn by Doing institution … and is a wonderful school. We’ve had excellent students who have made a difference in the world.”

Though Dr. Kellogg is retiring, he has been a true role model to students and faculty and has prepared the Agricultural Education and Communication Department for future generations of success. “The impact of Dr. Kellogg has reached thousands and thousands of students.

And that legacy will continue, even when students come to campus in the next generation.

They may not know exactly who he was, but they’ll benefit from the work that he did,” Vernon shared.

Dr. Kellogg has worked everyday with passion and humility. He has done so much for CAFES, especially behind the scenes, and never asks for praise or gratitude. “I don’t think people know just how much that man does for CAFES,” Rosson said. “He does things that you don’t even realize he does, they just get done.

He always goes the extra mile to help people, especially students.”

Dr. Kellogg will always hold a special place in CAFES, and students and faculty plan to uphold the legacy he has built.

All of Dr. Kellogg’s hard work and effort has prepared the Agricultural Education and Communication Department for future success. Though he hasn’t planned out his retirement yet, he is still planning for the future of the department - he and his wife, Debbie, are retiring together. Debbie teaches reading intervention at the kindergarten and first-grade levels at Monterey Road Elementary School in Atascadero, Calif. They are both looking forward to spending more time with their children and grandchildren.

“We’re going to miss him quite a bit. But, for those of us that continue on here, we should be a living testament to the work he did here,” Dr. Flores said. “If we follow his example, we have nothing to worry about because he has prepared us. We’re going to thrive, there’s no question about that.”

“Cal Poly’s ag ed program is strong largely because Bill Kellogg made it strong.”

DR. BOB DETWEILER

Former Interim Dean of the School of Education

Even those outside CAFES experienced Dr. Kellogg’s best attributes. “Dr. Kellogg is a true professional,” Dr. Bob Detweiler said, former interim dean of the School of Education. “He is a dependable, experienced stalwart in the school’s administration. Cal Poly’s Ag Ed program is strong largely because Bill Kellogg made it strong.

I laud him for his accomplishments and thank him for his positive contribution to so many agriculture teachers across the state over many years.

Well done, Bill.” agcircle | 17

CAMPUS BUZZ

Treasure for the Future I

n 1988, Cal Poly students posed a daunting question: How will agricultural practices change over the next 30 years? These students, and many others from the university, gathered to bury a time capsule full of their predictions. Fast forward 25 years and find countless industry advancements, new majors, buildings and thousands of Cal Poly agriculture graduates. On November 8, 2014, the College of Agriculture, Food & Environmental Sciences (CAFES) student council officer team, along with CAFES Dean Andrew J. Thulin, President of the university’s Monterey Bay Alumni chapter Dean Callendar, and an audience of students, staff

and alumni joined near Campus Market to unearth the forecasts from 1988.

After the time capsule was located and opened, copper scrolls inscribed with agricultural student expectations were read aloud.

These predictions ranged from the types of technology integrated into agriculture, to the change in how buildings and products in the industry are officially named.

Tyler Harris, a current first-year agricultural business student who attended the event, was surprised by the prediction’s accuracy. “I thought a lot of them were spot on.

Many talked about water and the impact it

STORY BY DANI DIELE PHOTOS PRODVIDED BY CAFES STUDENT COUNCIL

18 | Spring 2015

has on the industry. In fact, the drought we are currently going through was predicted,” Harris said.

Harris also stated the event made students ponder about how agriculture will look in another 25 years. Harris believes “there will be more agricultural jobs in technology and engineering and there will be less labor in the fields.”

Eleanor Harlan, freshman agricultural business student, considered how agriculture, food and environmental science will transform in the future. “The technology in agriculture will keep advancing,” she said.

“Since the time capsule has been buried, we have developed technologically in more ways than the people of the time could ever imagine. I’m excited to see what new advances the future will bring and how that will change the industry.” Like Harris, Harlan believes jobs will be different in the industry, but greatly needed.

At the event, a student representative from each agricultural club read predictions of what their club anticipates agriculture to be in 25 years. These will be placed back into the time capsule and buried during the 2015 Cal Poly Open House festivities for future students in 2039 to uncover.

The capsule is currently on display in the CAFES Dean’s Office in the Agricultural Sciences Building.

