We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples. Today, Arizona is home to 22 federally recognized tribes, with Tucson being home to the O’odham and the Yaqui. Committed to diversity and inclusion, the university strives to build sustainable relationships with sovereign Native Nations and Indigenous communities through education offerings, partnerships and community service.
A PUBLICATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA’S OFFICE OF RESEARCH, INNOVATION & IMPACT
ASSOCIATE EDITORS EDEN JAEGER, EMILY LITVACK, KRISTINA MAKANSI, BONNIE JEAN
MICHALSKI, CRAIG RECK
Some content in this magazine draws on U of A communications by Logan Burtch-Buus, Elena Lopez and Leslie Hawthorne Klingler.
Work highlighted represents research and innovation across the University of Arizona and in collaboration with partners throughout the state. Thank you to faculty and staff in the U of A College of Agriculture, Life & Environmental Sciences; College of Science; Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health; College of Social and Behavioral Sciences; College of Education; U of A Cooperative Extension and many more.
QUESTIONS & FEEDBACK research@arizona.edu
COVER PHOTO LISA ROMERO
A head of lettuce grown in the southern farming region of Arizona’s Yuma County. At the Yuma Center of Excellence for Desert Agriculture, University of Arizona researchers are partnering with industry to strengthen cultivars, develop new technologies and fight crop pathogens like the fungi genus Fusarium. See page 19 to learn more.
Credit: Leslie Hawthorne Klingler
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
Elliott Cheu on agriculture and the future of food
2 3 4 8 9 12 13 16 18 20 21
CROPS, CANALS & DRONES
Innovating for Arizona industry
INDIGENOUS AGRICULTURE
Partnering with and learning from tribal nations
ON THE HORIZON
An update on U of A commission activities
GROWING PROBLEMS
Researching solutions to soil salinity
CHANGING LAND & LIVES
Extension, rangelands and tribal advancement
AGRICULTURE VS. CLIMATE CHANGE
Developing crops for a hotter, drier world
WORKING SMARTER FOR MEAT PRODUCTION
Navigating new challenges and opportunities
PARTNERING FOR GROWTH
Yuma Center of Excellence for Desert Agriculture
DATA DISCOVERY
New study unearths vital industry data
CULTIVATING TOMORROW
UA Yuma and workforce development
Credit: Leslie Hawthorne Klingler
A letter from
ELLIOTT CHEU
“Solutions we’re developing here will serve as models for other arid regions” —Elliott Cheu
ocated in the heart of the Sonoran Desert, more than half of Arizona is currently experiencing severe to exceptional drought conditions. Yet, the state ranks among the highest in agricultural water usage nationwide due to its extensive crop and food production. This dichotomy isn’t sustainable. To produce more food using less water and meet the needs of growing populations in and outside of our state, Arizona’s agriculture industry needs to reinvent itself with climate-smart, conservation-forward technologies and practices.
Guided by our land-grant mission to use our research expertise and educational resources to improve the lives of individuals, families and communities across the state, the University of Arizona is poised to meet this challenge. As you will learn in this magazine, we are shaping the future of agriculture in many ways: harnessing solar power in growing food, using drones to monitor crops, working with tribal communities to integrate ancestral practices and more.
As the rapidly drying climate continues to threaten food, water and agriculture systems around the globe, the agile, real-world solutions we’re developing here will serve as models for other arid regions and foster an environmentally conscious next generation of practitioners.
CROPS, CANALS & DRONES
CONSERVING WATER IN ARIZONA AGRICULTURE
Ethan Orr leads a dozen U of A Cooperative Extension scientists who work hand-in-glove with farmers in Arizona. He loves the breadth of the work—his title is associate director for agriculture, natural resources and economic development —calling that the best part of his job: “Research can get very siloed, but we get to bring all these areas together in very applied ways.”
Three years into a $62.6 million public-private grant to conserve water in agriculture, the team has partnered with industry to already lower use by 36,000 acre-feet per year—equivalent to drinking water for 400,000+ residents.
Interventions range from crop selections to cement-lined canals shaded by solar panels. Transitioning from flood irrigation to center pivot and drip systems saves water while reducing erosion that worsens dust storms and heat islands. Precision agriculture, using drones and other advanced tech, is bringing broadband to rural communities,
with cascading benefits for education, business and governance.
