Polk County Youth Fair 2022 photos by Tom Hagerty
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Month: February 2022
Donaldson Sweet Orange
Lesson to the Wise: Attend the Field Days. You never know what might happen. Growers, processors, packers and nurserymen met at the Whitmore Foundation Farm on December 3rd in doing a farm tour of the variety display, rootstock trials, scion trials, new scion plantings, replicated trials of advanced material, and NVDMC’s variety demonstration block introducing …
Ag Community Takes Care of Its Own
The 75th Polk County Youth Fair has come and gone, but it certainly is not forgotten! We started with the national anthem and the Lord’s Prayer, and we were blessed with a safe and successful event! We don’t have the final auction totals yet but the sale prices will exceed one million dollars. The …
FFA Corner
Polk FFA Starts the Year Off Right by JESSICA ANDERSON Polk County FFA Federation has been extremely busy since returning in January from a much-needed holiday break. January started with the county Livestock Judging contest where middle and high school students gathered at Bartow High School to practice their livestock evaluation skills on bulls, steers, …
UF Plant Breeding Program Draws Top Talent to Help Florida Growers
A reigning Big Ten Conference track and field champion is training on the front lawn at the Gulf Coast Research and Education Center. It’s the only spot at the center where he can throw a javelin 200 feet without spearing a crop or puncturing an irrigation line. What Mark Porter really wants, though, is …
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Go Where the Customers Take You
I’ve been thinking about the best piece of business advice I ever received. It was from a family friend and successful business owner. One day, over a meal, he said, “Go where the customers take you.” Sometimes the deepest advice comes in the shortest of sentences. That advice has been valuable throughout my …
Mitigating and Assessing Freeze Damage in Citrus
While Florida is known as The Sunshine State, freezing temperatures are not unheard of. The threat of a citrus freeze is ever-present during the winter months, and low temperatures can easily lead to freeze damage in citrus trees. Citrus trees can experience heavy damage to wood, leaves, and fruit when exposed to freezing temperatures, either …
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Urgent Horse Emergencies
Equine diseases and injuries can cause major issues with your horse’s health, so it’s important to be proactive in preventing and treating problems before they get out of hand. At Polk Equine, we strongly recommend that every horse owner develop a good working relationship with their veterinarian. Colic Colic is a general term for …
A Great Deal for You and Youth in Ag
Dark Hammock Legacy Ranch and Chop-N-Block are committed to supporting the future of agriculture in Central Florida, and we’re putting our money where our mouth is! For a limited time, we are offering amazing, high-quality beef that was raised by local ag students for sale to the public at an incredible price. These kids did …
Signs of the Season: Florida a Key Player in Nation’s Strawberry Production
by TERESA SCHIFFER Sponsored by Farm Credit of Central Florida Each winter, we get to celebrate the sweetness of the season with farm-fresh, Florida-raised strawberries! The juicy, naturally delightful treats of nature are big business here, bringing roughly $350 million to Florida farmers each year. More than 8,000 acres of Florida’s cropland is devoted …
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