It was a very special visit today from the Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture Karen Ross, as she toured the school farm at California State University Fresno, and then met with industry officials and the President of California State University Fresno, Dr. Saul Jimenez-Sandoval. Association President/CEO Roger Isom joined a select group of industry representatives to discuss critical issues facing agriculture and what role the university might play. During the lunch meeting discussion, Isom commented on the role of the Western Agricultural Processors Association (WAPA) Tree Nut Processing Laboratory and educating students and prospective employees by highlighting on some recent success stories of recent graduates impacting member operations. Isom also highlighted the critical applied research Fresno State is conducting such as the fusarium research that Dr. Maggie Ellis is doing on cotton. Following the discussion several Fresno State researchers made brief presentations on critical work being performed at Fresno State.