Orr notes that their work builds on much to be proud of: Arizona uses less water now than it did in the 1960s, despite triple the population and a 50% higher value of agricultural production.
He attributes much of that success to exceptional collaboration: “We have farmers that have been on the land for three or four generations working hand-in-glove with PhD scientists who are some of the best in their fields. There’s great mutual respect and camaraderie.”
There are also highly cost-effective results, compared to most other proposed approaches. A project to transport and desalinate water from the Sea of Cortez, for example, was projected to cost $3,000 per acre-foot. In contrast, solutions under the current grant have come at an acre-foot cost of just $209.
AN ECOSYSTEM SUCCESS
A recent project in Verde Valley, AZ, illustrates the success that can stem from a holistic, systems-thinking approach integrating environmental as well as economic goals.
THE PROBLEM
Verde Valley’s economy, especially farming, relies on the Verde River watershed. Even pumping groundwater reduces river levels. Since 1990, its flow has dropped more than 40% in some areas.
PARTIAL SOLUTION KEY INNOVATION
The U of A helped local farmers convert from water-intensive alfalfa to malt barley. Combined with improved watering systems, the swap saves some 652,000 gallons of water/year.
Marketability is key. The project also established a facility for roasting barley to improve farmers’ business margins. It now supplies locallyroasted barley for craft breweries in Verde Valley and around the state.
INDIGENOUS AGRICULTURE
LEARNING FROM AND PARTNERING WITH TRIBAL NATIONS
Modern agriculture can benefit from Indigenous wisdom when it comes to restoring and sustaining health and well-being, for people as well as for the planet. So advocates Michael Kotutwa Johnson, assistant professor at the School of Natural Resources, observing that in industrial farming, “We force the land to adapt to us instead of adapting to the land, and the land has suffered.”
Kotutwa Johnson leads or co-leads a number of studies exploring traditions, adaptations and potential new directions related to Indigenous agriculture. As a 250th-generation Hopi farmer, he knows first-hand that for centuries, Hopi families and communities have successfully raised crops by working in harmony with available resources and the environment.
Through his affiliation with the university’s Indigenous Resilience Center, Kotutwa Johnson is leading the IndigiSEEDS research initiative, cultivating seeds from maize, gourds, squash and a variety of other traditional
Indigenous crops in three locations: U of A property in central Tucson, the town of Arcosanti in Yavapai County and his family’s land on the Hopi Reservation. The project will help farmers, scientists and tribal leaders understand how the locations’ varying soils, elevations and temperatures affect the nutritional density of each crop: the concentration of essential nutrients relative to calorie content. The study aims to provide data that can help Indigenous communities decide which crops to grow for specific environments and resources. The research could also help optimize agriculture decisions in arid and semi-arid regions around the world.
Michael Kotutwa Johnson’s work is funded, in part, through the Arizona Partnership for Climate Smart Food grant ($4.7M, USDA) and Climate Resilience Through Indigenous Co-Design at the Food, Energy and Water Nexus grant ($2M, Waverley Street Foundation).
“We force the land to adapt to us instead of adapting to the land, and the land has suffered.”
Michael Kotutwa Johnson
Courtesy of Michael Kotutwa Johnson
AGRIVOLTAICS & CLIMATE-SMART CROPS
Arizona has one of the highest rates of agricultural water use per acre. Roughly 90% of that comes from groundwater, and the energy required for pumping it produces significant greenhouse gas emissions. U of A researchers are finding ways to reduce those impacts, including through agrivoltaics, a new take on a centuries-old strategy.
AN INTERVIEW WITH N. LEVI ESQUERRA
PARTNERING WITH TRIBAL NATIONS
N. Levi Esquerra, senior vice president of Native American advancement and tribal engagement, offers perspective on the U of A commitment to expanding partnerships with tribal farmers and agriculture.
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF PARTNERING WITH TRIBAL NATIONS
“On the one hand, it’s just a natural fit, right? We’re talking about generations and generations of knowledge there’s a steep learning curve that has already happened. And then there’s the fact that nearly 30% of land in Arizona is federal trust land for tribes. When I walk into my office, I see 22 tribal flags reminding me that there are 22 sovereign nations we serve. Many of those are senior water rights holders who absolutely play an essential role in Arizona’s future.”
