| Teaching kids about agriculture through hands-on training gets a new twist this year | BEING HELD this year on April 6-10 and April 13-17 in Bartow, one event hosts 6,000 fourth-graders for hands-on agriculture fun and learning. This year, Agri-Fest offers time-honored traditions and new insights, showing what agriculture in Polk County is all […]
What’s new at Agri-Fest? Read More »
We held our Polk Agriculture Economic Summit event on February 26, and by all accounts the event was a huge success. I believe the Polk Agriculture Economic Impact Study results presented at the event will continue to be a useful resource for years to come. The results of the study can be viewed on our
PCFB President’s Column: Ag impact study will be a useful resource for years Read More »
Family farming. There’s just something about the phrase that brings to mind so many positive thoughts and images — tight-knit bonds; hard but honest and rewarding work; a respect and appreciation for the land; conservation born out of a love for nature; labor that feeds a community and feeds the world; and parents, grandparents, children,
Meeting the Family Farmer’s Unique Lending Needs Read More »
| The Polk Agriculture Economic Impact Study reveals ag as an economic pillar | NEARLY HALF of Polk County’s land remained in farm use in 2012, although acreage declined nearly 17 percent the preceding decade. “The traditional industries of production agriculture and mining have been gradually declining over the last ten years,” according to a
Study results shed light on agriculture’s economic significance Read More »
A CASUAL DRIVE almost anywhere in Central Florida provides ample evidence of an agricultural boom, particularly in the realm of row crops, the kind providing consumers with fresh produce and berries. It’s not at all unusual to discover that land seen vacant a year ago is now rich with plants bearing tasty blueberries or vegetables.
The right lender to grow with the farming industry Read More »
| What participants learned at the Polk County Youth Fair’s Commercial Steer Show | EVERY YEAR at the Polk County Youth Fair, local youth, FFA members, and 4-H Club students alike have a unique, hands-on learning opportunity. Each youth begins a project in which they raise livestock or horticulture, and then publicly shows the “fruits
Showing steer for more than just show Read More »
The EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) has once again made an attempt to expand federal jurisdiction on Florida’s waterways with its proposed changes to the rules guiding the implementation of the Clean Water Act. Earlier this month, I testified before a joint hearing of U.S. House and Senate committees regarding the devastating impact of the
IT SHOULDN’T come as a surprise to you that agriculture is counted among the top economic drivers in our great state of Florida. If it does, then the information I’m about to share is all the more important for you to read. The agriculture industry is a multibillion-dollar trade, supporting jobs for many of our
| Recent UF/IFAS webinar discusses opportunities and challenges of agricultural trade with Cuba | THIS PAST DECEMBER, President Obama made a televised speech regarding Cuba that caused everyone to pay attention; those in Florida agriculture should take special note. On December 17, President Obama announced a move toward normalized relations between the U.S. and the
AgriGov: Taking a look at the Cuban factor Read More »
| How Vance Whitaker invented a better berry | In Vance Whitaker’s office in Wimauma, a philodendron vine drops out of the ceiling, seemingly from nowhere. The vine is older than he is. You have to peek into the next office to find the potted plant that put forth the vine that snakes through the
A Sweet Sensation™ for growers Read More »
