
Greetings from Imperial County!
Congratulations to the 1st Class of Master Gardeners
CONGRATULATIONS to the 29 Gradulates of the UCCE Imperial County - Master Gardener Program
UCCE Imperial Livestock Program Summer Intern Presentations

Left to right: Interns Brianna Denault, Yvette Paez, and Emma Adams and UCCE Livestock Advisor Brooke Latack
On July 13th, the three student interns currently working with the UCCE Imperial Livestock Program presented on topics related to the beef industry. Each student chose a topic that interested them and created their presentation through independent work throughout the summer.
First to present, Emma Adams presented on the history and process of tanning hides. She detailed the significance and widespread use of both vegetable and brain hide preservation methods. Emma graduated from Imperial High School in 2023. During her time attending Imperial High School, she was a four-year FFA member and discovered the love she has for working with livestock, mainly from raising a feeder calf she named Waylan her senior year. Because of this, she hopes to become a large animal veterinarian and possibly own some livestock of her own. Emma is currently enrolled at Imperial Valley College working toward getting her degree in Agriculture Business. In her future she hopes to attend Oklahoma State University or University or Arizona to pursue becoming a veterinarian.
Next, Yvette Paez presented on marbling in beef. Yvette discussed the biological processes that lead to marbling and the management practices that may increase or decrease marbling in beef. Yvette is a 2023 high school graduate of Southwest High School. She was a member or 4-H and FFA raising chickens, rabbits, goats, lambs, and a feeder calf. She is currently attending Imperial Valley College to major in Biology. She plans to transfer to UC Davis to get a bachelor’s degree in animal science. She plans on attending the School of Veterinary Medicine to get her DVM. Her dream career is to be a veterinarian.
The final presentation was an overview of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) by Brianna Denault. Brianna covered the history and devastation the disease has caused in the cattle industry as well as current occurrences still happening throughout the world. Brianna is a 2023 graduate of Imperial High School. During high school she was involved in FFA where she raised market swine and a production steer. She is currently attending Imperial Valley College majoring in Agriculture Business. After earning her associate’s degree, she plans to attend Cal Poly San Luis Obispo for her bachelor’s degree in Ag Education. Once she finishes her degree, she plans to come back and become an agriculture teacher in the Imperial Valley.
All three presentations were very thoughtfully detailed, and the presenters were able to educate the audience on the topics presented. We look forward to the future of all three interns as they finish up their summer internship here at UCCE Imperial and move toward their goals working in the agriculture industry.
WELCOME to our two new CalFresh Employees

Hi, my name is Jessica Delgado and I am so excited to be joining the UCCE CalFresh Healthy Living team! I have been an Imperial Valley resident all my life, having graduated from Central Union High School, Imperial Valley College and the Imperial County University of Phoenix branch. My professional career began with El Centro Elementary School District in 2002 and really defined my passion for education. After earning my Bachelors of Science in Human Services and becoming a certified mental health facilitator, I began my work at Pioneers Memorial Hospital while also substitute teaching at local elementary schools. All I saw while driving from work site to work site were agricultural fields which led me to my next adventure: opening a small garden to table restaurant. For the last 6 years, I was able to connect with many local small gardens and community members to really explore the benefits of eating in season, fresh, local produce. I am hoping that my education background and nutrition knowledge can benefit the people we serve.

Hi, I'm Jose Vallejo, one of the Community Educators located within the Imperial Valley. I have an extensive background in Nutrition and Food Safety graduating from UC Davis in 2022, and I'm excited to still be a part of the UC family! I'm honored to be able to work with not only the University of California Cooperative Extension, but alongside my talented team to provide premium nutrition and well-being education to our local community!
Links to Recorded Moringa Presentations
On Thursday, October 13th, 2022, UCCE Imperial County held the first Moringa Awareness and Production Workshop. We had a great turnout and were able to have three speakers present on a wide variety of topics related to moringa. Dr. Oli Bachie (UCCE Agronomy advisor and county director) spoke about the history of moringa and potential production in the low desert. Dr. Carrie Waterman (Assistant Professional Researcher, Institute for Global Nutrition, UC Davis) spoke about use of moringa as a nutrient in human nutrition. Finally, Brooke Latack finished the presentations by discussing moringa as a potential livestock feed. Presentations were followed by a discussion period for participants. This lively conversation included discussions on soil types that moringa may grow best or struggle in, timing of cutting trees back, considerations when feeding livestock, and much more.
If you weren’t able to attend and would like to watch the presentations, we have recorded all presentations. The following link (https://ucanr.edu/desertmoringarec) will take you to a survey. After filling out the survey, the links to the recorded presentations and presentation slides will be sent to your email. Included in that information will be a link to a post-presentation survey. Once you have viewed the presentations, we invite you to fill out this survey to let us know what information you would want to see presented in the future. We hope to continue these workshops on a regular basis to grow understanding of moringa and increase its production in the Imperial Valley.
If you have any questions or issues with the link, please contact Brooke Latack at (442) 265-7712.
2023 Guidelines

4 Tips To Stay Healthy with CalFresh Healthy Living - UCCE Imperial County
Check out our latest youtube video!!!
Kids R Us Preschool
Great video in Spanish. Wonderful job that CalFresh is doing in our preschools.
Desert Research and Education Center
Watch this short but very informative video about DREC.
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Links
CHECK OUT OUR "LINKS" PAGE!!!!! WE HAVE ADDED A LOT.
Home Garden Planting Calendars
Insights: Water and Drought Online Seminar Series
The latest research-based advice on weathering a drought is now available free online. The UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources is working to help farmers cope with the unwelcome outcome of historically low rainfall the last three years. UC scientists, with support from the California Department of Water Resources, have recorded video presentations on high-priority drought webpages.
Each presentation is about one half hour in length and are available at the link below:
Drought Information
The University of California has been extensively involved in research and implementation of water conservation/management strategies throughout the state. A lot is knows about when and how to most effectively use limited water supplies. The links below contain a brief introduction. Additional information is available at UC ANR drought website. http://ciwr.ucanr.edu/California_Drought_Expertise/
Calendar
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13 local farmers awarded Healthy Soils grants
Vegetable Crops Planting & Harvesting Calendar
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Contact Information
Imperial County
UC Cooperative Extension
1050 East Holton Road
Holtville, CA 92250-9615
Phone: 1-442-265-7700
Fax: 1-442-265-7723
Director:
Dr Oli G. Bachie