The 59th annual World Ag Expo was held on Feb. 10-12 at the International Agri-Center in Tulare. The Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (JCAST) showcased what the college has to offer.
The World Ag Expo draws an average of 100,000 people from over 70 countries, and over 1,200 exhibitors display the newest technology and equipment in the agriculture industry.
On its opening day, President Donald Trump shared a video message saying, “The men and women at this expo are the heart and soul of America.”
Students, staff and alumni of JCAST gave presentations, held wine tastings and hosted an information booth.
“All the scholarship opportunities, all the club opportunities that we have on campus, the sense of community that we have on campus … they don’t realize until they talk to someone who’s been at Fresno State,” said Adrian Mendoza, an agricultural business major at Fresno State and agricultural ambassador for the university.
The Fresno State agricultural ambassadors hosted an informational booth in the AG Career and Education Pavilion. Ambassadors wore their signature red polo and khakis to represent the university. They handed out flyers, pendants and answered questions about Fresno State and JCAST. Victor E. Bulldog also made an appearance for photos with visitors.
The agricultural ambassadors attend events like the expo to promote the university’s agriculture programs and networking within the industry. These ambassador events are all run by students majoring in the JCAST.
The Fresno State Winery also held a tasting in the Wine and Cheese Lounge. Emerson Weber, another agricultural business major at Fresno State, worked the tasting booth at the expo to promote the university’s wine and its clubs.
“Getting our wines out there, like getting people to look at them, and then it also is a good opportunity for them to see that students do it because they’re seeing students pouring it for them, and that also, they kind of want to support the youth,” Weber said.
Faculty of other departments of JCAST also hosted seminars on various issues and topics in agriculture:
Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Ag Roundtable: Center for Irrigation Technology (CIT) Director Charles Hillyer and agricultural business associate professor Jiaochen Liang were a part of a panel discussing AI in agriculture.
Clogged Drippers: Hillyer presented on how CIT is helping growers solve the problem of clogged drippers.
Economic and Agricultural Feasibility of Reverse Osmosis Irrigation Treatment: Victor Fraga, a Jordan College honors student from the Department of Agricultural Business and the Department of Plant Science, discussed his research on the economic and agricultural feasibility of using reverse osmosis for irrigation treatment.
Extended Reality for Agricultural Training: Advancing Learning through Immersion at Center for the Optimization of Poultry (COOP): Fresno State associate professor Laura Huisinga Terpstra explained how COOP uses Extended Reality in its agriculture training to give students immersive, hands-on learning experiences.
What’s the Right Price for a Hot Dog? A Framework for Fair Pricing: Jamie Levitt, food science and nutrition associate professor, presented on the perceptions of price gouging at concessions using data from Fresno State’s football games.
Predicting Ice Cream Meltability with ML and Spectroscopy: Fresno State food science and nutrition lecturer Paulina Freire discussed using spectroscopy to predict ice cream meltability.
The Smart Dairy AI Initiative: Bringing AI to the Dairy Products Production Industry: Freire addressed bringing AI to the dairy products industry.
The 2027 World Ag Expo will be held Feb. 9-11 at the International Agri-Center. Attendees can network, attend seminars and buy equipment at one of the world’s largest agricultural trade shows.