Archives: Speakers

Interim Director/ Small Farms Advisor

UC Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education Program (SAREP)/ Fresno and Tulare Counties

Ruth Dahlquist-Willard is the Interim Director of UC SAREP. Ruth has served as a UC Small Farms and Specialty Crop Advisor in the Fresno area for nine years. Her extension program has supported small-scale, diversified, and socially disadvantaged farmers through individual extension support, bilingual outreach and training in Hmong, Lao, Spanish, and Punjabi, research on small-acreage specialty crops, and policy engagement. Extension efforts include production issues for specialty crops such as pest and nutrient management, access to markets and financial resources, and regulatory compliance. Ruth holds a Ph.D. in Entomology from the University of Idaho and the Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE). Her collaborative policy efforts have resulted in several changes to regulatory and incentives programs, including revised reporting requirements for the Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program for small-scale and diversified farms and improving access for limited-resource farmers to CDFA’s Climate Smart Agriculture programs. She has served as a co-chair of the UCANR Small Farms Workgroup and is currently the co-leader of the Diversified Farming and Food Systems Program Team. 

Small Farms and Specialty Crops Hmong Agricultural Assistant

Cooperative Extension Fresno County

Michael has been with the Small Farms team since 1993. He was born in Laos and fled to the U.S. with his family as a child. They settled in Fresno and became farmers. He is fluent in both Hmong and Lao and has worked diligently to expand extension services for Southeast Asian growers of all backgrounds and experiences in Fresno County for nearly three decades.

Michael is the host of UCCE Fresno’s once weekly Hmong Agricultural Radio Show on KBIF 900AM. He also conducts hundreds of office and farm visits each year with growers. Michael both translates and presents at events and workshops to assist farmers with topics ranging from production to marketing as well as pesticide use and regulatory compliance.

In 2020, he was a recipient of the UCANR wide Staff Appreciation and Recognition (STAR) Award.

Owner/Farmer

King & King Ranch

Lan King is a 4th generation family farmer at King & King Ranch, located on Ventureño Chumash land in what is currently Ventura County. With 22 acres of mainly avocados and citrus in production, The King family highly values diversity. Lan moved to the farm 8 years ago to learn generational farming practices from their uncle and their dad, and build on their knowledge of sustainable practices. Lan’s interest in food justice and sustainability started growing while Lan and their partner were working in the bar and restaurant industry in Seattle, and has only increased since moving to the farm. Lan has been a big part of implementing many new projects on the farm, largely with help from the Ventura Co. RCD and UC extension, to obtain SWEEP, HSP, and DOC grant funding, to increase sustainability & food access. These projects include native willow windbreaks and native plant hedgerows to increase beneficial bird and insect habitat & pest management, developing their lower field into organic production, replacing old irrigation systems to increase water and energy efficiency, and getting more involved with Ventura County farm to school projects, CSAs, and local farmers markets.

Owner/Farmer

hannaH Honey’s Flowers

hannaH Poitras owns and runs hannaH Honey’s Flower farm in California’s Central Valley. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Crops and Horticulture from Chico State University. Her passion to grow and sell cut flowers “stems” from the feeling she gets when bringing people joy. A simple smile goes a long way, and flowers tend to bring on the smiles for miles. hannaH enjoys working with her hands, being outside, and watching the flowers grow from seed to bloom.

Specialty Crops Advisor

UC Cooperative Extension Alameda & Contra Costa Counties

Kamyar is a UC Cooperative Extension Advisor for Specialty Crops in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. He serves the region’s diverse crop producers with a research and extension program focusing on improved irrigation management, integrated pest management, and soil health. He has a PHD in Plant Pathology from UC Davis and a Masters in Horticulture from Cornell University. He has worked in a variety of systems, including vegetable crops, orchards, winegrapes, and forests. His research interests include making IPM and low-impact pest management, such as biocontrol, more accessible for small-scale strawberry growers.

Owner

Swift River Pecans LLC

Troy Swift is the Owner/operator of 266 combined pecan acres along the San Marcos River. Farms purchased 1998 and 2004. Planted approx 1000 irrigated trees that are now in production. Custom harvester of native and improved pecans along the San Marcos River since 2000. Past roles include Vice President Texas Pecan Growers Assn (TPGA), President Texas Pecan Board, and Board member Merlin Tuttle’s Bat Conservation (MTBC). Currently studying effectiveness of bats at controlling pecan orchard pests using DNA analysis of guano. Avid participant in Texas Pecan Shows since 2013. State champ commercial pecan 2018 and 2023.

Pest Control Advisor

Rincon-Vitova Insectaries, Inc.

Ron Whitehurst, specialist in biological pest control and restoration of agro-ecosystems, consults for farmers, gardeners, consultants and practitioners. He facilitates learning about insect pests and solutions in field, greenhouse, landscape, garden, and animal rearing situations. His lively discussions about insect lifecycles and predator-prey relationships make the principles of biocontrol easy to understand for both lay and technical audiences. He is a member of the California Sustainable Pest Management Work Group, working with 25 stakeholders to develop a pathway to a future with less use of toxic pesticides.

Ron is a California licensed Pest Control Advisor and co-owner of Rincon-Vitova Insectaries, Inc. that produces and markets supplies for biological pest control and agroecology. With a BA in biology from Indiana University, Ron early on worked as an organic garden writer, and helped organize an organic grower association. He has been communicating about organic methods of farming and gardening for over 40 years. Since 1997 he has guided people through the steps of creating and biologically managing ecosystems to grow healthy plants to minimize and control pests, using insect habitat, cultural methods, beneficial insects, and soft pesticides when needed. He has led projects for the Dietrick Institute for Applied Insect Ecology, co-located with Rincon-Vitova. An avid gardener, he loves making compost, building soil, and creating bio-intensive food producing landscapes.

Owner/Farmer

Triple F Ranch

Richard is a fourth-generation farmer of pistachios and other specialty crops at Triple F Ranch in Hanford, California, which has been in operation since 1932. Before taking over the Ranch, Richard did commercial agriculture work across California and Arizona and owned and operated several ag businesses that provided both a broader perspective and deeper understanding of diverse agricultural practices which continue to influence his own farming practices today.

Agronomy Manager

Taylor Farming, LLC

Kim Horton began farming insects in 1998 as a part-time job in college. It was an immediate perfect fit and blossomed into her choice of pursuing a B.S. degree in Entomology and Nematology at the University of Florida, Gainesville. She continued rearing insects and mites for the biological control industry for the next 15 years. In 2015, Kim decided to change gears and began working on a large organic vegetable farm in the San Joaquin Valley in California. Currently, Kim is the Agronomy Manager at Taylor Farming on the Central Coast and in the SW Desert where she continues to be fascinated by the above ground and below ground associations between plants, insects, diseases, and soil.