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[email protected] @JackPayneIFAS By Jack Payne One of the greatest compliments the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences gets is some variety of, “If it weren’t for IFAS, I wouldn’t be in business.” It’s the ultimate endorsement of impact. It’s not just the testimonial. It’s who it comes…

Hundreds of Farm Bureau members from nearly every county in the state descended upon Tallahassee for a full day of advocacy at the state Capitol. They supported and promoted Farm Bureau’s legislative agenda that covered a variety of issues currently affecting our family farms, including everything from maintaining and enhancing…

  By Jack Payne @JackPayneIFAS [email protected] You are always welcome on the University of Florida campus, but I hope you’ll consider coming to visit us this month. You’ll get a look at your future. We’re bringing some of the best minds in the world here to help us determine how…

Sarasota County Farm Bureau President Robbie Martin Fifth generation farmer and Sarasota County native Robbie Martin is continuing a family tradition that began over 100 years ago. Martin’s great-grandfather and his brother cleared the Southwest Florida property they purchased in 1900 using only a cross-cut saw and a grubbing hoe.

Ten years ago, John Hoblick told an audience on campus recently, he helped find a new leader for the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. He offered his humble assessment that he had done a great job. It was his sly, humorous way of paying me a…

[email protected] @JackPayneIFAS We need two types of agricultural science – the science of now, and the science of the future. Researchers are working on what’s in your fields now as well as what might be in them in five, 10, even 20 years. Most research done by the University of…

Jake and Tiffany Sache, Sache Farms, JS Custom Harvesting, Levy County Jake and Tiffany Sache were recognized as the 2019 Florida Farm Bureau Achievement in Agriculture Award winners at the FFB Annual Meeting in Orlando on Oct. 30. This high honor recognizes Young Farmers and Ranchers for their skill at…

Ben and Katie Morris have been active members of Florida Farm Bureau since they first set foot in the Sunshine State. They have taken every opportunity to grow, learn and network with other agricultural producers. Ben spent his adolescence on his family’s beef cattle and chicken farm in north Georgia.

For years Gene McAvoy kept a dark blue suit jacket on a hook behind the door in his Extension office. He wore it to farmers’ funerals. He considered attending funerals a gesture of respect. It was also yet another place to talk to other farmers. Gene called his job as…

Florida Farm Bureau’s Agriculture Education Services and Technology (AEST) collaborated with Florida Nursery Growers Landscape Association (FNGLA) and Florida Aquaculture Association (FAA) to host LINC 2019 in Daytona Beach Shores, Sept. 27-29. Over 140 commodity representatives and agricultural educators were able to network and present best practices for a number…

On August 21, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced that negotiations yielded a new agreement with Mexican officials on tomato imports. Upon news of the announcement, Florida Farm Bureau President John L. Hoblick stated, “The enhanced enforcement measures and raised price floors in the new agreements provide the best chance…

[email protected] @JackPayneIFAS I can talk all day to policy makers and the media about how important farming is. But I don’t live it. So when I recently visited an editorial board, I brought someone who does. Farm Bureau member and vegetable farmer Chuck Obern is the 2019 Swisher Sweets/Sunbelt Expo…