As we were crafting our strategic plan, Drive to Distinction, I could only imagine how it would transform our priorities, our college and our state. I am so proud to share that one of our Grand Ideas, the Show-Me-State Food, Beverage and Forest Products Manufacturing Initiative, has taken another big step. On Friday, June 28, at Central Missouri Meat and Sausage in Fulton, Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe signed an executive order establishing the Missouri Food, Beverage and Forest Products Manufacturing Task Force. Lt. Gov. Kehoe is chairing, and our first assignment is to host listening sessions across the state, beginning next month. CAFNR also is at the forefront of other important initiatives across the state. Broadband internet has been a hot policy issue in the Missouri legislature the past several years. The United States Congress is also beginning to recognize the importance of this technology. Missouri Farm Bureau President Blake Hurst testified in a July 11 Congressional hearing on the need for greater broadband connectivity, emphasizing how modern agriculture requires data to thrive. CAFNR, MU Extension and other partners are working to find ways to help in this area, too. Shibu Jose, our interim associate dean for research, spoke on the importance of agricultural technologies in a presentation to the Missouri House Economic Development Committee July 15. I wanted to share with you that we have established a revisioning committee for Jefferson Farm & Garden. I look forward to working with this group to enlarge CAFNR’s vision for JFG. I am also excited to announce that a CAFNR alumna, Kristy Weber (B.S. Animal Sciences ’87) will be our commencement speaker in December. Dr. Weber is the first female president of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. I am so proud of her accomplishments and look forward to hearing from her. I will meet with the CAFNR Foundation Executive Committee on Wednesday; they are great partners for our college! Also this week, I will be making ice cream for our Life Sciences Quest summer academy for high school students. I love sharing my food science experiences with future CAFNR students! You can read more about our many exploratory summer academies later in this newsletter. Next up, I will present at the Great River Tigers Alumni Event, July 26, in Palmyra, and attend the Missouri Soybean Association Advisory Committee meeting and the 2019 Turfgrass & Landscape Field Day at South Farm, both on July 30. I am pleased that our CAFNR Staff Advisory Council has installed an AED device at Bradford Research Center to fill a critical health and safety need for the hundreds of visitors to the Center each year. In addition, the council provided CPR/AED certification training to 90 employees across CAFNR to empower faculty and staff to save lives using the AED devices on campus. Thank you to the council for offering these resources, and thank you to each and every one of you who took advantage of the training opportunities. Taking time from your schedule to participate in this training shows the caring nature of our college. I hope you enjoyed a wonderful Independence Day celebration! I have enjoyed time spent with family this month, and look forward to great things in the coming academic year! CAFNR Proud! Christopher R. Daubert
CAFNR Vice Chancellor & Dean |