Mail Address:
Agricultural Issues Center
University of California
1 Shields Avenue
Davis, CA 95616-8514 |
Telephones:
Telephone: 530 752 2320
Fax: 530 752 5451
E-mail: agissues@ucdavis.edu |
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new location as of 9/21/07
Location:
(Directions)
Reception office: 569 Kerr Hall, UC Davis campus
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Mission of the UC
Agricultural Issues Center
The UC Agricultural Issues
Center is a forum for the identification and analysis of important
issues affecting the agricultural sector. AIC
provides broadly based, objective information on a range of critical,
emerging agricultural issues and their significance for the economy
and natural resources through studies, conferences and publications.
We study topics such as international markets, invasive pests
and diseases, the value of agricultural research and development,
agricultural policy and the rural environment among others. The
issues are often global, but we emphasize implications for agriculture
and natural resources in California.
The audience for AIC research and outreach includes decision
makers in agriculture and government, scholars and students,
journalists and the general public.
Our priorities
- International trade and globalization of agriculture.
- Advances in productivity and technology in agriculture.
- Linkages between natural resources, the environment and agriculture.
- Rural-urban interactions, particularly land use issues.
- Agricultural personnel and labor issues.
- Commodity market and agribusiness issues.
Our
organization
The Center consists of a director, several associate directors,
a small professional staff and an Advisory Board. The Board, made
up of leaders from the agricultural community and other public sectors,
helps determine the Center's agenda and provides policy guidance
for its programs. The associate directors, chosen from UC research
and extension personnel, lead our efforts in particular program
areas. In a sense, the "staff" of the AIC includes the entire UC
faculty and more. When issues have been selected for study, researchers
from across the UC system and representatives of government and
industry are invited to help design and carry out the effort. Center
projects may involve 50 or more individuals for a year or two, with
the Center coordinating study groups and providing support. Major
projects have focused on such issues as:
- Chemicals in the human food chain.
- Irrigation water transfers from two Northern California counties.
- Animal agriculture's impacts on water quality.
- Maintaining viable agriculture at the urban edge.
- Exotic pests and diseases of plants and animals in California.
Other Center activities have ranged from "competitive edge" studies
of agricultural industries to development of a better system for
estimating California's farm exports.
Significant financial support for the Center comes from (1) the
state appropriation established at the Center's inception, (2)
supplemental funding from the UC Division of Agricultural and
Natural Resources, (3) extramural grants for specific projects,
and (4) an endowment currently being built through gifts from
individuals, foundations and corporate donors.
Annual Report 2004
Advisory
Board - see also: Annual
Report
Charles D. Ahlem
Charles D. Ahlem is the owner/operator of Charles Ahlem Ranch in Turlock with 4,000 Jersey milking cows and farming 1,100 acres. In addition, he is a founding partner of Hilmar Cheese Company, which annually produces more cheese from its Hilmar, California site than any other facility in the world. He serves as member on the USDA Trade Policy Committee (APAC), the California Milk Advisory Board and the UC Davis Western Institute for Food Safety and Security. Ahlem has served as Undersecretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture in the Schwarzenegger administration. Other positions of leadership have included serving as dairy industry representative on the State Board of Food and Agriculture and memberships on the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board and the UC President’s Advisory Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources. A lifetime resident of the Central Valley, Ahlem graduated with a degree in dairy science from California State University, Fresno.
Karen Caplan
Caplan is president and CEO of Los Angeles-based Frieda's Inc.
The daughter of entrepreneur Frieda Caplan, she has developed
the corporation to an annual sales level approaching $23 million,
pioneering in quality control and merchandising of exotic fruit
and vegetable products. A leader in the produce industry, she
was the first female president of the Fresh Produce Council.
She has served on the boards of the UC Davis Institute of Governmental
Affairs, the UCD Cal Aggie Alumni Association and was recently
appointed to a 3 year term as director of the Federal Reserve
Bank Board in San Francisco. She earned her BS degree in agricultural
economics and business management at UC Davis.