Only time will tell how agriculture will evolve in the next 30 years. However, CAFES Associate Dean Richard Cavalleto believes the future for agriculture will remain strong.

“As for agriculture as an industry and students that go into studying agriculture as a profession, there will be no shortage for people to have that knowledge and that understanding of the industry and to find careers in it,” Cavalleto said.

LOCAL

Rinconada Dairy

STORY/PHOTOS BY KAITY CARPENTER

C

hristine Maguire of Rinconada Dairy in Santa Margarita, Calif., wanted to try something different. Some might consider her business venture extremely different, and her dream, a lofty one.

Maguire dreamed of having a sheep dairy in 1998, which inspired her and her husband, Jim, to purchase their first sheep.

Soon after, they turned their carport into a milking parlor and the business began. In late 1999, they relocated to the Santa Margarita area and had 16 sheep on an acre and a half. From dream to reality, Rinconada Dairy has been in operation for 11 years.

California is home to numerous goat dairies but Rinconada Dairy is only the second sheep dairy in the state.

Maguire had an interest in farming before they bought their own sheep. They had roots in Oregon as part owners of a farm with Nubian goats. Their neighbors had sheep, which got Christine thinking about expanding their farm and goals.

“I’m a spinner,” Maguire said.

“The thought of an animal I can get wool, meat and milk from appealed to me. I also wanted an

animal I could wrestle with if I needed to,” she said.

East Friesian sheep, which come from the same part of Germany as the Holstein Friesian dairy cow, were the first breed used at Rinconada when the dairy began. In 2005 and 2006, they decided to introduce the Lacaune breed’s genetics to the herd. By crossing these two, they were able to increase milk production.

“Before, we were milking 154 sheep max. This year we are getting the same milk production out of 65 to 70 sheep,” Maguire said.

As the flock grew, the Maguire’s concern for protecting their investment grew too. Dealing with predators is inevitable with a large flock. In the area, the most common predators the Maguire’s had dealt with bobcats, mountain lions, bears and even eagles. Two years ago, they purchased two Anatolian Shepherds to combat predators.

“One year, three bears had to be put down. I got the dogs to keep the wildlife safe,” Maguire explained. Since the shepherds have joined the dairy family, they haven’t had to put a single

wild animal down.

For Christine, being a part of an agricultural community has been very fulfilling.

“Cheese makers are very nice people,” Maguire said. She also said it is nice to work so hard for something and have your work appreciated.

While it has been enjoyable, it has not always been easy. With the drought being so prevalent in the western states, feed costs have risen which has raised cheese prices for the consumers.

“Feed costs have tripled and the worst part is I can’t raise my

prices any more than I already have,” Maguire said.

To save costs this year, the Maguire’s cut back two-thirds of their herd and are simplifying their cheese lineup. They also decreased goat milking down to 50 head. While the current economy makes it difficult to keep doing what they enjoy, they believe things are slowly improving.

Rinconada Dairy cheeses can be found in many retailers in San Luis Obispo County, including Nature’s Touch and 15 Degrees C in Templeton, Calif. agcircle | 19

The Art of Wine Bottling

STORY BY HARRISON REILLY PHOTOS BY JORDAN DUNN

M

any people know how the grape goes from the vine to the barrel. But few learn about a process just as extensive in wine production: bottling. At Chamisal Vineyards in Edna Valley, the wine bottling process is taken very seriously.

“The wine doesn’t magically get into the bottle,” said Mary Stump, a Lab Technician at Chamisal Vineyards.

In fact, some winemakers would argue wine bottling is the most important part of the winemaking process. Because of the delicate procedure of bottling, winemakers are very hands-on with the wine, from putting the wine in tanks and barrels, up until when the wine gets bottled.

Chamisal Vineyards, part of the Crimson Wine group,

20 | Spring 2015

prides itself on producing wines ideal for the Edna Valley: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Syrah and Grenache, Pinot Grís and Rosé. Before bottling the wine, Chamisal makes sure the wine is ready to be put into a bottle.

“We try to do non-interventionalist winemaking,” Michael Callahan, Chamisal Assistant Winemaker, said. “When we’re getting the wine ready for bottling, we’re constantly checking things such as microbial stability, heat and cold stability, dissolved oxygen and CO2 levels.”

