After leaving the Air Force in 2012 with a service-connected disability, Robert Barnett was looking for a new career when he fell into farming by accident by gardening at his family’s home in Ventura, even though “it was years before I could grow something,” he recalled.

Farm Credit West recently announced the award of $24,000 in scholarships to sixteen high-achieving students enrolled full time in colleges this fall. Farm Credit West joins our local communities in celebrating these exceptional students, as they achieved academic excellence while navigating unprecedented challenges as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic and corresponding shut-downs.

Agribusiness students at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo will have additional funding for student projects in the years to come after Farm Credit donated nearly $255,000 this year to create an endowment fund for the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences.

Recently, the National 4-H Poultry and Egg Conference was held in Louisville, Ky., earlier this month. The conference included a range of contests including the Avian Bowl, which tested contestants’ knowledge of exhibition, husbandry, anatomy, and several other poultry-related subjects in a game show-like fashion.

The Farm Credit Alliance was recently presented with FFA’s Distinguished Service Citation for its longstanding contributions to FFA and agricultural education. Katie Otto, development director for the California FFA Foundation, the state organization’s fund-raising arm, said the California FFA nominated Farm Credit for the award because of its generous and enduring support.

Latinos have been the largest ethnic group in California since 2014 and make up an even larger portion of the population in many of California’s farming regions. To support the entry of Latinos into agriculture, the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) and the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will hold the fifth-annual Latino Farmer Conference in November.

Once a niche product, organic farming is the fastest-growing sector of the U.S. food industry. In fact, organic food today is a nearly $50 billion industry, employing 1.4 million people nationwide and more than 400,000 in California alone, according to the California Certified Organic Farmers Foundation (CCOF).

For 25 years, the Center for Land-Based Learning has provided hands-on education and workforce development opportunities to high school-aged youth and beginning farmers. With its current facility bursting at the seams, Land-Based Learning recently held a ground-breaking ceremony for its all-new home outside of Woodland and Farm Credit is proud to help make it possible.

For 91 years, California FFA students have descended on Cal Poly San Luis Obispo for the organization’s state judging finals, where more than 2,000 high school students compete in more than 20 competitions. Winners earn the right to compete in the national competition in Indianapolis in late October.

Because so many farms have been in the family for several generations, many of them have a man’s name attached. But in 21st century California, women’s contributions to agriculture and their communities can’t be overstated.