Jack Kelly Clark retires

The following letter, addressed to ANR principal photographer Jack Kelly Clark, was copied to California Agriculture:

I really do not have the words to tell you what a great job you did with all the photos in the Kearney 40th anniversary issue of California Agriculture (April-June 2005). I am so thankful that you were able to make the very significant commitment to this project. Your “signature” quality flows throughout this special issue and I believe it is so fitting for you to have this Kearney issue published as a bit of a finale to your long and distinguished photography career in UC.

Fred H. Swanson

Director Kearney Research & Extension Center

Editor's note: California Agriculture deeply appreciates Jack Kelly Clark's nearly 4 decades of service to the magazine, which included more than 75 striking cover photos and thousands of beautiful images on the inside pages. Clark retired in June 2005, but will continue working for the University part time.

Hail to Cal Ag!

We were in the process of packing up our offices for a move to a building three blocks away, and whilst flipping through old papers, I came across a Cal Ag-related item from the 1970s, back when it was produced by Ag Publications. The copy I found was typewritten, but today it might make an effective multimedia presentation on the Web site! So dust off your old banjo, and here we go:

CAL AG ANTHEM

(To the tune of “Sweet Betsy from Pike”)

Oh, do you subscribe to our grand farming rag, That fountain of knowledge we publish — CAL AG? It's full of statistics on aphids and thrips, Interspersed with genetics and wry, gnomic tips!

Fol-derol-dol fiddle-dee-dang-dang o-yodel-eeyay!

Oh, farmers, take heart — you have not far to seek — Just read your CAL AG and grow wise in a week: Turn your field-crops to daisies, your silage to plains, And retire like a prince on your government claims!

Fol-derol-dol fiddle-dee-dang-dang o-yodel-eeyay!

Jim Coats

ANR Communication Services UC Davis

Phenomenal organophosphate issue

Your January-March 2005 issue (“Beyond organophosphates”) is a phenomenal resource for concise reviews of current and historical approaches to pest control. I am keeping it as a reference, and indeed, just provided the Web site to six different people this morning who had questions about the use, benefits and risks of neonicotinoids.

James H. Cane

USDA-ARS Bee Biology and Systematics Lab Utah State University, Logan, Utah

Editor's note: The full text of California Agriculture's “Beyond organophosphates” issue can be found online at http://californiaagriculture.ucop.edu/0501JFM/toc.html . To purchase back issues, visit the California Agriculture home page.