Credit: Ryan Hunt
ON TRIBAL NATIONS IN THE FUTURE OF ARIZONA’S AGRICULTURE
“As cities continue to push more and more farming away, I do think we’re going to see tribes playing a more prominent role in the state’s agriculture. The other thing that fascinates me is how tribal nations are blending traditional and modern methods to be as water-efficient and water-effective as possible. The Gila River Indian Community is installing solar panels over canals to reduce evaporation and cool the panels. The Colorado River Indian Tribes are now growing alfalfa, which is traditionally done with flood irrigation, using drip systems with great results.”
ON BUILDING EQUITABLE RELATIONSHIPS
“The first time we met with Robert Miguel, chairman of the Ak-Chin Indian Community, our only ‘talking points’ were to listen and learn. When we wrapped up three and a half hours later, he said it had felt like a Sunday dinner in his family home, talking with friends. By listening and not just dictating solutions, we can offer things that genuinely benefit our partners, not just check our own boxes. This can’t be just the university extracting knowledge, so the most important thing is to prioritize listening and learning.”
TRADITIONAL HOPI FARMING STRATEGIES
In Hopi society, agriculture is a traditional way of life, deeply integrated with cultural values and spiritual beliefs. The protocols for planting as part of that tradition “dry farming” in agricultural science achieve sustainability by preventing soil nutrients from being depleted and leveraging biodiversity and natural properties in the environment.
FERTILE LAND
The Hopi grow crops on alluvial plains, where intermittent flooding distributes nutrient-rich sediment.
NATURAL WATERING
Rather than relying on irrigation, crops are watered by monsoon rains that evenly disperse water and nutrients.
LOW-WATER CROPS
Farming is built around arid-adapted cultivars, such as maize varieties that grow extensive root systems to seek out moisture.
REDUCED EVAPORATION
Growth is thinned to 6 or 7 plants once they reach about one foot high. Grouped in this way, the plants shade and cool each other and the ground, reducing evaporation.
SEED PLACEMENT
Planted in widely spaced excavations with 10–12 seeds each, bowl-like depressions protect vulnerable seeds and seedlings.
WORKING WITH SOIL
Farmers ensure the earth remains loose and nutrient-rich by spacing out crops and harvesting only the cobs, beans, etc., leaving the rest of each plant to compost in the fields.
ON THE HORIZON
AN UPDATE ON U OF A COMMISSION ACTIVITIES
2023 saw the launch of the U of A Initiative for the Future of Agriculture and Food Production in a Drying Climate. Following publication of initial findings and recommendations, co-chair Laura Condon shares the project’s next steps.
ON BROADENING PERSPECTIVE
“For this next phase, we decided we needed a broader perspective, and we wanted to give everyone the space to think about the findings in the initial report. About 30 people from across campus are part of the initiative now, and as a whole, we decided to spend this first year figuring out what our priorities are: which recommendations to act on now and which ones to save for later.
We formed a subcommittee to assess strengths and needs across the university. We had a group look into potential partners, locally and globally, to identify who we should collaborate with. Another group has focused on funding strategies and ensuring we’re competitive for state and federal appropriations.”
ON WHAT LIES AHEAD
“One of our guiding principles has always been not to compete with existing efforts but to bring them together. So this fall, we’ll host events across campus to hear about people’s challenges and how we can help. We want to know what a university-level initiative can do that’s truly impactful, not just adding a layer of bureaucracy.
We understand the vital role agriculture plays in our state and in the country’s food stability, especially for winter crops. Doing it sustainably and setting an example for other warming and drying regions is crucial. And as a land grant university, we understand our responsibilities there. We’re doing great work, and this is about
asking, “How can we be better? Can we help save the world?”
We have people here who could save the world, and what really impresses me is that all of these busy, successful people are genuinely committed to this initiative and genuinely show up.”
