Oroville olive rancher will speak at state ag board meeting

SACRAMENTO — Grants of approximately $33 million from the federal government will be the topic of the California State Board of Food and Agriculture's meeting Tuesday.

The board will discuss the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure grant program at the California Department of Food and Agriculture's main auditorium at 1220 N St. in Sacramento. The meeting is scheduled to run from 10 a.m. until 2:30 p.m.

"The program is a great opportunity to not only further California's ag vision strategy of fostering climate-smart, resilient and regenerative food systems, but also enhancing processing options for local and regional producers within the supply chain," said CDFA Secretary Karen Ross.

"This funding will directly benefit California's farmers and ranchers, with an emphasis on small, underserved business owners as well as historically underserved producers."

Invited speakers include Jamie Johansson, an Oroville olive grower who's also president of the California Farm Bureau Federation; Tricia Kovacs, USDA Agricultural Marketing Service; Trish Kelly, Valley Vision; Tim Johnson, California Rice Commission; Emily Rooney; Agricultural Council of California; Michael Dimock, Roots of Change; Paul Towers, Community Alliance of Family Farmers, and other invited speakers.

The RFSI will assist states in building resilience in the middle-of-the-supply-chain and strengthen local and regional food systems by creating new revenue streams for producers. The program's overall goal, as the USDA has outlined it, is to create more and better processing options for producers across the specialty crops, dairy, grain and other food sectors by targeting gaps and opportunities within the agricultural supply chain.

The CDFA will begin planning and public outreach to submit a state plan to the USDA in August. Once approved, CDFA estimates approximately $33 million will be available for a competitive infrastructure grant program for eligible entities that includes agricultural producers, processors, non-profit organizations, local/tribal governments as well schools, hospitals and universities.

The meeting is also available via Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84293090509. Upon receiving a prompt to do so, enter webinar ID code 842 9309 0509 and passcode Board2023!

The phone access passcode is 5509835264.

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