Tucson, AZ (March 12, 2024) - The 98th Annual Pacific Seed Association Convention which was held at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort in Tucson, AZ was a success and attendees enjoyed beautiful weather and top-notch speakers.

One of the many benefits of attending the convention is the networking opportunities with peer and those that attended commented on how valuable this aspect is for their business development.

On behalf of the PSA Board of Directors President Grant Baglietto would like to thank each and every one who contributed to the success of this convention. The sponsors are the key to the success of the convention and he says we appreciate their support of the Association and its activities.

Baglietto along with Chair Katy Soden led an outstanding program of events. From the industry speakers, educational speakers, the paint and sip tour (crashed by a visiting roadrunner) and golf to the wonderful nights of socializing to the final dinner with the entertaining roping and gun toting talents of Will Roberts followed by line dancing lessons into the evening. Our appreciation to golf chair Mike Ingham for another successful day on the links.

The presentations at the sessions were informative and timely on issues facing the industry such as Hiring Strategies, Tools to Use, Sites to Post and How to Review Resumes, Irrigation Management in Drought Conditions to Maximize Crop Yields and Artificial Intelligence playing a crucial role in Specialty Crop Agriculture. The ASTA report presented by Crystal Fricker.

"We were fortunate to have a line-up of top-notch speakers including Brianna Jakosa, Crystal Fricker, Matt Yost, PhD., Utah State University and Gabe Youtsey, Chief Innovator Officer at UC ANR Davis."

The PSA Past Presidents enjoyed a delicious breakfast while they brainstormed about ideas to put into place to ensure the success and the future endeavors of PSA moving forward.

The PSA Annual Meeting of the Association provided an overlook of this year’s activities and a sound financial report of the state of the Association. Reports were provided by the Membership chair, Kathy Hutton; Communications & PSA Cares chair, Annelisa Zander; Legislative, Technology & Research chair, Sam Cable, Turf Seed by Bill Merrigan; Field Seed by Crystal Cox, Native Seed update sent in by Jessica Hoard and the alfalfa crop report by Chuck Deatherage and the scholarship award announcement by Donna Boggs.

This year’s scholarship winners included: Pedro Squiapati, California State University, Fresno; John Dippold, Eastern Oregon University; Isabelle Alves, California State University, Chico and Adelaide Schreiber, Utah State University.

"Congratulations to all the winners and to those that contribute to the scholarship program, we thank you."

The nominating committee presented their new slate of officers and directors and the membership voted to approve the following slate of officers and directors for 2024.

"We would like to thank the following individuals for their time and service to the Association and notice the newly elected officers and directors. We look forward to the upcoming year in the life of the Association."

OFFICERS

  • PRESIDENT - Grant Baglietto - Baglietto Seeds, Stockton, CA
  • 1ST VICE PRESIDENT – Michael Rascon, TriCal Superior Forage, Albany, OR
  • 2ND VICE PRESIDENT - Freya Jensen – Verbruggen Palletizing Solutions, Pasco, WA
  • SECRETARY/TREASURER - McKayla Fricker – Pure Seed, Canby, OR
  • PAST PRESIDENT – Bill Merrigan, Blue Mt. Seeds, Inc., Imbler, OR

DIRECTORS

  • Dean Browning - Seeds, Inc., Tekoa, WA
  • Rachel Hankins – Barenbrug USA, Tangent, OR
  • Karen Krych – Clearwater Seed, Spokane, WA
  • Jennifer Wall – Ioka Marketing LLC, Silverton, OR
  • Annelisa Zander – Berger International, Hillsboro, OR

At the Annual PSA Banquet Baglietto had the privilege of announcing the 2023 Person of the Year award.

This year’s honor was bestowed on John Palmer.

Palmer has over thirty-seven years of experience in California agriculture. He holds a BS degree in Plant Science from UC Davis and a MS degree in Agronomy from Kansas State University. From 1980 through 2014, he held various positions in Plant Management, Farm Management, Research & Development, Plant Breeding, Sales & Marketing, and Production & Operations for a number of agricultural firms including J. G. Boswell Company, Dow AgroSciences, California Planting Cotton Seed Distributers, Bayer CropScience, Absorbent Technologies, Cal/West Seeds, and Alforex Seeds.

In January 2015, he became the Executive Director of the California Crop Improvement Association (the official seed certifying agency in California). In January 2016, he took on the additional role of Director of the UC Davis Foundation Seed Program. He has since retired from those positions and is enjoying time with family. He is a fellow of the California Agricultural Leadership Program and is a Past President of the California Seed Association.

He plays lead guitar in a classic rock band that performs in the Sacramento vicinity and is a serious angler and woodworker.

"I want to extend a heart-felt thank you to our sponsors for your commitment to making this event so successful. It was the vision of the Planning Committee to inform, entertain, and provide a networking forum for our members in a pleasant, comfortable environment. Your generous contribution helped make our vision a reality by helping to offset the cost of holding the Convention in a wonderful place like Tucson, Arizona. PSA sincerely thanks our sponsors for supporting our mission and making the Annual Convention possible."