Laura Condon, associate professor of hydrology and atmospheric sciences, leads the HydroGEN project to improve modeling of water systems. Water modeling to date often relies on physical equations to simulate how mass and energy move through watersheds. Condon’s key innovation is using physics-based models to train machine learning models that perform in a fraction of the time. Funded by the National Science Foundation, HydroGEN also offers user-friendly tools, making advanced water modeling accessible to everyday leaders, managers and policy-makers.
GROWING PROBLEMS
Biogeochemist Joey Blankinship, voted the biggest nerd in his high school senior class, was a scientist even as a child: figuring out which “Rube Goldberg” contraptions would keep his older brothers out of his room, mixing chemistry-set substances that probably aren’t even legal now, he jokes. But growing up in suburbia, largely removed from nature, it was his mom’s backyard garden where he first fell in love with earth.
“Back then, food springing from soil seemed like magic,” he recalls. Now, forty years later, it seems even more so – magical and desperately important. It was that second impression, watching acres of almond orchards roll by as he drove through Califor-
nia’s Central Valley, that led Blankinship to pivot from 15 years of studying only natural ecosystems.
“I began feeling dissatisfied with my trajectory,” he recalls. “I wanted more meaningful work.” Enter agriculture.
Blankinship transferred his knowledge of soil ecology to agroecosystems, which today face the greatest challenges in arid regions around the world, grappling with rising heat, water scarcity and salinity, among other issues.
“We must find ways to sustainably produce nutritious food despite climate change,” he says, noting two everpresent reminders that help keep that North Star in focus: “My five-year-old twins motivate me every day to do whatever I can to help ‘save the world.’”
“There’s a saying in ag education: E. coli kills people, salinity kills civilizations.”
—Joey Blankinship
Joey Blankinship at work and play.
Credit: Ryan Hunt
SCARCITY, SALTS AND DESERT FARMING
THE TROUBLE WITH SALTS
Sunny Yuma, AZ, grows 90% of all lettuce eaten in the U.S. during winter. Light and warmth are why arid and semiarid lands globally produce 60% of our food, but agriculture in hot, dry places also presents distinct challenges.
SCIENCE FOR SUSTAINABILITY WATER
EXPLORING SOIL-SIDE SOLUTIONS IN ARID AGRICULTURE
As founding director of the Desert Agriculture Soil Health Initiative (DASHI), much of Blankinship’s work tackles the pervasive challenge of soil salinity. “There’s a saying in ag education,” he notes:
“‘E. coli kills people, salinity kills civilizations.’ One of the best examples is ancient Mesopotamia compared to ancient Egypt. Egypt managed their salts and survived. Mesopotamia did not.”
In arid lands, irrigation always brings salts to fields. Without heavy rains to push them deeper into the ground, they accumulate, weakening and even killing crops. Desalinization is incredibly expensive, so Blankinship, associate professor of environmental science, is exploring solutions on the soil side of the equation.
One promising intervention lies in halophilic (salt-loving) microorganisms, which flourish in saline conditions toxic to most other life. By promoting other beneficial microbes in the soil, they boost a crops’ overall resilience to salt stress. Amendments that change the physical and chemical properties of soil also show promise,
enabling salt leaching with less water. Another strategy involves electromagnetic field (EMF) waves that alter salts, making them easier to leach or extract.
Increasing heat and drought make salinity worse. Less water increases salt concentrations in rivers, lakes, groundwater and irrigation canals. Scarcity compounds the problem by forcing fallowing: leaving fields unplanted and bare out of necessity. “When there’s not enough water to go around, it becomes the only option,” Blankinship explains.
In wetter parts of the world, bare fallowing can help restore soil health. But in arid lands, groundwater often isn’t deep. Capillary action draws it upward, along with its salts, sometimes even forming a white crust on the land. Fallowing in arid lands increases erosion. It destroys vital organic matter in the soil. In Southern Arizona, bare fallowing doesn’t solve problems, it makes them worse.
Thus, another branch of Blankinship’s ongoing research investigates cover crops to overcome these issues, including photosynthetic
microalgae. These water-efficient, microscopic organisms form a living mat over the land, shielding against erosion and adding nutrients. They foster beneficial microbes in the soil and absorb carbon dioxide from the air for the added benefit of greenhouse gas sequestration.