Cornelius L. (Corny) Gallagher
Cornelius L. (Corny) Gallagher is senior vice president and
agribusiness executive for Bank of America's Consumer and Commercial
Banking Credit Risk Management Administration. Gallagher chairs
the Risk Management Association's National Agricultural Lending
Committee and is on the California Bankers Association Agricultural
Lending Committee. He also chairs the Bank's California Political
Action Committee. Gallagher is treasurer of the California 4-H
Foundation Board, a member of the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo School
of Agriculture Advisory Council and the Santa Clara University
Advisory Board of the Institute of Agribusiness. He serves on
the California Chamber of Commerce Agriculture Committee, the
California Agricultural Roundtable, and is on the board of directors
of The Agricultural Network, the California State Fair Agricultural
Advisory Council, and the California Food and Fiber Future Advisory
Board. Gallagher graduated from Iowa State University with a
B.S. degree in animal science.
Betsy Marchand
Marchand served six terms on the Yolo County Board of Supervisors
retiring in 1996. Her special interests and activities include
water, land use, and transportation issues as well as criminal
justice and health issues. Currently, Mrs. Marchand is President
of the State Board of Reclamation appointed by the Governor
in 2001. She is also a Tribal Gaming Commissioner for the Cache
Creek Indian Bingo and Casino and a founding board member of
the Yolo Basin Foundation. A member of a pioneer California
family, she received a B.A. from Pomona College (Phi Beta Kappa)
and an M.A. degree from Vanderbilt University, where she studied
as a Ford Foundation Fellow. Mrs. Marchand has taught high school
English and social studies in both Southern California and Northern
California.
Milenda Meders
A native Californian and a lifelong rancher, Meders manages
a family field/row crop and almond operation and, with her husband,
a cow-calf operation in the Central Valley. She graduated from
California State University, Fresno, after majoring in dairy
husbandry with minors in biology and journalism. She is active
in numerous farm and community organizations and advisory groups,
is director of the Madera County Cattlemen's Association, and
has been livestock director of the Chowchilla County Fair and
a board member of the Chowchilla Water District. A founder of
Friends of Agricultural Extension, she continues to lead this
nonpolitical support group in Fresno and Madera Counties.
Steven D. Rystrom
Rystrom is from Chico, is a rice grower in Butte County, and
has been an agricultural leader in his community and in the
national rice industry. Rystrom graduated from UC Davis and
did graduate work at Whitworth College in Washington. He began
his farming career in 1976. Over the years, he has served as
chair of the Butte County Rice Growers Association, Richvale
Seed Growers Association, Northern California Production Credit
Association, and the U.S. Rice Producers Group, California.
Rystrom has recently served as director of the California Rice
Commission, and in various capacities with the USA Rice Federation.
Rystrom's interest and expertise concentrate in the area of
farm program issues.
Peter K. Thor
Peter K. Thor is president of Bellissimo Foods, a national foodservice buying and marketing group. He has served as managing director and CEO for Pak Tech, a venture capital funded packaging (plastic) technology company and for SPC LIMITED, an Australian based processor and international marketer of vegetable and fruit products. He was executive vice president of Tri Valley Growers from 1989 - 1994 and has served on the faculty of the University of Santa Clara. Thor graduated with a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the University of California, Davis specializing in econometrics, with interests in marketing and finance.
Joe Zanger (Chair)
Zanger is a general partner of Casa de Fruta. Zanger is a graduate
of UC Davis. The family business was founded in 1908 and has
an agricultural history of growing, processing, and packaging
apricots, cherries, pears, prunes, walnuts, wine grapes, lettuce
and asparagus. Today, the retail location on Highway 152 includes
a fruit stand, restaurant, wine tasting/deli, motel and other
destination type activities. In addition to his work with the
family farming and value added activities, Zanger has been active
in the public policy arena for agriculture and business. He
serves on the Farm Service Agency California State Committee,
the U.S. Trade Representative’s Technical Advisory Committee
for fruits and vegetables and is the chairman of the international
trade committee for the California Farm Bureau. He has served
on the California Farm Bureau board of directors and on many
of its policy committees.
