LIA Briefs

Sympathy is extended to Lynae Grant, Class 36 on the sudden passing of her 36 year old brother, a rancher in Montana. Lynae is employed at Grant 4-D Farms in Rupert.
 
Our prayers and thoughts are with Dane Higdem, Class 34 on the recent passing of his Father. Dane works for Glanbia Nutritionals in Twin Falls.
 
Congratulations to Jarom Jemmett, Class 39. He was elected as Vice President and Brennan Gabiola-Harris, Class 32 was elected as Secretary/Treasurer of the Idaho Onion Growers' Association. Also serving on the IOGA board of directors is Josh Rubel, Class 32, Clinton Wissel, Class 3, and Mike Thornton, Class 12, U of I CALS representative.
 
The LIA Board of Trustees Executive Committee met via conference call Friday, March 20. At that time, they made the decision to cancel the 2020 Washington, DC Experience and also the 2020 Golf Tournament scheduled for June 12. Both events were cancelled due to the circumstances surrounding the Coronavirus.
 
Mac Reynolds, Class 40 recently hosted the U of I CALS Food and Agricultural Business Club Boardroom Series tour at PNW Farmer's Cooperative in Genesee. Mac serves as Commodity Coordinator at the cooperative.
 
Wedding bells rang in McCall for Ray Mosman, son of Cathy Mosman, Class 4 and the late Dave Mosman, Class 12, and brother of Katie (Mosman) Wilson Class 39. Ray and his wife Morgan will continue to manage the family farming operation on the Nezperce prairie.
 
Congratulations to Craig Phillips, Class 39 who was recently featured in an Idaho Farm Bureau special video dealing with the role of farmers and American agriculture in the Coronavirus pandemic. Craig farms and ranches in Menan.
 
At the 2020 LIA Graduation of Class 40 it was announced that the $100,000 goal of the auction had been surpassed the night before with a total income of $113,600. Everyone celebrated with this great accomplishment. The story only gets better. The Auction Committee had used new software, Auction Frog, to handle all of the transactions. When the dust settled and we returned to the office on Monday we began to re-think the total based upon increased table sponsors, increased attendance, and a strong auction. The total raised at the auction was actually $154,316 making it the largest auction in the history of LIA since the first auction held in 1996.
 
Valley Wide Cooperative has established a Memorial Scholarship honoring the life of Eric Beck, Class 12 who farmed and ranched in the Menan area. Eric held a number of leadership positions with Valley Wide Cooperative through the years. Eric passed away in 2017 after a long battle with cancer.
 
U of I CALS Dean Michael Parrella announced that John Wright, Class 37 will serve as Project Manager for the new $25 million research dairy near Rupert. The project CAFÉ (Center for Agriculture, Food & Environment) is progressing with the purchase of land and development drawings at this time. John retired last year after 41 years in the dairy industry. He held a number of leadership positions during his service to the industry
 
Over 1800 potential LIA participants are receiving a postcard the first of April inviting them to make an application for LIA Class 41. We encourage each LIA alumni to do your part to encourage individuals to complete the application by the August 1 deadline.
 
Can you help us? We have lost connection with the following LIA alumni. If anyone has contact information for these individuals please pass it along to us so we can update our files.
 
We need mailing address for:
Richard Crapo, Class 4 (Salt Lake City, UT)
Amanda Gearhart, Class 34 (Burns, OR)
Kristin Keith, Class 16 (Athol, ID)
Steve Peterson, Class 11 (Overland Park, KS)

We need email address for:
Becky Dean, Class 27
Paul Lloyd, Class 20
Sue Switzer, Class 27
Dan Ward, Class 11
Lynn Woodell, Class 24


Finally, the University of Florida (UF/IFAS) Center for Public Issues Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources is conducting a survey of agricultural leadership members' perceptions of the 2019 novel coronavirus COVID-19. As opinion leaders in the field, your responses will help us identify best methods of communicating key information and meeting the needs of agriculture and natural resources industry members.
The survey should take no more than 15 minutes of your time, and your responses are completely confidential. 
Follow this this link to take the survey:
https://ufl.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_799RCOmK258LEdT
 
Thank you in advance for your participation. Your responses are very valuable and appreciated!
 
Sincerely,
Dr. Lauri M. Baker, Associate Professor
University of Florida Dept. Agricultural Edu. & Comm.