Area Desert Livestock Advisor
(2 page limit)
Position Title: Area Desert Livestock Advisor. This will be an advisor position, covering Imperial,
Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties on livestock issues in a desert environment.
Position: Briefly state: This position will be housed in Imperial County and will cover Riverside and
San Bernardino counties, focusing on livestock production and marketing, food safety, and water
quality. This advisor will be a member of interdisciplinary teams of AES and CE researchers and
educators, addressing food safety; water quality, soil quality, wildlife habitat, forage production and
other ecosystem services. The advisor for this position will have a minimum of an MS degree in animal
science with work experience in livestock management, nutrition, and research concepts. The advisor
will be supported by the UCD Plant Sciences Department, Department of Animal Science, Meat and
Food Safety Program Team, Forest and Rangeland System Program Team, and Food Safety Program
Team.
Justification: Imperial County is one of the largest beef cattle production counties in the state. In 2012,
the total net value of the livestock industry in Imperial County was valued at over $414 million.
Maintaining and sustaining livestock production in the desert areas of California is critical to California.
The health of the ecosystem depends on our efforts to provide clean water and safe food. ANR has
strong land grant continuum support for this position to address livestock and water quality issues in the
region. The position will address the following ANR Initiatives: Managing livestock and manure
generated from livestock operations will result in stable watersheds that support safe sustainable food
systems, sustain forage production, and provide safe supplies of water. Managing livestock to protect
food safety and water quality and using livestock to manage vegetation after harvest of field and
vegetable crops are important components of ecosystem management. The Food Safety Modernization
Act (FSMA) directs FDA to set science-based standards for the safe production and harvesting of fruits
and vegetables that the Agency determines minimize the risk of serious adverse health consequences or
death. The Vegetable and Melon Crops industry in the Imperial Valley (valued at $904 million in
2011with over 118,000 acres) is going to be greatly impacted by this Act and this position will be
critical to the success of both the cattle and vegetable crop industries in the low desert. With large
feedlots in the Imperial Valley, a Livestock Advisor has the ability to collaborate with other UCCE
researchers to minimize the risk of movement of potential pathogens such as Listeira spp and E.coli
from livestock to the veg crop industry.
Extension: This advisor will develop linkages with client groups, researchers, policy makers, agencies
and organizations relevant to livestock, FSMA, and waste management in the region. Collaboration
with these groups will identify barriers to reaching livestock and land management goals. Education
programs and publications will provide science based information to the clientele groups for this
position. The advisor is expected to develop and implement extension program to aid livestock
producers with their decision making process.
Research: This advisor, collaborating with other CE advisors and specialists, and AES faculty will
develop and implement management practices that improve livestock production in the region and will
address food safety, water quality, soil quality, ecosystem health. Species that will be emphasized will
be cattle, sheep, and goats. Forage species cable of growth in the desert region will be emphasized.
Research will be extended to clientele and published in scientific journals and through ANR
publications.
ANR Network: Local collaboration on food safety, livestock, and waste management research and
development and delivery of science based information will be addressed in this position. The advisor is
expected to collaborate with CE and AES researchers and educators to conduct research and education
programs that address the issues discussed above. The advisor will be supported by CE and AES
specialists and researchers in UC Davis departments including Plant Science; Animal Science; and
LAWR; Western Institute for Food Safety & Security; and the waste management program at UCR.
Network External to ANR: When appropriate, identify any additional networks (e.g. scientists, agencies,
policy makers, community groups, etc.) with whom the advisor/specialist will be expected to collaborate.
Describe the nature of the collaboration.
Support: Imperial County will provide office space, County travel, administrative support, office
supplies, computing, Internet, telephone, and other services available to other advisors in the office.
Other support: The Imperial County CE office is located on the Desert Research and Extension Center
(DREC) which provides a site to do applied and collaborative research. There are other opportunities to
collaborate with campus based colleagues on exiting projects focusing on food safety, water quality, and
waste management. DREC has a large feedstock research facility that would be available for this
position to collaborate with the Animal Science professor currently on-site.
Location: The position would be housed in Imperial County and serve Riverside and San Bernardino
Counties. As mentioned above in Other Support, the Imperial CE office is located on the Desert REC,
providing additional colleges and resources that the other offices are not able to provide.
Developed and proposed by: Developed by Khaled Bali and Theresa Becchetti with input from the Meat
Production and Food Safety Program Team and the Forest and Rangeland Systems Program Team.