Author Archives: Robert Schmidt, CDFA Director of Information Technology

A familiar refrain in agriculture these days is that we must achieve and sustain the capacity to feed a growing global population that is expected to reach nine billion people by 2050.  How will we do that? The answers are many and varied, as are the farmers and ranchers who must find them. Our world will need to grow about …

Weird Al Yankovic with CDFA IT programmer and animator Jarrett Heather One of CDFA’s Information Technology programmers, Jarrett Heather, is enjoying a richly deserved moment in the spotlight for his work on a side project, animation for a video by performer Weird Al Yankovic. The video, for a parody song called Word Crimes, is viewable below, as is a recent …

CDFA’s ongoing commitment to outreach through technology has led to the development of three new applications for smart phones. The first is a guide to local farmers’ markets. The new application was developed in collaboration with the State Department of Technology and works on both Android and iPhones. It leverages California’s mobile framework with location-aware services and GIS features. Our …

There are two widely-known trends affecting the way state government does business in California. One, of course, is the remarkable advance of technology, and the other is a challenging budget climate that has altered assumptions in the workplace. In information technology, we are finding that we must adapt and innovate more than ever before, and we know that partnering with …