Now more than ever, the permanent conservation of farmland in Yolo County is recognized by the community as vitally important

WOODLAND, CA (MPG) - The Yolo Land Trust recently elected its 2021 slate of officers:

President – Neal Van Alfen

Vice-President – Mary-Ann Warmerdam

Secretary – Kathy Ward

Treasurer – Chuck Moore

Neal Van Alfen grew up in Modesto learning about agriculture from the experience of working in the peach harvest and on chicken farms.  This experience convinced him that education was the route out of a life of hard manual farm labor.  After receiving his PhD in plant pathology from UC Davis he served on the faculty of Utah State University and Texas A&M University before returning to UC Davis as dean of the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, serving in this role for 13 years.  He retired from the faculty of UC Davis to return to hard manual farm labor on his small farm in Winters, CA where his current goal is to find a way to make a profit growing citrus, make drinkable wine, and enough olive oil to meet the needs of his large family.  He remains actively engaged with international agriculture and food issues and recently served as editor-in-chief of the latest edition of the Encyclopedia of Agriculture and Food Systems.

Mary-Ann Warmerdam has worked on agricultural, natural resource and rural public policy issues for most of her career, including a stint with the Yolo County Flood Control and Water Conservation District. Recently, she joined the State Controller’s office as the deputy controller for environmental policy. Prior to that, she was with the Rural County Representatives of California, and also served in the California Environmental Protection Agency for Governors Schwarzenegger and Brown. In addition to her public service, Mary-Ann has worked for the California Farm Bureau Federation and several publicly-traded companies including the Clorox Company. Rounding out her experience, she has served on the Board of Directors for the Cache Creek Conservancy, the California Agricultural Leadership Foundation and the UC Davis Dean’s Advisory Council for the College of Agriculture and Environmental Science.

Mary-Ann and her husband, Robert Falconer, both “farm kids”, own a small farm in northern Yolo County.  Mary-Ann has an MBA from CSU Fresno and completed the California Agricultural Leadership Program and the Kennedy School of Government’s Executive Certification Program. 

Kathy Ward grew up on her family ranch in Baker, Oregon where she helped raise cattle, horses, hay, wheat, barley, peas, sugar beets, and potatoes. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Agronomy from Oregon State University and MBA from Western Michigan University. Kathy is the Head, Global Testing and Operations Lead at Bayer Vegetable R&D in Woodland. Among her many responsibilities, she works with all sites on sustainability efforts that will achieve Bayer’s sustainability goals. She has served on the Board of the Woodland United Way and Highway 16 Safety Task Force. She and her husband Harold have lived in Woodland for over 20 years and raise olives for oil for family and friends.

Chuck Moore is a California and Yolo County native being raised in Davis. Two summers working on a dry-land grain and cow-calf ranch in Northeastern Montana led him to California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo where a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Management was obtained. He has worked in the Farm Credit system for over 35 years in various lending and management capacities. He is presently Senior Vice President, Portfolio Manager for Farm Credit West in their Woodland Office. He resides in Woodland and is a member of the noon Rotary Club.

The Yolo Land Trust has a simple mission – to conserve the productive farmland and ranchland of Yolo County. Now more than ever, the permanent conservation of farmland in Yolo County is recognized by the community as vitally important.  The Yolo Land Trust has helped farm families place a voluntary agricultural conservation easement agreement on over 65 farms throughout Yolo County.

 For more information on the Yolo Land Trust, visit www.TheYoloLandTrust.org