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The California Agricultural Leadership Foundation announced its Class 55 ag leadership fellows. Jill Sperling was appointed California state FFA adviser and state supervisor of agricultural education. The California Walnut Board announced a new board of directors. 

Ivy Brittain, formerly with the Northern California Water Association, joined The Plastics Industry Association as regional director of state government affairs. Kate Folmar was appointed chief of strategic communications at the California High-Speed Rail Authority. 

Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., hired John Watts as counsel covering environmental protection, public lands and natural resources. Lori Fulton retired from the University of California Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.  

The California Milk Advisory Board hired Selina Lopes as producer relations coordinator. A recent graduate of Oklahoma State University, she was an agriculture support specialist at Modesto Junior College in California. The International Fresh Produce Association reorganized its food safety and regulatory teams to strengthen produce safety and food safety policy work. Wayne Honeycutt, founding president and chief executive officer of the Soil Health Institute, will retire in early 2026.

New legislation in California is designed to ease requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act, in part to encourage development of more farmworker housing. But the way the law is written may blunt its impacts, this analysis argues.