SACRAMENTO – Today, Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher (R-Yuba City) and Senator Jim Nielsen (R-Red Bluff) announced they secured $75 million in the state budget to modernize agricultural facilities and equipment across four California State University Campuses, including Chico State.
“These four universities are continuing to bolster the agricultural industry through research, innovation, new technology application, and community outreach. Funding is key to continue this important work. Investing in our Colleges of Agriculture is investing in California’s future,” said Assemblyman Gallagher.
The budget allocation will directly help each campus continue their research contributions to drought resiliency practices, sustainable food production, and forest stewardship.
“These land-grant institutions have long been a vanguard of providing sustenance to the world. This modernization of our school farms is critical to ensure our food supplies for the future,” said Senator Nielsen.
The funding will be split among each of the colleges to update school facilities and purchase new equipment for over 9,200 students. It will further support research conducted at CSU campuses to help solve issues of energy procurement, food insecurity, and catastrophic wildfires.
The 800-acre University Farm is the living laboratory for agricultural programs at Chico State. The Farm employs approximately 95 students each semester and hosts more than 10,000 visitors annually for farm tours, field days, industry seminars, and community events. It supplies another 5,000 community members with meat, nuts, beans, olive oil, and U-Pick Peaches.
A copy of the lawmaker’s official budget request letter can be found here.