These variables are important when considering how the wine goes from the barrel to the bottle. One tiny misstep can alter the taste and the shelf-life of the wine. Callahan says he could take somebody 100 different directions when talking

LOCAL

about the process of bottling because of the level of detail in every facet.

“Sometimes we don’t need to do a lot of intervention or adjustment prior to bottling,” Callahan said. “More or less, we are on a pathway where we are taking a lot of steps to assure quality and consistency.”

Once the winemaker decides the wine is ready for bottling, the winery contracts with a bottling service. Some of the larger wineries such as Gallo or Trinchero have their own bottling facilities, but most of the wineries in California contract out to have their wine bottled.

Chamisal uses a wine bottling company local to them, The Bottle Meister. Operated out of the back of a semi-trailer truck, the stateof-the-art equipment services 85 wineries a year, and not just on the Central Coast; the Bottle Meister bottles from Napa to Temecula. Each of the company’s crews has a minimum experience of 1,400,000 cases (one case is twelve bottles).

After the wine is ready, it is pumped from the tanks to the bottling truck. The fillers and siphon hoses are sanitized to make sure the wine isn’t altered through the hoses.

Once the wine reaches the truck, the bottles are put on a conveyor belt, blown with nitrogen (while simultaneously blowing out dust particles), filled, corked and finally the bottles are sent to the labeler at the end of the truck.

The process goes slowly initially as the bottling technicians adjust to make sure the machine runs smoothly, checking each bottle’s labels, fill height, foils and other specific quality control checks. It is extremely important as little oxygen as possible is let into the wine.

“The wine doesn’t magically get into the bottle.”

MARY STUMP

Lab Technician at Chamisal Vineyards

The technicians need to make sure enough nitrogen is being blown into the bottle, the fill heights are correct, no oxygen is being leaked into the bottle and there is a “vacuum”, or negative pressure on the corks, once bottles are sealed. It needs to be perfect and to the winemaker’s specifications.

“Quality is always first,” said Andy Jones, Bottling Line Manager at Bottle Meister. “We sparge the bottle with nitrogen and use a vacuum that sucks out all of the dust particles.”

“We do a lot of visual quality control, including making sure all labels, foils and corks are running to our specifications,” Callahan said. “We run cork moisture tests and we do torque tests for screw caps to make sure the screw capper is creating the proper seal. We are constantly doing packaging trials to assess our materials and vendors are the best and there’s not something else out there superior to our current packaging.”

Once the bottling is finished, the pallets are stored in a cellar until they are ready to be sold to the public. The bottle time can vary greatly depending on the winemaker’s preference.

Many factors go into bottle time, including what variety of wine is being bottled. But generally, the bottle times boil down to an economic versus quality issue. Some wineries wine will sell no matter what the bottle time is, so it is to their economic benefit to get the wine on the shelf as soon as possible. It is not unheard of to get wine bottled and immediately put it on the shelf at tasting rooms and stores.

At Chamisal, the general bottle time for their estate wine is around six months. “That’s a conscious decision, because our wines tend to be agcircle | 21

pretty age-worthy,” Callahan said. And because of their cross flow filtration system, their wines typically do not show as much bottle shock (a temporary condition in wine where the wine’s flavors are muted or disjointed), making the wine’s turn around to shelf even faster.

Bottling is an operation spread out through the year. Chamisal typically bottles four times a year. Their early bottling in January is usually for their stainless steel Chardonnay and “Califa” (meaning “prettiest one,” representing the best barrels of the vintage) Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

Callahan is particularly happy with the stainless steel Chardonnay, saying “it’s a pretty cool wine” and “although it’s not an estate wine, it has been a huge success.”

22 | Spring 2015

“I’m really proud of what I’ve seen and where things are going.”

MICHAEL CALLAHAN

Winemaker at Chamisal Vineyards

Chamisal will do a bottling in the early summer for their Syrah Grenache programs and finally bottle their estate wine usually right before harvest or right after harvest.

Chamisal takes pride in their careful bottling process, making sure every possible variable is monitored each step of the way. Their goal is to make a wine that’s representative of the Central Coast, which is why Chamisal likes to hire students straight out of Cal Poly and harvest the majority of their grapes in Edna Valley.

