Western Summer Meeting 2023
“Entering a New Age”
Richland, Washington
June 20-22, 2023
Tuesday, June 20
10 am- 12 pm WEDA
1 pm – 3 pm Orientation/ Refresher for Directors, Administrators & CARET members
3 pm Business Meetings- Location: Courtyard Marriott, Richland WA
WAAESD Executive Committee
WEDA
4:30 pm Joint WAAESD/WEDA Session
5:30 pm Opening Reception- Location: Courtyard Marriott, Richland WA
Wednesday, June 21
7 am Breakfast- Location: Hotel
8 am Load Bus & Transport to Smart Orchard- (30 minute drive)
- Topic 1: Broadband in the region- Michael Gaffney, WSU Director of Extension Community & Economic Development Program Unit.
- Topic 2: Water (Columbia & Yakima)- Chad Kruger, WSU Director for the Center of Sustaining Ag and Natural Resources.
9-11 am Smart Orchard Tour-
- Topic : input optimization with the environment, sustainability, labor/robotics, artificial intelligence, workforce development. Future needs for training the next workforce- Lav Khot, Associate Professor, Precision Agriculture; Interim Director, WSU AgWeatherNet and Steve Mantel, Founder, Innovate Ag (invited)
11-12 am Transport to Heritage University- (35 minute drive)-
- Topics: evolution of area including demographics and the change of ag, economy, communities, workforce, and families in the area- AnaMarie Diaz Martinez, Associate Professor and WSU Extension Regional Specialist Human and Family Development.
12-12:30 Lunch
12:30pm Heritage University- Panel Discussion
- Topics: enrolment cliff, working together to meet community needs, course sharing, exchange of credits, workforce development- Monet Becenti, Director of First Nations MESA at HU, Karolynn Tom, NSF Program Coordinator at HU, Naidu Rayapati, Director of WSU Irrigated Agriculture Research & Extension Center (IAREC), Jordan Jobe, Project Manager at WSU Water Research Center (AgAID Institute)
1:30-3 pm Transportation to Innovation Center (60 minutes)-
- Topics: new audiences with students, enrollment cliff- Junior Gomez, WSU CAHNRS Coordinator of Recruitment
3:00 pm Innovation Center Tour & Climate Friendly Farming with Lamb Weston-
- Topics: climate resilience, large company climate policy, visit field (soil health). Field production: harvest storage and processing- Jeff Steiner, Director Oregon State University, Global Hemp Innovation Center, Richard Bures, Manager, Sustainable Ag-ConAgra Foods
4:30-5 pm Transportation to dinner
5:00 pm Dinner at Taverna Tagaris Winery
Thursday, June 22
7:30-9 am Breakfast & Awards Program – Award Program begins at 8 am Location: Courtyard Marriott, Richland WA
9-9:30 am Creating a Regional Voice-
- Topic: The Western Region Strategic Communications Work Plan-Claire Montoya, Communications and Reporting Director, New Mexico Agricultural Experiment Station and Jennifer Alexander, Communications Director, Division of Extension and Engagement, Oregon State University
9:30-10:30 am “Authorization through Appropriation”
- Topic: Understanding Federal Legislative and Budgeting Processes- Elizabeth Stulberg, Lewis Burke Associates
10:30-10:45 am Break
10:45 am-12:00 pm Advocating for the West– Plenary Discussion with Council on Government Affairs (CGA) and past Budget and Legislative Committee (BLC) chairs. Panelists: Glynda Becker-Fenter, WSU Assistant VP for Federal Engagement and Advocacy, Caron Gala, Director, Governmental Affairs, Agriculture and International Development, Glenda Humiston, Former ESCOP BLC Chair, VP Agriculture and Natural Resources University of CA., Jon Boren, Former ECOP BLC Chair, Director of New Mexico Cooperative Extension
12:00 pm Lunch
1:00 pm Association Business Meetings
WAAESD, W-APS, W-CARET/AHS
5:00 pm Meeting Adjournment & Dinner on your own