Sesbania, a hardy legume known for drought tolerance, offers another potential cover. While mostly inedible for humans, its dense growth suppresses weeds. Its extensive root system reduces erosion, and like other legumes, its roots are home to bacteria that convert nitrogen in the air into soil compounds that plants need and can readily absorb. Chances are it will take an arsenal of strategies to globally tackle the entangled challenges of water scarcity, forced fallowing and soil salinity. Rapid climate change is shortening the window for solutions, but for Blankinship, the key is to stay grounded, literally: “Obstacles present opportunities for growth,” he says. “Just like in my childhood garden, we need to embrace the magic of nurturing healthy soils to grow healthy food.”
CHANGING LAND & LIVES
EXTENSION WORK IN RESTORATION AND TRIBAL ADVANCEMENT
ELISE GORNISH
Extension Specialist in Ecological Restoration & Director of the Gornish Lab
Elise Gornish researches and develops practical strategies for dry lands restoration, addressing erosion control, soil health and plant growth using simple, low-cost techniques.
A current project explores how rangelands can best benefit from media lunas: rocks arranged in simple half crescents, an ecological intervention at least 4,000 years old. The durable structures disrupt rain runoff, reducing erosion. That runoff also drops whatever organic material it was carrying. Seeds and more col-
lect at the rocks, boosting microbial activity. The improved soil promotes plant growth, creating cooler microenvironments that retain moisture longer.
Gornish grew up in New York City, an unlikely candidate for the work she now does. “I didn’t even see my first cow until I was 10,” she recalls, but she was eventually drawn to science, which then led her to agriculture: “I spent a lot of time at work, so I wanted to do something I thought was important, an area of science that was attempting to solve problems. That’s what’s most fulfilling.”
TRENT TEEGERSTROM
Extension Specialist in Ag Economics & Associate Director for Tribal Extension Programs
Trent Teegerstrom was first drawn to working with Indigenous communities when, as an undergraduate, he saw disparities in access to resources. In the 1980s, he started working with tribal nations in the Midwest and ever since has dedicated his career to improving quality of life in those communities.
Among many successes, he helped Navajo Nation Tribal Extension agents with the establishment and delivery of the Navajo Beef Program so that ranchers could command higher market pricing. The program educates and certifies producers on best practices in breeding, care, quality assurance, marketing and range management. Its 80 participants to date have doubled income per head of cattle for total projected revenues of $1.2 million.
“You really need boots on the ground,” Teegerstrom says of the relationships Extension has built with tribes over decades. “You have to spend time there and talk with folks to really understand who they are and how you can work together.”
Courtesy of Elise Gornish
Credit: Leslie Hawthorne Klingler
Credit: Leslie Hawthorne Klingler
AGRICULTURE VS. CLIMATE CHANGE
RACING TO STRENGTHEN CROPS FOR A HOTTER, DRIER WORLD
Given the stakes and nature of his work, William Duke Pauli is exactly where he needs to be.
“I often say that Arizona has the climate of tomorrow today,” he explains, “and my research program is focused on the genetics of tolerance for abiotic stresses on plants, specifically heat and drought.”
Associate professor in the School of Plant Sciences and director of the U of A Center for Agroecosystems Research, Pauli grew up in grew up in Montana—Big Sky Country. His work in genomics began there, mapping genes to improve the state’s malting barley, harvested then at nearly a million acres a year.
Building on that work, today Pauli is creating the most advanced agricultural research platform in the world one that rapidly accelerates research in a race against the ticking clock of climate change.
Pauli’s work is wide-ranging. Current projects include modeling how water moves through cotton plants, finding ways to maintain yields with less irrigation and making discoveries that could rewrite a half-century’s understanding of how plants regulate their water-use. He’s collaborating with plant sciences professor Elizabeth Arnold in research on tepary beans, looking at their arid-land adaptations and how certain microbes make them more resilient. And through it all, he’s been steadily building tools to revolutionize the speed and success of plant breeding programs.
Therein lies the through-line of Pauli’s work: discovering how plant genes drive certain physical variations— ranging from
“ Arizona has the climate of tomorrow today.”