“Edna Valley has just over 30 wineries, and with a small appellation such as ours, it is easy to take a lot of pride in the Chamisal wines, and how we represent our appellation.” Callahan said. “I’m really proud of what I’ve seen and where things are going.”

INDUSTRY

Farming Begins with Family

STORY BY BROCK CENTER STAFF PHOTOS PROVIDED BY STAHLBUSH ISLAND FARMS

F

arming, Food and Fine Art. A perfect title for Karla S. Chamber’s cookbook because it sums up her family’s farming operation in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Nestled between two rivers, Stahlbush Island Farms is a certified sustainable farm and food processor guided by its traditional family values. Thirty years ago, newlyweds Bill and Karla Chambers, brought ideas to life by producing quality and nutritious foods with careful attention to stewardship.

“I’d say we’re a small family pumpkin farm,” Joe Chambers, the youngest of four siblings, replied with a confident smile when asked how he describes his family’s business to a stranger. “It’s the crop that got us started.”

While pumpkin and sugar beet seeds started the farm, thirty years of innovation

and listening to consumer needs led to selling frozen and pureed fruits and veggies on a global scale. “Stahlbush Island Farms creates and builds most of our own machinery for harvesting and processing in addition to generating all the electricity the farm needs,” Joe said. “Most people do one or more of those things, we’re able to do them all.”

Katie Chambers, the eldest daughter, shared an example of how the farm represents a closed-loop cycle. “Thirty percent of the corn is edible and 70 percent is byproduct. We’re able to convert all of the byproduct into electricity with the biogas facility. It creates methane which we’re able to put into the combined heat and power unit and create electricity. We can power the processing facility because we’re producing more energy than we need.” The

process also creates an organic fertilizer, hot water that is used for equipment sanitation and hot air to dry the farm’s pumpkin seeds. “Nothing is going to waste,” Katie concluded.

Since 1985, the farm was home for all four children Carl, Katie, Ellen and Joe Chambers. Each Chambers child remembers eating pumpkin, squash, corn and berries beyond their liking as trucks brought bountiful produce in from harvest. In respect to their age, all the Chambers siblings flocked south to California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, to pursue a college education.

Katie and Carl are now fully integrated into the farm operations. Carl studied agribusiness and graduated in 2010, and Katie graduated from the same program in 2011.

Ellen graduated in 2014 with a degree in agcircle | 23

mechanical engineering, and Joe has another year in the agricultural and environmental plant sciences program.

“Cal Poly’s definitely the best in the west!

Carl started it [the Cal Poly sibling tradition], we found it, and we all liked it and San Luis Obispo is pretty close to a vacation spot,” Joe said.

Parents Karla and Bill Chambers hold their brood to the “Two-Year Rule”. The siblings all have an opportunity to join the farm as employees following a two-year stint working outside Stahlbush Island Farms. Implementing their roles is not taken lightly and the outside experience grants insights to corporate structure, customer relations, retail services and a new perspective on business.

Another part of Stahlbush Island Farms’ success is a nod toward food safety and answering to strict quality and safety measures. There is an entire team of food safety and quality control employees with microbiology degrees who oversee Stahlbush’s food production.

Katie said, “We go through all of the standard audits and we choose to go through one of the most rigorous audits in the industry, Safe Quality Food (SQF) Level III, recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI).

24 | Spring 2015

INDUSTRY

“We consistently score in their highest percentile every year and that’s a challenge but we deal with food safety every day and it’s the most important piece of the puzzle to ensure we’re following good practices.”

Safety may be at the forefront, but at the core of Stahlbush Island Farms is the Chambers family. Working with family can be considered a great challenge and an even greater reward. Joe said, “The best part is it’s a family. The worst part, is it’s our family.” While family farms are the patchwork of agricultural history, not all function as well as the Chambers. The deep-rooted respect for one another and their attributes prove that cooperation can determine the family’s success.

“All four of us are pretty strong-minded people,” Joe continued. “We’re definitely an exception; we enjoy working together and it’s something that takes work and understanding everyone’s personalities, and everyone’s needs. And it’s something we do a fairly good job of considering.”

