UC Blog
Most vet grads want to be pet doctors
Only 2 percent of veterinary school graduates in 2010 plan to work mostly with large animals, like cows, horses and swine, according a survey conducted by the American Veterinary Medical Association. An additional 7 percent studied a mixed curriculum that included all types of animals.
The statistics portend a shortage of large animal veterinarians and increased food safety risk because large-animal veterinarians serve as inspectors at ranches and slaughterhouses, said an Associated Press article about the survey.
The story, written by Olivia Muñoz, was published in the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, the Washington Post and other media outlets.
"We have known for years anecdotally that (large animal) vets were having a difficult time finding people to work at their practice or selling it when they retire," AVMA spokesman David Kirkpatrick told the reporter. "But now we know how big the problem is and how that will magnify over the years."
At the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, applicants interested in becoming farm-animal vets have an admissions edge, the AP article said. UC Davis has slowly boosted the number of students interested in large-animal medicine to 11 students out of 127, double the number from four years ago. The vet school has also reached out to high schools in rural areas.
More than a dozen states offer some type of loan repayment program or other incentives if students pledge to work in a region in need of large-animal vets. Vet students typically finish school with about $134,000 in debt, according to the AVMA.
Today, USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture announced in a news release that it will offer nearly $6 million to repay the veterinary school loans of 62 rural veterinarians. The recipients are required to commit to three years of veterinary service in a designated veterinary shortage area.
A shortage of large-animal veterinarians looms.
UC helps community develop local food systems
The movement in Lake County to encourage local citizens to consume locally produced agricultural products got a boost last month when a diversity of experts brought in ideas that have worked elsewhere in the state, according to a story in Lake County News.
Food systems analyst Gail Feenstra of the UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program explained how schools in Davis, Calif., increased students' fruit and vegetable consumption by tying the salad bar selections to school garden lessons.
To help fund the program, the coordinators turned food scraps into compost for the gardens. By reducing the amount of garbage, they saved the district $60,000 – enough to fund their positions and subsidize the gardens.
City of Davis voters also passed a parcel tax to help subsidize the program, finding it worthwhile to ensure all students were served nutritious lunches made from locally grown foods, the article said.
Shermain Hardesty, extension specialist for agricultural and resource economics at UC Davis, presented information at the gathering on establishing local food systems.
"Building things from scratch, by yourself, costs money. Look for partnerships using existing resources," Hardesty was quoted in the article.
She led an interactive exercise asking participants what was missing in Lake County's local food system, with grains, meat and dairy the most often mentioned. The group then discussed what infrastructure was needed to create local industries that would meet these needs.
Other projects supporting local agriculture addressed at the workshop were:
- The Lake County Community Co-Op, an online distribution system that enables members to order certified organic products directly from local producers
- “Lake County Grown,” sponsored by Lake County Farm Bureau, for online ordering of local produce
- The LAVA Center, which buys overages and blemished produce from farmers and adds value by turning it into another product, such as sauces or chutneys.
California olive oil production could soon be among the world's Top 10
With olive trees planted in 2008 beginning to come into production, Cooperative Extension olive expert Paul Vossen predicts this year's California olive oil crush will be the highest ever, according to an article in The Olive Oil Times.
Producers are expected to squeeze 4.5 million liters of oil from olives harvested in California.
The rapid planting-to-milling rate is a result of super-high-density planting. Traditionally, about 100 olive trees were planted to the acre. With the new system, 500 trees are planted to the acre in hedgerows, which come into production more quickly and allow for efficient mechanical harvesting.
Reporter Lori Zanteson also spoke to Dan Flynn, director of the UC Davis Olive Center. He said people are consuming more olive oil each year. Increased production in California means there are larger supplies of high quality oil to meet the demand.
In fact, high-density planting has the state's olive oil production growing at such a rate that Flynn believes California could rank among the world’s top ten olive oil producers within the decade.
Olive oil production.
Three ANR researchers receive NIFA grants
Three UC Davis researchers will receive grants from USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture for projects to benefit the California specialty-crop industry, according to a UC Davis news release issued yesterday.
The new grants are:
- $2.6 million to study the use of sensors for precision canopy and water management of specialty crops. The lead researcher is professor of biological and agricultural engineering Shrini Upadhyaya, a precision farming expert.
- $2.5 million to develop improved lettuce varieties. The research team, led by Richard Michelmore, director of the UC Davis Genome Center, will explore the genetic basis of horticulturally important traits in lettuce.
- $1.5 million to study the recurrent migration of Verticillium dahliae, a soilborne fungus that causes plant diseases. Researchers will investigate the relationship between international and interstate seed trade and spread of the fungus, as well as the risks of transmitting diseases and causing soil infestations by planting infected spinach and lettuce seed. The lead researcher is plant pathologist and Cooperative Extension specialist Krishna Subbarao. The Salinas Californian ran a story about the project last week.
Photo: Shrini Upadhyaya
Farm Bureau paper outlines ANR's future
The main focus for the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources in the coming year is beginning to rebuild, according to an article published today in AgAlert, the California Farm Bureau Federation's weekly newspaper.The article, written by assistant editor Ching Lee, was based on information gathered directly from ANR vice president Dan Dooley.
The story says Dooley expects to be able to hire 20 to 30 new Cooperative Extension advisors and specialists in the coming year. The good news comes in the wake of major restructuring last year due to a 20 percent budget cut.
The 2010-11 budget, he said, is a very positive budget for the University of California.
"I think one of the things we were able to do was change the relative priority of higher education," Dooley was quoted. "We put a lot of energy into the advocacy effort and engaged a lot of people, and I think it bore some fruit."
Dooley said he doesn't foresee any specific, major restructuring for ANR in the coming year, Lee wrote, but there could still be more changes.
"Regardless of funding, if it's appropriate for us to look at more efficient mechanisms to administer our programs, we're going to continue to do that," Dooley was quoted. "I just think that's good business. Any successful private business is always looking at its organization and asking the question, 'Are we properly managing our efforts?' And we'll continue to do that here as well."