Ag Council Recognizes Karen Ross with the California Cultivator Award
Photo from L-R: Ag Council Pres. Emily Rooney, Ag Council Board Chair Carl Hoff & CDFA Sec. Karen Ross.
This week, Ag Council awarded California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Secretary Karen Ross the prestigious 2019 California Cultivator Award during Ag Council’s 100th Annual Meeting and Centennial Celebration in Monterey on March 5.
“Karen has been committed to agriculture her entire life,” Ag Council Chair and Butte County Rice Growers Association President and CEO Carl Hoff said. “She is passionate about our industry and that has been proven time and time again throughout her impressive and esteemed career.”
Ross describes herself as a 4-H kid that grew up on a farm in western Nebraska. She and her husband Barry still own 800 acres of the family operation where her younger brother, a fourth-generation farmer, raises dryland wheat, feed grains and cattle. She attended the University of Nebraska, Lincoln and is a graduate of the Nebraska Ag Leadership program.
“Anyone who knows Karen, knows her boundless energy and enthusiasm for agriculture,” Ag Council President Emily Rooney said. “She always works to promote the interests of farmers in the midst of some very tough issues, including climate change and water quality. Her ability to find pragmatic solutions has contributed not only to agriculture, but to the general interest of all Californians.”
She was appointed secretary of CDFA in 2011 by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. and was recently reappointed to that position by Governor Gavin Newsom. Prior to CDFA, Secretary Ross was chief of staff for U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, a position she accepted in 2009. Her connection to Ag Council is very deep as she was the vice president from 1989 to 1996. She also served as president of the California Association of Winegrape Growers from 1996 to 2009. Ross’ professional career began in her home state of Nebraska as director of government relations for the Nebraska Rural Electric Association and as field representative for U.S. Senator Edward Zorinsky.
As background, the California Cultivator Award honors an individual who has made significant contributions to agriculture or who has demonstrated leadership and personal commitment beyond the normal expectations of a person serving the farmer-owned business sector.