The farm has humbly accumulated accolades in all areas of business. Beginning in 1997, Stahlbush Island Farms is known as the first farming operation in the United States to be certified sustainable by the Food Allliance. Fast forward to 2012 and it was named Sustainable Plant of the Year by

Food Engineering magazine, and Stahlbush Island Farms is the first farm in North America to build a biogas facility for fruit and vegetable byproduct.

Katie said what will keep the family farm moving forward is based on what they started out with. “Our history of embracing new technology, trying to be sustainable and listening to our consumers really sets us apart.”

From its family values and unique location, being the first farm in Oregon to utilize global positioning system tractors, to the first farm to operate an anaerobic digester of its kind, Stahlbush Island Farms is impressive.

“Something that my parents did, that I think has helped the farm, and is one of the reasons the farm is so successful, is they tried be the first at something,” Joe said.

“If there’s something new, we’ll give it a shot and decide if it works for us.

Being first with a few things has allowed us to enter a couple niche markets that have proven profitable for us over the years.”

Stahlbush Island Farms products, with labels painted by Karla S. Chambers, can be found in Whole Foods and other natural food stores. For a complete list of stores visit www.stahlbush.com. agcircle | 25

Home Away from “SLOme”

CAFES alumni take their degrees across the country STORY BY TREVOR SURROCK PHOTOS PROVIDED BY FEATURED ALUMNI

T

he term “SLOme” is not one you will find in a dictionary, however, if you ask any Cal Poly student, past or present, they will know the true meaning of this coined phrase. A combination between San Luis Obispo (SLO) and home, this single word sums up the comforting atmosphere of Cal Poly and SLO that students so quickly long for after graduation.

Countless alumni from Cal Poly’s College of Agriculture, Food &

JENNIFER RAY

major: Agricultural Communications graduated: June 2013

MANDY BRAZIL

major: Agricultural Communication, Minors in Agribusiness & Dairy Science graduated: June 2013

26 | Spring 2015

Environmental Sciences (CAFES) have left the comfort of SLOme and are making their mark throughout the country. Here is an update on a handful of graduates: Jennifer Ray, Melisa Agusto, Carrie Isaacson, Sara Hollenback, and Mandy Brazil. With CAFES having 16 individual majors, 43 clubs and 80 percent of courses involving laboratories or activity sessions, it is easy to see why its alumni are making a difference in the industry.

In August 2013, Jennifer traveled eastbound with the destination of Kansas State University. She is pursuing a master’s degree in agricultural education and communication.

In Kansas, you can find Jennifer enjoying time with other graduate students, learning in class, conducting research and even teaching classes of her own. Despite being as far away as Kansas, Jennifer is staying close to her Cal Poly roots by showing what the Learn by Doing philosophy means to her.

In addition to being a graduate student, Jennifer is working as a graduate teaching assistant (GTA) at the university.

“One of my duties is teaching an agricultural business communication course to students from a variety of agricultural majors and backgrounds,” Ray said. “The

class structure is fun and interactive, as well as challenging.”

While taking a moment to reflect on her journey, it is clear Cal Poly and its faculty were monumental in guiding her towards her present day success.

“Cal Poly prepared me for graduate school by helping me develop skills through classes and on-campus experiences,” Ray said. She credits her previous jobs as the Editor-in-Chief of the Brock Center for Agricultural Communication, and as an assistant in the Kennedy Library, for making her a team player.

Ray is now fully immersed in Kansas life, however, San Luis Obispo and Cal Poly will always hold a special place in her heart. “I’m still holding out hope that my career path will lead me back there some day,” Ray said.

After graduating from Cal Poly, Mandy Brazil found herself moving to Wisconsin where she currently works as the Genetic Specialist for American Breeders Service Global, Inc (ABS).

“I consult with dairies throughout the United States on identifying opportunities for greater return on genetic investments,” Mandy said. “I strive to be a resource for our sales team in partnering with customers towards creating profitability and success on their dairy operations.”

ABS Global places an emphasis on group collaboration projects and she was able to apply the knowledge and skills she learned at Cal Poly to her everyday work.

“In my consulting role, it is important for me to be able to deliver a clear and mean-

ingful presentation, but to also provide an interactive session to foster a desire to learn more,” Mandy said.

While at Cal Poly, Mandy credited her involvement in the Dairy Challenge (a collegiate competition in which students evaluate various aspects of a dairy operation and develop an improvement plan) and being a member of the Cal Poly Dairy Judging Team for helping start her career in the dairy industry.