—Duke Pauli
the orientation of their leaves to the depth of their roots to how much water they need. It relies on high-throughput phenotyping (HTP), a general term for technologies that quickly measure multiple physical traits in a large set of plants, like an entire crop. At the Maricopa Agricultural Center, it’s done with sensor-equipped drones and the robotic Maricopa Field Scanner the world’s largest at 75 feet tall, weighing in at 30 tons repeatedly passing over two acres of fields.
The datasets collected through HTP are both massive and complex the system generates more than 300 TBs in one season. Analysis requires advanced algorithms, machine learning and AI, all working together to identify genes linked to desirable
characteristics like drought resistance traits that will be critical to food security in a hotter, drier future. That work happens on CyVerse, an open-science platform launched by the National Science Foundation and managed by the U of A, used by more than 100,000 scientists around the world.
But Pauli didn’t stop there, with knowledge represented just in charts and words. He and his team built a system that turns all those measurements and high-resolution images into a crop’s digital twin, replicated plant by plant in every stage of growth, each plant keyed to all of its associated data, including genomics. Newly integrated large language models (LLMs, like ChatGPT), allow scientists to perform real-time, voicedriven analytics through the system without writing even one line of code.
All of these elements converge in a critical advantage: crop improvement studies can now be done in a fraction of the time compared to traditional methods. “Phenotyping is one of the greatest limiting factors on the rate of crop improvement,” Pauli says, a factor overcome by sophisticated modeling. And that matters, he notes. With climate change outpacing every prediction, we’re running out of time to figure out food security as the world heats up.
“For everyone working in this field, there’s so much we’ve always thought about, like ‘If I could just do that, or just do this.’ Now, here, those barriers are coming down. We have the right people. We have the Field Scanner. We have CyVerse. We have all the resources we need, and we’re in the right environment at the right time. So now it’s like, ‘Yeah, let’s do this.”
RAPID RESEARCH THROUGH DIGITAL TWINS
At the U of A Maricopa Agriculture Center, Duke Pauli is building the world’s most advanced agriculture research platform—one that can accelerate development of new cultivars that are more resilient, efficient and productive.
GENES & GEOLOCATION
First, scientists link the precise geolocation of each seed planted to its genetic data so they know its genotype as it grows.
DIGITAL TWIN PLANTS & CROPS
For each plant, data from scans creates an exact digital twin. Connecting that to genetic records and data from spatial and ground-level surveys, researchers can study the links between genotypes, phenotypes and environmental conditions over each plant’s lifecycle.
FIELD SCANNER
The Maricopa Field Scanner soars over crops on a 30-ton gantry, collecting highresolution data on each plant with 3D laser scanners, shortwave infrared scanners and other sensors, generating up to 10 TBs of data daily.
DRONES
Unmanned aerial systems with RGB cameras and thermographic sensors log canopy temperature, growth rates and estimated yields, rapidly covering large areas and identifying plant stress in real time.
CYVERSE
Data from drones and the Field Scanner are conveyed to CyVerse, an open-source platform that further accelerates research by providing public access to all data, along with standardized data processing workflows.
RAPID EXPERIMENTATION
Using digital twins and AI, scientists can now do what’s never before been possible: test hypotheses in real time by virtually varying plant genotypes and environmental conditions. In hours—not decades—they can grow hundreds of iterations of virtual crops.
NEW CULTIVARS
Ultimately, the combination of integrated datasets and advanced modeling provides a rapid, robust way to isolate desirable genes. Breeders can then use that knowledge to create new cultivars that thrive under environmental stress.
WORKING SMARTER FOR MEAT PRODUCTION
NAVIGATING NEW EXPECTATIONS AND GROWING DEMAND
Duane Wulf shares insights on developments in the meat production industry. Wulf directs the U of A Arizona Initiative for Arid Lands Animal Production Center.
ON GROWING DEMAND FOR MEAT
“When you look at worldwide demand over the next 15 years, it’s projected to rise, mainly due to China, Africa, South America places where their economies are growing and populations are increasing. As the per capita income goes up, households that had meat once or twice a week are now wanting it every day.”
ON CHANGING CONSUMER MARKETS
“In the past, production was almost totally driven by cost-efficiency. That’s still a large driver, but we now have a lot more segments with different demands. For instance, some consumers want to know the story behind their food: Who raised it? Was it done in a humane and sustainable way? That creates opportunities, but it doesn’t fit well with how
the industry historically developed, and we still need to efficiently produce large volumes of food. So the question is, how do we align and evolve our systems to meet these new consumer needs.”
