Rethwisch honored for Outstanding Contribution to Agriculture by CAPCA

Michael Rethwisch, University of California Cooperative Extension crop production and entomology farm advisor for Riverside County, received the 2025 Outstanding Contribution to Agriculture Award from the California Association of Pest Control Advisers (CAPCA). The award was presented to him at the 51st CAPCA Annual Conference & Agri-Expo North held Oct. 19-21 at Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada.

Rethwisch was nominated by the CAPCA Desert Valleys chapter (Imperial, Coachella and Palo Verde Valleys). Recognizing him as one of the top alfalfa insect pest management experts for the western U.S., the nomination letter praised his discoveries of insect pests adapting to new host crops during his career, and for being a member of teams that have documented insecticide resistance in desert crops.  

The nominators also lauded Rethwisch’s work with youth, noting that he has coached the past two national championship 4-H Horticulture Contest teams and the past three individual 4-H winners. Rethwisch also initiated and conducts the California state 4-H insect identification contest.

Rethwisch’s applied research posters have twice placed first in national competition among fellow extension agents, and he has been invited to speak at regional and national meetings such as the U.S. Biostimulant Summit.

“This recognition was very humbling considering the large number of individuals that are engaged with pest management from multiple universities, private industries and corporations in California,” Rethwisch said. “The pest management successes were made possible through the great cooperation with local growers and pest control advisers.” He credited his laboratory staff for their diligence and tenacity for processing samples (separating and counting many thousands of insects) from multiple insecticide efficacy comparison studies.

Rethwisch also thanked CAPCA for the award and the Desert Valleys Chapter for the nomination.

“This award would not have happened if I hadn’t survived a heart attack 10 years ago,” he added, recognizing the medical community and especially those that had performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and crediting the involvement of God’s hand in his survival.

Comparing the medical community with pest control advisers, he said, “Both groups are trying to keep people or plants alive and healthy.”

Peña-Lévano and team lauded for best poster at dairy summit

Luis Peña-Lévano, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, and his research team received the Best Poster in Farm Management and Labor award Oct. 21 at the 2025 International Dairy Foundation World Dairy Summit in Santiago, Chile. 

The poster is based on a research article developed by UC Davis postdoctoral scholar Luis Garcia-Covarrubias; Richard Pereira, UC Davis associate professor and associate agronomist; Allan Pinto, Cornell University postdoctoral research economist; and Peña-Lévano.

“This marks the fourth recognition this year and reflects the collaborative efforts of our group, as well as the strong support from the Department of Population Health and Reproduction, the VMTRC (Veterinary Medicine Training and Research Center) at Tulare, and UC Cooperative Extension, which make these accomplishments possible,” said Peña-Lévano.

ANR superheroes celebrate Halloween

A skeleton crew of ANR colleagues working in the ANR building in Davis posed for a group photo on Oct. 31. Thanks to Selena Syrett for organizing the fun photo shoot.