“I have been pleasantly surprised to find myself working alongside in the industry with peers I interacted with while growing up,” Mandy said. “You realize how small our agriculture world really is and it makes industry events like fun reunions to catch up with old friends.”

INDUSTRY

MELISSA AUGUSTO major: Agricultural Business graduated: June 2005

CARRIE ISAACSON

major: Agricultural Science, Concentration in Animal Science, Minor in Agricultural Communication graduated: June 2012

SARA HOLLENBECK

major: Agricultural Business, Minor in International Ag Policy graduated: June 2008

Visiting the nation’s historic capital is always an exciting adventure, but Cal Poly alumna Melisa Augusto has the privilege to call Washington, D.C., her home.

Melisa works for the National Farmers Union and currently serves as the Director of Membership and Marketing.

“National Farmers Union is a membership organization that advocates for the economic and social well-being and quality of life of family farmers, ranchers, fishermen and consumers,” Melisa said. “We promote sustainable production of food, feed, fiber and fuel and work with our 200,000 member families nationwide to support smart farm policies, educate the public and develop the next generation of farm leaders.”

While at Cal Poly, Melisa was a true example of an opportunity seeker. She was actively involved in Sigma Alpha, the Col-

lege of Agriculture, Food & Environmental Sciences Student Council, ASI Board of Directors and was the first female president of the Ag Ambassadors.

Between her extracurricular activities and projects in the classroom, Melisa gained valuable hands on experience that prepared her for the working world.

“In one of my final agribusiness classes, we actually worked with a client to develop a marketing plan, and that experience has helped me tremendously,” Melisa said.

“Learn by Doing is the only way to go!”

Besides being neighbors with the President of the United States of America, Washington, D.C., has an abundance of culture to experience and fun activities to take part in. “I love the work that I do,” Melisa said, “I get to live in a city while staying true to my roots in family farming. I feel like every day I am an advocate for my parents and all family farmers.”

For Cal Poly alumna Carrie Isaacson, limiting herself to California to pursue her career was not an option. Instead, she decided to pack her warmest jacket and move to Minneapolis to work at broadhead. broadhead is a full service marketing agency for which Carrie serves as a Senior Account Executive.

“My day is full of presenting creative and strategic ideas to my clients, researching new products and competitors and making sure my teammates are fully briefed on all projects at hand,” Carrie said.

Starting off in a new career can be challenging for anyone, but Carrie felt prepared for any project that came her way.

“Cal Poly’s Learn by Doing philosophy is the best way to prepare students for the workforce,” Carrie said. “Going in to my first job, I already knew what it was like to manage creative projects with many moving parts.”

Carrie is a great example of alumni who left SLOme to follow their dreams. “Don’t limit yourself to positions only in California,” Carrie said. “There are lots of great opportunities across the country.”

Whether it is feeding, nursing baby lambs back to health, sheering, or marketing, Sara is always finding a way to stay busy in Molt, Mont.

Sara works with her husband, Henry, on his family’s sheep ranch where they manage more than 3,200 ewes.

“Something I have learned since moving to Montana and working on a large ranching operation, is there is no such thing as ‘off the clock,’” Sara said. “Animals depend on you no matter what holiday or time of day it is.”

Like many college students, Sara had no idea what career she wanted to pursue after graduation.

“I tried to take as many different types of classes as possible to spur my interest in a specific direction,” Sara said.

“Learning from your peers is sometimes the best form of learning. I have realized,

since working, that you never stop learning, and I think Cal Poly instilled that into me.”

Outside of work, Sarah is also learning more about Montana as she travels to her husband’s rodeo competitions.

“It gives me a chance to see more of this beautiful state and meet more families within the rodeo world,” Sara said.

“I drove through Glacier National Park last summer and it was one of the most amazing places I have ever been to.”

Along with exploring the state, Sara enjoys preparing meals for the ranch employees, photography, and blogging on her website, hollenbeckranch.com.

It is alumni like Sara who combine their degree from Cal Poly with passion for agriculture and turn it into a lifestyle and career. agcircle | 27

Ranching in a State of Regulation

STORY BY KATIE ROBERTI PHOTOS BY ALDEN CALDWELL

E

gg prices in California are drastically rising and everyone is noticing. As of January 1, 2015, Proposition 2 (passed by voters in 2008) has gone into effect.

