CRAFT Foundation Under New Management as Wood Moves on and Hall Steps Up
by MATT COBBLE
After five years, the Citrus Research and Field Trial Foundation is under new leadership. On July 8, former Assistant Deputy Commissioner of Agriculture Steven Hall replaced Tamara Wood as CRAFT’s Executive Director.
Hall grew up on his family’s farm outside of Malone in the northernmost region of Florida. He attended the University of Florida where he received a bachelor’s degree in Food and Resource Economics with a minor in Agricultural Law. He continued his education at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, receiving a master’s degree in environmental management and Juris Doctorate from Cumberland School of Law.
While in school, Hall interned with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and joined the department full time after he graduated. During his 19-year tenure with FDACS, Hall performed in various capacities, including serving as the Department’s General Council under Agriculture Commissioners Adam Putnam, Nikki Fried, and Wilton Simpson before stepping into the role of Assistant Deputy Commissioner.
Although he is new to CRAFT, he was familiar with the Foundation from his time at FDACS. As the department’s General Council, he signed the initial paperwork to create CRAFT as a Direct Supported Organization (DSO) under FDACS. Then, part of his duties as Assistant Deputy Commissioner was to oversee all DSOs in the state, including CRAFT.
But CRAFT would not be what it is today without the efforts of Tamara Wood. After 20 years working for Florida Citrus Mutual, Wood was offered the Executive Director position at CRAFT when the program began in 2019.
“When [CRAFT] started 5 years ago,” Wood says, “we had a goal of working with 5,000 acres. We couldn’t imagine that today, we would be working with nearly 90,000 acres.” Wood also credits the “overwhelming support” from the state legislature, and especially Senator Ben Albritton.
Earlier this year, the position of Director of Operations and Strategic Initiatives with Florida Citrus Mutual opened up, and Wood felt that this would be a way for her to better serve the agriculture community – but with the proviso that they first found the right hands to place CRAFT into.
That was when Florida Citrus Mutual Executive Vice President and CEO Matt Joyner called Steven Hall, as the two had worked closely together under Putnam. They discussed the possibilities of CRAFT, and Joyner asked Hall if he was willing to take the reins.
Hall jumped at the opportunity.
“I had been with the department for 19 years, this felt like a good way to do something different but still be involved in ag. I didn’t grow up in citrus, but I grew up in Florida ag. I have spent my entire career advocating on behalf of our producers, and I’m looking forward to working with our producers in a new way.”
Wood will stay onboard with CRAFT through August 31 to help Hall transition into the role, after which she will return to Florida Citrus Mutual full time. In her new role, Wood will still continue to provide support to CRAFT, just not full time.
“We’re not losing Tamara’s expertise,” Hall clarifies. “I might have signed some paperwork, but she’s been doing the work from day one.”
“I was honored to be entrusted with CRAFT,” Wood adds, “but I’m excited to see what results we can get now.” She also offered some words of wisdom to Hall.
“Remember, your growers are your biggest supporters; everyone is in this together. You have the key ingredients. I know you’ll do a phenomenal job to move forward with it.”
First up on Hall’s agenda is preparing for the next cycles of CRAFT projects. Applications for Cycle Six for the New Plantings Program and Round 3 of the Existing Tree Therapies opened August 1, and CRAFT will continue to accept project proposals until November 1.
Between State and Federal funds, CRAFT has approximately $17 million to support new projects.
Beyond this, Hall is actively looking for ways CRAFT can be more efficient. “Part of my job at the department was rulemaking coordinator,” he said. “Looking for efficiencies is a part of my skill set.”
Hall is aware of the challenges facing the Florida Citrus, but he remains hopeful. “If I didn’t think we weren’t going to have a citrus industry in a year’s time, I wouldn’t have made the transition. CRAFT is going to be a tool to revitalize our citrus industry. We’ve gotten some breathing room with survivor trees, we just need to find the ways to get our solutions out of the laboratory and into our groves.”
Hall, a sixth-generation Florida farmer, serves as the President of the Education Foundation for the UF chapter of the Alpha Gamma Rho social-profession fraternity and is a member of Florida Blue Key. He continues to lead his family’s farming operation in Jackson County. He lives in Tallahassee with his wife, Dr. Tiffany Hall, DVM, and their two children.
