I recently spent two days crisscrossing the San Joaquin Valley to meet with farmers, business leaders, policymakers, researchers and alumni of UC Davis. It was a remarkable opportunity to see first-hand the many connections between our university and this beautiful Valley that stretches from Stockton to Bakersfield.

The San Joaquin Valley, one of the most significant farm production regions in the world, has a history that has been intertwined with UC Davis for generations.

Researchers at UC Davis created tomatoes and the mechanical harvester that allowed the tomato industry to thrive in California and prevented its move to other parts of the world. These innovations helped create a six-fold increase in the state's tomato harvest, which today provides the United States with more than 95% of its processing tomatoes used in ketchup, sauce, paste and juice.

UC Davis research is also credited with preventing the deterioration of the predominant almond variety planted in the Valley, and today, we are breeding new varieties that do not require bee pollination, reducing dependence on expensive bee importation.

And our work with strawberries has increased California production from three to four months a year to year-round; today, a significant percentage of the world's strawberries are licensed to UC Davis.

UC Davis' global leadership in modern wine-making methods is renowned, but we are also at work breeding rootstocks that are resistant to soil diseases and other threats, and we recently released five new root stocks for grape varieties.

There are many, many more examples of how UC Davis research has revolutionized the growing, harvesting and processing of agricultural crops, ranging from walnuts and milk to pest control and water management.

But UC Davis is also at work in local hospitals and in rural clinics. Our medical residents are treating patients and training in the Valley. We are also providing crucial telehealth links and collaborating with UC Merced to train new doctors for underserved rural communities.

Right now, we are also educating thousands of students from the Valley, and nearly 10,000 of our alumni live in the region. It is clear that our partnership with the Valley has changed lives and vastly improved our food supply and state economy.

Our future will be just as intertwined as our past, so during my visit, I asked our supporters to send a message to Sacramento. I asked them to speak out about the state budget because we know that cuts to UC Davis' agricultural research program will reverberate up and down the main streets and across the farm fields of the San Joaquin Valley. They will impact agricultural production, employment and the economic strength of the entire region.

Right now, state lawmakers and Gov. Jerry Brown are trying to agree on a 2011-12 budget. The governor's proposed budget -- even with the so-far elusive tax extensions -- would mean severe cuts to the UC system of $500 million and to UC Davis of $73 million.

We know these are difficult economic times for everyone, and recovery is slow. As we move forward and make budget decisions to solve today's crisis, we must also have a vision for the future and make choices that do not cripple our industries, economies and environment for many years to come.

Valley residents know better than anyone that kitchen tables around the world will suffer if our partnership is threatened. The San Joaquin Valley is too important to California, the nation and the world to not be heard from.

It was an honor to visit the San Joaquin Valley and I welcome your advocacy, thoughts and questions as we work together for many years come.