The new law requires California egg farmers to expand cage sizes for chickens and make expensive renovations to their current farms. Due to this new law, California’s egg prices are likely to increase 10 to 40 percent in 2015.

For California farmers and ranchers, there are always new protocols to adapt to in order to protect the state’s current agriculture production. While some regulations are needed and help to protect the producer, consumer and the environment, this is not always the case. Regulations intended for improvement often leave farmers and ranchers with a new law or regulation that is expensive, time consuming and stressful to implement.

California livestock producers are currently in a fight to prevent another costly regulation and most farmers believe it is not needed. The State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) recently that made claims grazing is a practice may need further regulation. According to the SWRCB, there are more than 120 grazing-related impairments in California and as a result, regulations have been put on the 303(d) list. A list which water

28 | Spring 2015

bodies with pollutant levels exceeding protective water quality standards.

The SWRCB believes these impairments are potentially related to grazing and something may need to be done to improve and protect the quality of those waters. The Grazing Regulatory Action Project (GRAP) was developed to look into this situation. The project is a collaborative effort of all nine of the regional boards in California. Whether the GRAP committee creates a proposal or regulation, it will be up to the SWRCB to provide approval or disapproval, and this has many livestock producers concerned.

Kirk Wilbur, Director of Government Regulations at the California Cattlemen’s Association (CCA), and his fellow CCA staff and members, have been working to fight the progression of GRAP. There are many issues they see with the current development of the project to improve grazing.

“The assumptions underlying this GRAP are concerning to the CCA and to our members,” Wilbur said. “We disagree with some of the Water Board’s foundational concerns on grazing.”

One of the main concerns is the lack of science to suggest whether livestock grazing is the actual cause of these impairments or if other wildlife or human causes have

INDUSTRY

created the problem. Many ranchers would argue there have been multiple studies completed showing, more often than not, grazing can be more helpful to waterways than harmful.

“They [SWRCB] haven’t demonstrated infinitely that grazing is in fact the problem or even a substantial problem,” Wilbur said.

Another concern of CCA is the 303(d) list has not been updated in over 30 years. This list is under section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act and lists impaired waters and develops Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs), for these waters. The cattlemen believe the list should be reexamined to better determine if livestock grazing is a cause of the impairments.

“We would like to see an examination of what the actual sources of the impairments were,” Wilbur said. “[The SWRCB] have jumped to the conclusion that grazing is a substantial cause of these impairments and we would like to more thoroughly unveil that information.”

The majority of ranchers believe responsible grazing adds more benefit than harm to the land, but do not see the need for another restriction on both public and private

lands. Just as new regulations on egg farmers have caused great restraint on their operations, livestock producers believe the additional proposal or regulation from the GRAP working group could have a brutal economic impact on them as well. Currently, there are approximately 39 million acres of grazing lands in California. Adding a new regulation would have a large effect on more than just livestock producers.

“We are already pretty hard hit by many other regulations,” Wilbur said. “We feel that there is a failure to recognize a lot of the measures that ranchers have already taken to ensure water quality.”

Ranchers want clean water and have been doing their part to maintain and improve waterways in California.

Many measures have already been taken by producers to maintain water quality across California. Over 1,000 producers have taken short courses on the topic of clean waterways provided by the California Cooperative Extension. Additionally, some ranches have designed specific water quality management plans or participate in various United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service programs.

Three outreach listening sessions regarding GRAP agcircle | 29

were held in California during January, including one in San Luis Obispo, Calif. CCA staff, officers, members and other industry advocates spoke at the hearings on their concerns of the GRAP working group’s current findings. Many producers want to see the SWRCB completely scrap their current ideas for GRAP and develop a new plan with the constant input of livestock producers throughout the state. Although the listening sessions are over, CCA and other allied industry organizations plan to stay deeply engaged in the issue.

“We have an advisory committee made up of CCA members, Farm Bureau members, Wool

Grower members and others where we are constantly discussing what our next steps are,” Wilbur said. “We have been meeting with them regularly and are going to continue meeting with them regularly to discuss our concerns.”

