President’s Column

Greetings! As I write this, our thoughts and prayers are with our fellow farmers, ranchers, and citizens who were heavily impacted by Hurricane Idalia. Florida Farm Bureau has published storm-related resources for farm families on its website at www.ffbf.org. I would like to praise our Polk County Sheriff’s Office Special Operations and Polk County Fire […]

Greetings! Members of the Polk Young Farmer and Ranchers committee joined over 200 of their colleagues from around the state in Orlando on July 7 – 9 for leadership training, competitive events, farm tours, and fellowship at Florida Farm Bureau’s 2023 Young Farmers and Ranchers (YF&R) Leadership Conference. I’m pleased to share that our Polk

Greetings! We recently submitted our County Recognition Program Application to Florida Farm Bureau. For those who may not be familiar with this program, this is our opportunity to share our county members’ many great agriculture advocacy efforts in the areas of Public Relations, Leadership Development, Organizational Management, Legislative/Policy and Agriculture Education. We are always amazed

Greetings! We recently held our Legislative Wrap-Up Luncheon, where we heard an overview of Florida Farm Bureau’s legislative priorities throughout the 2023 session and enjoyed great dialog with members of our Polk Legislative Delegation. We are blessed in Polk agriculture to enjoy relationships with our delegation members that allow for the effective exchange of ideas. Our thanks to all

Greetings! Please save the date for our upcoming Legislative Wrap-up Luncheon scheduled for June 13, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the W.H. Stuart Center in Bartow. Members and community stakeholders will receive mailed invitations. We will hear from our Polk delegation on bills that passed during the session, and we will learn how

Greetings! We recently held our Central Florida Ag Deputy Luncheon where members and guests were able to network with agriculture law enforcement officers from Polk and surrounding counties to exchange information on how to better protect agribusiness property. Thank you to event sponsors Agriliance, Kelly Buick GMC, Lightsey Cattle Co., Magnatronix Corp., The Mosaic Co.,

By the time this issue of CFAN is published, Polk County Agri-Fest will have been in full swing with more than 4,600 students registered to attend over the eight-day event. Each year, students get to experience interactive sessions that feature citrus, beef, small farms, phosphate, forestry, and horticulture. I would like to say a special

Each year, the fair highlights students’ project accomplishments and demonstrates their determination and strong work ethic.  We hear that this year saw a recent year record number of participants.  Congratulations to all volunteers and participants on another successful year.   The 2023 Legislative Session will begin on March 7, and Florida Farm Bureau members will waste

The Polk Ag community is off and running as we begin 2023 with the long tradition of the Polk County Youth Fair.  This year’s fair dates are January 21 – 27, and a schedule of daily events can be found at www.pcyf.net. We encourage you to visit the fair and support youth participants who have

We hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends and found plenty to be thankful for. Our Polk Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee celebrated Thanksgiving and Farm-City Week by holding a donation drawing where proceeds were used to purchase 72 turkeys distributed to local families in need through Feeding Tampa Bay and the