Wine and Viticulture Department Head Named Industry Leader

Wine and Viticulture Department Head Benoit Lecat was honored as an industry leader by Wine Business Monthly, a well-known publication of wine industry news. As mentioned in the article,

Cal Poly SLO has quickly come on to the scene as one of the premier winemaking and viticulture schools thanks in large part to Dr. Benoit Lecat, who has served as its department head since 2015. His “learn by doing” approach has helped students graduate ready to jump into most winery operations and, with an importance placed on business and marketing as well, ready to start their own businesses. His passion for educating the next generation of vintners and industry professionals has culminated in the creation of the JUSTIN and J. Lohr Center for Wine and Viticulture, a state-of-the-art 27,600-square-foot, student-operated winery.

Teaching Award Recipient

Carmen Licon, director of the Cal Poly  Dairy Products Technology Center, was selected as the 2024 Daphne Zepos Teaching Award Recipient. She is the eleventh recipient of the award since it was established in 2012. She will spend the next year traveling and researching the European dairy vocational systems that are part of the professional development programs in France and Italy, with a goal of developing a similar program that can be utilized throughout the United States. “I am honored to receive this scholarship and I can’t wait to start the project. I am so blessed to be part of this incredible industry,” Licon said.

Agricultural and Applied Economics Association Award Winner

Dan Scheitrum, assistant professor in the Agribusiness Department, was honored by the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA) with the “Outstanding Article” award in the journal Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy. Read the full article.

Teacher-Scholar Mini Grants

Several CAFES professors recently received funding from the 24-25 Teacher-Scholar Mini Grant program through the Cal Poly Division of Research. Of the 85 university wide proposals submitted for review by the panel, 30 were recommended for funding.

• Food Science Professor Luis Castro received $10,552, plus a $4,000 student supplement award, for his research “Evaluating the Effectiveness of Problem Based Learning in Food Science Courses.”
• Animal Science Professor Rodrigo Manjarin received $11,000, plus a $4,000 student supplement award, for his research “Effect of fat and sugar in the pathogenesis of pediatric non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.”
• Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences Professor Gordon Rees received $10,943, plus a $4,000 student supplement award, for his research “Applying Soil Micromorphology to Assess the Impacts of Compost Application on Soil Health-Related Microfeatures in a Coastal California Rangeland Soil.”

Matthew Grieshop Appointed to Organic Committee

Matthew Grieshop, director of the Grimm Family Center for Organic Production and Research, was recently appointed to the International Fresh Produce Association’s (IFPA) Organic Committee. The committee is composed of 20 volunteer IFPA members and meets throughout the year to discuss updates on policy and regulatory-related matters and plan strategy, engagement, and priorities for organic fresh produce. Grieshop, recommended by Russell Hamlin of Grimmway Farms, will elevate Cal Poly’s organic visibility within the larger community.

Plant Sciences Professor a LEAD21 Graduate

Plant Sciences Associate Professor Ben Hoover was one of 88 individuals to complete the LEAD21 leadership-development program. Over the course of a year, these individuals met regularly with their peers, both in-person and virtually, to enhance their personal leadership capacity. The graduation was held at the culmination of the third in-person session, where the focus was on organizational leadership through collaboration, communication and leading change. The primary purpose of LEAD21 is to develop leaders in land-grant institutions and their strategic partners who link research, academics and extension who can lead more effectively in an increasingly complex environment, either in their current positions or future leadership positions.

Grant to Study Automated Lettuce Harvester

Assistant Professor Mohammad Sadek in the BioResource and Agricultural Engineering Department was awarded a $20,000 grant from the California Leafy Greens Research Program to research an initial prototype of a low-cost automated lettuce harvester. The goal is to develop a low-cost autonomous solution for lettuce harvesting and reduce labor dependency.

The state of California produces about three-quarters of the nation’s lettuce supply. The current lettuce harvesting process is highly labor-intensive and growers face significant challenges finding enough laborers during peak season. Growers are looking for a mechanized solution to reduce the current labor crisis and improve productivity. To date, there have been few mechanized equipment options available for growers to use in lettuce harvesting. However, those technologies are not well adopted by the farmers in California because of high capital investment, technical skill requirement for operating and maintenance.

Sadek’s team has developed an initial prototype of a low-cost automated lettuce harvester. This prototype includes a modular design with a ground-based sensor for precision cutting height adjustment during harvesting. The modular cutting mechanisms can be used fully autonomously or mounted on another self-propelled platform or expanded to multiple units for larger operation. The goal of this project is to optimize the control system of the intelligent cutting mechanism for precision cut during harvest and evaluate the lettuce cutting performance in various commercial fields.

Agribusiness Professor Speaks at U.S. Department of Agriculture

Cal Poly Agribusiness Assistant Professor Dan Scheitrum recently spoke at the U.S. Department of Agriculture headquarters on the rising concentration in U.S. meat production. Scheitrum finds increased consolidation has lead to higher prices and lower wages, which are topics covered in the courses he teaches at Cal Poly including agricultural policy and agricultural economics.

Grant to Study Regenerative Organic Horticultural Practices

Matthew Grieshop, director of the Grimm Family Center for Organic Production and Research, and Associate Professor Charlotte Decock were awarded a $150,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture to evaluate how novel regenerative organic horticultural practices affect soil health, insect and disease incidence, weed occurrence and crop yield of common Central Coast vegetables.

The project is inspired by test fields established by Braga Fresh in the Salinas Valley exploring a bedless vegetable production system that maintains both a rye and clover cover crop, along with a transplanted cash crop. Working in collaboration with Braga Fresh, Grieshop and Decock will replicate a multi-year study and develop unique field-based learning modules that will provide Cal Poly students with opportunities to expand their knowledge of organic production systems, sustainable production practices, experimental logic, design, analysis and reporting and the development of outreach materials.

Providing hands on training for Cal Poly students is an equally important outcome for this project as it will develop the talent needed to further develop organic production in the Central Coast and beyond.