Agriculture is one of California’s most vital industries and ranchers plan to keep it this way. While new propositions, regulations and government laws will always be a concern to farmers and ranchers, strong organizations, such as CCA and CFBF, will always be hope for the Californians who value the state’s driving force ­– agriculture.

BENEFITS OF GRAZING LANDS Healthy grazing lands provide habitats for varieties of mammals, birds and insects.

30 | Spring 2015

Increased productivity and diversity of plants is often an outcome of good grazing management

Animal grazing can help reduce erosion and improve water quality.

Introduction of invasive plant species can be elimintated by animals grazing.

Information gathered from the USDA.

INDUSTRY

Keeping an Industry Alive STORY BY MARIANNA ZAVALA PHOTOS BY KATIE ROBERTI

O

ur world today is more environmentally conscious than ever before. Green and sustainable movements are gaining ground, bringing hope we as a country can manage resources in a responsible and ethical way. However, for many industries depending on the use of natural resources for survival, this movement is a double-edged sword. Though it is inspiring to see many individuals and businesses becoming more sustainable, there is a general lack of education concerning practices like logging. What most have forgotten is when managed properly, logging is a sustainable practice and trees are a renewable resource.

In its prime, logging represented the second-biggest sector of Alaska’s economy. The Tongass National Forest was once the backbone of this industry, bringing prosperity to the locals and their communities. Logging was so prosperous that in 1980, Congress ordered the National Forest Service to auction 4.5 billion board feet of lumber every decade. At the height of its success and activity, the timber industry in Alaska sup-

f cies d by g.

USDA.

ported 4,600 jobs. Today, however, logging employment is a mere shadow of its busy and successful past. As of 2011, logging jobs had fallen from 4,600 to approximately 307.

In a recent report conducted by the Alaska Department of Labor, payroll has fallen to $21 million for the logging and forest products manufacturing center. This is a loss of over $100 million in revenue since 1990.

The spiral of the Alaskan timber industry has, without a doubt, adversely affected local communities, schools and economies.

According to Dr. Sarah Bisbing, who holds a Ph.D. in forest ecology from Colorado State University and teaches several classes at Cal Poly, the people dependent on the timber industry barely make enough to get by as it is. When business does come in the form of logging and sale of wood products, the bigger mills and corporations make much of the profit. For many families who reside in smaller towns far from the interstate, if they lose a job, there are no other options in the immediate area. They must leave in order to find further opportunity and employment, perhaps in Alaska’s growing tourism industry.

For Steve Auten, the ranch operations and resource manager at Swanton Pacific Ranch in Santa Cruz, Calif., it is all about the balance between what the consumer needs and what will maintain natural resources for decades to come. Swanton Pacific Ranch is committed to ensuring the quality of its forestry pro-

gram as well as the health of its forests, and watches over 1,355 acres of forested property daily. In California, Swanton Pacific Ranch represents the pinnacle of proper forestry management. Swanton Pacific Ranch has the strictest forestry practices in Santa Cruz, and the city has the strictest practices in California. It is because of his experience in managing such a successful operation that Steve Auten believes the timber industry must be kept alive in Alaska.

“The question is, how do we balance markets and resource use, as well as the protection of those natural resources in Alaska?”

Auten asked while considering the implications of their dying timber industry. The sheer scale of forestry operations in Alaska, as well as a history of mismanagement, pose huge challenges to those trying to restore the balance between nature and consumer.

Both Auten and Bisbing agree aspects of the forestry industry seem out of balance. A majority of California’s wood imports come out of Canada or Brazil, where conservation practices are scarce or don’t exist at all. In Bisbing’s opinion, the United States needs to take on the responsibility of its own natural resources, because there is a need for local forest management to reduce overall global impact and carbon emissions.

In the end, it’s all about education. People need to understand if sustainable forestry is possible where the strictest policies exist (Santa Cruz, Calif.), then it is possible elsewhere. Auten has a great deal of experience dealing in these matters, and has always carried this message with him.

“I have a lot of hope for the future.

What people need to know is that you can produce and use natural resources and not destroy the place. It is possible,” Auten concluded. agcircle | 31

agcircle magazine

Brock Center for Agricultural Communication 1 Grand Avenue San Luis Obispo, CA 93407 Scan to view our blog. brockcenter.com

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