ON STUDENT EDUCATION
“Most students fresh out of high school don’t realize the depth of science and technology involved in this industry. But as a professor, I find that once they have some classes, they really start to understand how exciting it is. And there’s so much opportunity in our state. So a main focus for us is building programs that attract students to give them that first taste not just from Arizona, but also recruiting top-notch students from across the country.”
TAKING ACTION FOR ARIZONA’S ECONOMY
ANIMAL AGRICULTURE EDUCATION
Short-term, intensive trainings for industry professionals; a 15-week certification for high school graduates and industry newcomers, in conjunction with Yavapai Community College; public education around animal handling, meat quality and safety.
INDUSTRY COLLABORATION
Assistance in adopting new technologies, such as virtual fencing and sexed semen breeding; collaborative research to improve safety, quality and profits; training and support for new meat processing enterprises to overcome bottlenecks.
NEW FACILITIES UNDERWAY
Renovated Food Products & Safety Lab a $10.9M expansion and modernization; new cattle feeding facility for teaching, Extension and research on cattle intakes, gains and other performance measures; new processing facility to provide meat processing for local ranchers.
Stephanie Slinski holds a lettuce cultivar grown in Yuma, Arizona. Slinski (PhD in plant pathology) leads YCEDA collaborations to combat Fusarium wilt and other crop diseases.
YUMA CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR DESERT AGRICULTURE
PARTNERING FOR GROWTH
About a hundred farmers walk among the fields of lettuce, enjoying some of the 4,015 yearly hours of sunlight that make Yuma, AZ, the sunniest place on Earth. They measure head sizes. They cut heads open, discuss their fullness. Some varieties were bred to resist disease, some to need less water or thrive in heat. Together, they’re one of many ways YCEDA is bringing meaningful support to the everevolving challenges and opportunities of agriculture.
YCEDA’s public-private model, combining university funding, grants and private investment, creates a uniquely collaborative environment, says executive director Tanya Hodges. Farmers bring real-world challenges to the table. YCEDA pulls together funding streams and assembles expertise from different disciplines and institutions: the U of A, industry associations, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and more. Together, growers and scientists get to work.
“It’s a model that accelerates research,” Hodges explains. “There’s ongoing dialogue. The farmers investing in the work are giving insight, asking, ‘Have you thought about doing it this way?’ It means we can be nimble and more responsive, and in the end, it ensures that we’re coming up with practical, useful solutions not just for our stakeholders, but for the industry as a whole.”
YCEDA is currently analyzing and publishing data from a six-year study that used sensors to amass a wealth of realtime data on salinity, evaporation rates and other field conditions. They secured grants and built a coalition to bring robust internet to Yuma County, making technologies like AI and remote sensing accessible to every farm while navigating the political and logistical challenges of border-region broadband. Projects and summits tackle plant pathologies, water assessments, increasing crop yields, unmanned aerial systems and wastewater epidemiology for workforce safety.
For Stephanie Slinski, whose research on fusarium fungi has been key in fighting one of agriculture’s most intractable diseases, the work is satisfying on both a scientific and personal level. At times it evokes memories from childhood: her grandfather’s one-acre field and roadside farmstand, “pulling carrots out of the ground and eating them, picking warm cherry tomatoes and snap peas and big armfuls of flowers.”
“There’s something really special about farmers,” Slinski says. “They’re curious. They’re passionate. They’re an essential part of food security in the U.S., and they truly care about soil and water and the environment. They’re just a really wonderful group of people to work with.”
Credit: Leslie Hawthorne
DATA DISCOVERY
With funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as AZ nonprofit Portable Practical Educational Preparation, the Arizona Farmworker Enumeration Profiles Study (AZ-FEPS) is compiling county-level information on agriculture workers and their households across Arizona – an effort last undertaken in 2008.
Katherine Ellingson leads a team of researchers and project partners collecting data to estimate credible counts of farmworkers in Arizona important information for public health and policy, as well as for industry, non-profit and academic stakeholders.