Former Board Members
William F. Allewelt (chair)
Jean Auer
Arnold Barcellos
Dan Dooley (chair)
Richard Douglas
Robert M. Eberhardt
Tom Graff
Ralph Grossi
Alfoonso A. Guilin
Less Guthrie
George Hickman
Jyrl James-Massengale
Luther J. Khachigian
Arthur Littleworth
Howard Margueleas
Dorcas Thille McFarlane
Michael J. Mendes
Peggy Mesinger
Graydon Nichols
Jack Pandol
Victor Pankey
Richard E. Rominger
Lois Salisbury
Henry Schacht
Terry Scranton
Brenda Jahns Southwick
Henry Voss
Richard Zacky
Associate
Directors
The Center has created program areas, each led by an Associate
Director. The background and expertise of the seven AIC Associate
Directors are described below.
Julian M. Alston
Science and Technology
e-mail:julian@primal.ucdavis.edu
Julian M. Alston is a professor in the Department of Agricultural
and Resource Economics of the UC Davis. He teaches graduate
and undergraduate classes in microeconomic theory and the analysis
of agricultural markets and policies.
Prior to beginning his current position in 1988, Alston was Chief
Economist in the Department of Agriculture in Victoria, Australia,
where he had been employed in various capacities since 1975. His
experience in public policy analysis and advice, and in administration
of a large scientific organization has shaped Alston's research
interests in the economic analysis of agricultural markets and
public policies concerning agricultural incomes, prices, trade,
and agricultural research and promotion. Along with many articles
in professional journals, he is a co-author of two recent books:
Making Science Pay: The Economics of Agricultural R&D Policy
and Science under Scarcity: Principles and Practice for Agricultural
Research Evaluation and Priority Setting.
Alston was raised on the family farm in northern Victoria, Australia.
He has a Bachelor's degree in Agricultural Science from the University
of Melbourne in 1974; a Master's degree in Agricultural Economics
from La Trobe University in 1978; and a PhD in Economics from
North Carolina State University in 1984.
Colin A. Carter
International Trade
e-mail:cacarter@ucdavis.edu
Colin A. Carter has been a Professor of Agricultural and Resource
Economics at UC Davis for 12 years, after serving as a professor
at the University of Manitoba. His research investigates problems
related to agricultural policy and trade, with a focus on grain
markets in the Pacific Rim. He has written extensively on state
trading enterprises in grains. Carter has studied the internal
grain economy in China and China's participation in the international
market. From 1986-89, Carter held a fellowship in international
food systems from the Kellogg Foundation. Along with scores of
professional journal articles, chapters and reports, Carter has
co-authored several books, the topics of which include China's
grain markets, futures markets, and U.S. agricultural policy.
Carter was raised on a grain farm in Alberta, Canada, and received
his B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Alberta. His
PhD in Agricultural Economics is from UC Berkeley in 1980.
Karen M. Klonsky
Agricultural Environmental Management
e-mail: klonsky@primal.ucdavis.edu
Karen Klonsky has been a Specialist in Cooperative Extension in
the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of
California at Davis since 1981. Her interest in alternative
farming systems began with her dissertation work comparing alfalfa
management systems with and without integrated pest management.
Since then she has done extensive research into the economic feasibility
of alternative and organic farming practices for field crops,
vegetables, and tree crops collaborating on a range of interdisciplinary
research projects. Her interest in organic agriculture led
her to analyze the growth and structure of organic farm production
in California over the last decade.
Since 1983 Dr. Klonsky has directed the development of cost and
return studies for the major crops in California through UC Cooperative
Extension and the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
The studies are distributed worldwide and are now available through
the department web page. Klonsky serves as an editor for the Journal
of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers.
She has a PhD in agricultural economics from Michigan State University
and an undergraduate degree in mathematics from the University
of Michigan.
Keith Knapp
Resources and the Environment
e-mail:keith.knapp@ucr.edu
Keith Knapp was born in Wichita, Kansas, and raised in Minnesota,
Illinois and Iowa. He received a B.S. in Economics from Iowa State
University in 1972. After two years of military service, his educational
career resumed at Johns Hopkins University where he received a
PhD from the College of Engineering in 1980, specializing in resource
and environmental economics. He has been with UC Riverside since
September of 1980. He is currently Professor of Resource Economics
and Resource Economist in the Department of Soil and Environmental
Sciences at UC Riverside.
