Polk County Youth Fair 2022 photos by Tom Hagerty
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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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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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Spotlight on Small Farmers
New Micro Farm Crop Insurance Now Available by MATT COBBLE The dawn of 2022 is bringing new hope for farmers. As of January 31, farmers or ranchers with $100,000 or less in annual revenue may be eligible for the Risk Management Agency’s (RMA) new Micro Farm Crop Insurance. The Micro Farm insurance plan gives
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Ensuring a Sweet Future
Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative’s Patrick Arnold Works to Keep Sugar Industry Sustainable, Eco-friendly by PAUL CATALA Motorists traveling on county and state roads in South-Central Florida have grown familiar with the dark plumes of smoke emanating from vast acres of sugarcane. But that could change as the practice of burning sugar fields to remove leaves
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Innovation in the Fields
Harvest CROO Technology Helps Growers Overcome Challenges by TERESA SCHIFFER One of the biggest challenges any type of grower in Florida faces right now is a shortage of manual labor. Finding enough hands to harvest a crop is imperative to prevent massive food waste, but sometimes that is practically impossible to do. If a farmer
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Food for the Masses
Brick Street Farms Takes Hydroponic Vertical Farming to Urban Communities by TERESA SCHIFFER With a global population now nearly 8 billion with no signs of slowing any time soon, each passing year it becomes more imperative that we develop the most efficient methods of providing nutritious food for people in a sustainable fashion.
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Florida’s Agricultural Innovations Ensure More Food Choices and an Economic Boost
by J. SCOTT ANGLE Last summer’s historic heat in the West scorched our food supply. It threatened workers’ health, shriveled crops, and stressed water resources. More frequent extreme weather events like the heat wave mean we must change the future of farming if we want to be a nation that feeds itself. Florida
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Signs of the Season: Ornamental, Horticulture Industries Play Big Role in State’s Economy
by TERESA SCHIFFER Sponsored by Farm Credit of Central Florida Florida’s subtropical climate means the state is well-suited for the mass cultivation of ornamental and tropical plants for the rest of the country. In fact, the state is the second-largest producer of ornamental and horticultural products in the country. The environmental horticulture industry generated roughly