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SACRAMENTO, December 5, 2024 – The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) has awarded $180,000 for organizations to enhance agricultural education and leadership opportunities under the 2024California Agriculture License Plate (CalAgPlate) grant program.
The CalAgPlate program is funded with proceeds generated through the sale of special interest, agriculture-themed license plates through the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). Since inception of the CalAgPlate grant program, CDFA has awarded more than $2.3 million to support agricultural education and leadership development. Current grant recipients include:
1. California Association, Future Farmers of America(FFA): $153,000
This project will support student leadership and program development for California’s statewide Future Farmers of America (FFA) program, which has 366 school chapters throughout the state that provide integral leadership instruction through the FFA student organization to 104,470 student members. This program will increase student access to information about career, leadership, and programmatic opportunities.
2.El Dorado County Ag in the Classroom: $7,480
Fields of Learning pairs a school, focused on 2nd to 8th grades with a local farm to enhance students’ education by providing hands-on agricultural experiences. The project will work with local high school FFA programs to allow students to present lessons at field trips and develop leadership skills. By exploring the items grown on the farm, its environment, its changes and impacts, the program allows students to delve into all the disciplinary core ideas of life science with an agricultural focus. Connecting FFA members to agricultural professionals to attain career opportunities and internships is a goal.
3. California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom: $10,000
The project team will offer students an exciting Ag-Venture through two specialized Virtual Farm Days; one for pre-K to 5th grade and another for 6th to 12th grade where they will focus on careers in agriculture, taking students on virtual field trips to explore various career paths, from farmers and veterinarians to grocers, researchers, and more. The Farm Days will include video and live interactions with agricultural experts, culminating in a live question and answer session with three industry professionals, giving students direct access to industry leaders. These tools ensure students gain a deeper understanding of the agriculture industry and its exciting opportunities.
4. Hurst Ranch Historical Center: $9,520
Harvesting Healthy Habits at Hurst Ranch is a decade-long partnership between the Hurst Ranch Historical Center and the West Covina Unified School District to provide five hands-on gardening and nutrition lessons at Hurst Ranch to every 4th grader. The project will allow for a pipeline to be built, from which the “next generation” of horticulturists can be recruited to maintain the fields and support gardening instruction. This project launches a paid internship program for local horticulture students to be trained in field maintenance and gardening instruction at Hurst Ranch.
Please support agricultural education and the CalAgPlate program by purchasing a special interest license plate from the DMV.
More information is available at https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/egov/calagplate/
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