Professor Knapp teaches four courses in resource and environmental
economics at the undergraduate and graduate level. He has conducted
research on irrigation management, salinity and drainage problems
in the San Joaquin Valley, renewable resource management with
an emphasis on groundwater, agricultural markets (grain reserves
and perennial crops), and the implications of exhaustible resources
for economic growth. Current research interests are generally
the economics of natural resource use and environmental quality
as related to irrigated agriculture with an emphasis on water
management.
Scott D. Rozelle
China Programs
e-mail:rozelle@primal.ucdavis.edu
Dr. Rozelle received his B.S. from UC Berkeley, and his M.S.
and Ph.D. from Cornell University. He is a member of the American
Economics Association, American Agricultural Economics Association,
International Association for Agricultural Economists, Asian Studies
Association and Association of Comparative Economics. Professor
Rozelle has received numerous honors and awards in recognition
of his outstanding achievements. He is the UC Davis 2000 Chancellor
Fellow, an award given each year to one of the university's outstanding
faculty members.
Dr. Rozelle's research focuses almost exclusively on China and
is concerned with three general themes; a) agricultural policy,
including the supply, demand, and trade in agricultural projects;
b) the emergence and evolution of markets and other economic institutions
in the transition process and their implications for equity and
efficiency; and c) the economics of poverty and inequality. In
the past several years his papers have been published in top academic
journals, including Science and the American Economic
Review.
He is widely recognized as one of the leading economists in the
U.S. with expertise on China's large and important agricultural
sector. He has a good publication record (see publication list
below). He is fluent in Chinese and has established a research
program based on a knowledge and appreciation of China. He has
close working ties with several Chinese collaborators. He is the
chair of the International Advisory Board of the Center for Chinese
Agricultural Policy.
Jerome B. Siebert
Agribusiness Issues
e-mail:siebert@are.berkeley.edu
Jerry Siebert is an economist in the Department of Agricultural and
Resource Economics, University of California, Berkeley. Prior
to this assignment, he was Director of U.C. Cooperative Extension.
In addition to his academic experience, he has held positions
in both business and government. In the latter assignments, he
was special assistant to four U.S. Secretaries of Agriculture.
He also has a farming background on a family farm in Madera, California.
His work centers on research and education involving the impacts
on California agriculture of changes in public policies affecting
production and marketing of California agricultural commodities.
In particular, he analyzes the use of market mechanisms to evaluate
the potential economic effects of changes in public policy. His
current focus is the role of technology in California agriculture
and changes needed in industry and research institutions to facilitate
the development and application of agricultural biotechnology.
He is also an active participant in a Russian project to facilitate
the transfer of technology in a market economy.
In addition to his work at the University of California, he is
an "ex-officio" member of the California State Consolidated
Farm Services Committee, a public member on the California Walnut
Commission and chairman of the Walnut Marketing Board, president
of the San Francisco Farmers Club, and a member of the Board of
Directors of the International Agribusiness Management Association.
Alvin
D. Sokolow
Rural/Urban Interactions
e-mail:ajsokolow@ucdavis.edu
Alvin D. Sokolow is a Public Policy Specialist with UC Cooperative
Extension, housed in the Department of Human and Community
Development on the Davis campus. Formerly a Professor of Political
Science at Davis for 27 years, his research and extension activities
deal with issues and processes of community and state governance.
He has published 72 journal articles, monographs and other reports.
Current and recent work concentrates on farmland and land use
policy in California, state-local public finance, and politics
and policy in small communities. Sokolow has been a key participant
in AIC projects since 1989, including the Williamson Act, Central
Valley, and urban-agricultural edge projects. He is the editor
of the Center's series, California Farmland and Open Space
Policy. A Chicago native, Sololow's degrees from the University
of Illinois are: undergraduate in Journalism, and M.A. and PhD
in Political Science. He has taught at Western Michigan University,
Michigan State University, and the University of Illinois, and
has been a visiting scholar at Montana State University and Miami
University.In addition to his farmland publications
at the Agricultural Issues Center, Sokolow is author of the
California Policy Seminar CPS brief,Farmland Policy
in California's Central Valley: State, County, and City Roles.
Daniel A. Sumner
Commodity Policy and Market Issues e-mail:dasumner@ucdavis.edu
Staff
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