“I’m an infectious disease epidemiologist focused on occupational health,” says Ellingson, associate professor in the university’s Zuckerman College of Public Health. “Farmworkers are exposed to a number of health threats: heat, injury, emerging diseases. Knowing how many people in Arizona are working in agriculture can help with keeping that workforce safe, which also has implications for food and economic security.”
The AZ-FEPS team is compiling information through surveys, informant interviews and analyses of crop reports and other records. The goal is to enumerate everyone working hands-on with industry-level crops or livestock—including planting, raising, harvesting, processing or packaging—and validating data from various angles has been key to overcoming challenges inherent to the project.
For example, many agricultural workers are migratory, moving between farms, states and even countries from one season to the next. Another challenge has been earning the trust of farm operators, who have valid concerns around sharing information that might compromise business operations or competitiveness.
The year-long project culminates in summer 2024 and potentially establishes a new model for workforce research. In addition to data collection, the CDC funding supports development and evaluation of AZ-FEPS’ novel academic-community-government approach to farmworker enumeration.
FILLING CRITICAL DATA GAPS
Agriculture is a matter of economic and national security, and, in a nation where almost no households are food self-sufficient, literally a matter of life and death. Here’s how AZ-FEPS data will help.
RISK MODELING
Data on numbers of workers plus where/how they work is essential for modeling how illnesses could spread through industry sectors.
HEALTH RESOURCES
Accurate data is crucial for allocating testing, vaccines and other resources during emergencies like the COVID pandemic.
WORKFORCE PLANNING
Data is vital for planning around future industry needs, bottlenecks, shortfalls and other labor challenges as the industry evolves.
ENUMERATING AZ’S AG WORKFORCE
CULTIVATING TOMORROW
YUMA CENTER, AGRICULTURE & WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
Today’s agriculture would be all but unrecognizable to a farmer or rancher from a century ago, when tractors were far less common than draft animals. University of Arizona at Yuma plays a key role in developing workforce for today’s industry and the future, says director of agriculture programs, Baleshka Brenes.
The campus offers the only degree specifically for local ag workforce, the B.S. in Agricultural Systems Management. Academics are guided by its Grow Our Own task force, a USDA-funded initiative that brings together educators and industry to design degrees aligned with sector needs and jobs.
“We are small, but we’re mighty, too, and we’re making a difference in our community,” Brenes says, explaining some of the ways Yuma Center is rising to the challenges of modern agriculture.
ACCESS FOR UNDERSERVED POPULATIONS
The student body is roughly 70% Hispanic and 70% first-generation college students. The campus offers a number of “2+2” programs: two years at partner community colleges plus two years at the U of A, culminating in a bachelor degree. Students from nearby Imperial Valley College, which serves one of California’s agricultural regions, pay the same tuition as Arizona residents.
EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
All students complete internships as well as independent study projects designing a research program, collecting and analyzing data and communicating findings. Industry professionals teach specialized classes, and minors and certificate programs offer deeper learning in critical areas, including food safety and business analytics.
INFORMATION & ADVOCACY
Today’s farmers and ranchers face controversies around agricultural vs. urban water use, misinformation and new consumer-driven questions and pressures. The campus offers coursework in ag law, and required communications classes build skills for briefing reports, press releases, public speaking and multimedia information campaigns.
NEXT-GEN TECHNOLOGIES
Precision agriculture relies heavily on biosystems engineering and high-tech sensors and equipment. It requires an understanding of microbiology and how data drives innovation and success. Yuma Center is developing programs that embed engineering, data and research throughout the curricula and merge agriculture with departments and labs across the university to build interdisciplinary expertise.
Established in 1885 and synonymous with academic and research excellence, the Carnegie‐recognized R1 University of Arizona is the state’s land grant institution. Ranked among the nation’s top 25 public universities by U.S. News & World Report and #16 for the employability of its graduates, U of A is in the top 4% of all universities—both public and private—with more than $955 million in research and development activity in FY23 as ranked by the National Science Foundation. More than $99 million of that research is through the College of Agriculture, Life & Environmental Sciences, which also provides more than a million dollars in annual student scholarships. The U of A water resources program is ranked #2 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report and #8 in the world by ShanghaiRankings.
