Woodland Hopes To Create Agriculture Innovation Center Near UC Davis

The City of Woodland hopes to create an agriculture innovation center near UC Davis. The city hosted about 170 people to talk about the idea today.

Tom Stallard is a Woodland city councilman. He says the city has already identified a 340-acre site about 8 miles north of the school and described the proposed center as "a place to prosper, incubate, grow and become successful, and have that collaboration."

"UC Davis does not have any research park dedicated to agriculture relating to it," he says.

Stallard says Woodland's location near farming and the university makes it a natural for such a development, "Our city's economy is primarily based on agriculture," he says. "We see this as a master stroke for the future, not only for us directly here in Woodland, but for all of Yolo County and the Sacramento region."

Some of the topics that were discussed included economic development, food production, venture capital, and food science.

Frank Muller is a farmer in Yolo County.

"You have the UC people and the agricultural people and so many different interests here. You just kind of throw it all out there and see what sticks," he says.

The event was originally planned to include 30 people, but nearly 200 attended the event at the Woodland Community Center.

Attendees came from as far away as the state of Washington.