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 of topics including environmental monitoring, precision agriculture practices, invasive plants, successful internship opportunities, urban agriculture, effective agriculture communication and automated aerial agriculture systems. Representatives from Mosaic, Foodery Farms Street-side, St. Johns River Water Management District, TPC Sawgrass, Yellowstone Landscape, Dasher Farm and many others offered workshops for educators to ensure instruction delivered in classrooms is reflective of current industry practices.

Each host organization offers industry recognized certifications aimed at providing a steady workforce for diverse agricultural employers. By linking educators with agricultural professionals in a conference setting, Keitha Bennett, AEST Director said she“hopes to provide teaching resources needed to ensure today’s graduates are equipped with the skills and knowledge needed to fulfill tomorrow’s workforce needs and have a trusted, verifiable credential that leads to employment opportunities.”

Additional information about AEST certifications can be found at www.aest.ag/certify/. For questions, email [email protected].

The 78th Florida Farm Bureau Annual Meeting will take place at the Caribe Royale in Orlando Oct. 30-Nov. 1. This year’s meeting will boast a revamped Member Benefits Showcase that will include a Cultivation Stage. An array of breakout sessions on such topics as mental health, trade and relevant updates on agricultural issues will also be featured.

According to Member Benefits Marketing Representative Ali Baker, attendees can visit with member partners such as Grainger, Ford and John Deere and can see short educational and informative presentations happening on the Cultivation Stage. Topics include the Sarasota Agricultural Community & Emergency Management Partnership, the State of Research for Production Crops, and a product demo from AquaSpy Soil Moisture Sensor. “We are excited about the changes for this year’s Member Benefits Showcase,” said Baker. “Rest assured, there will always be something happening on the showcase floor.”

Register at  https://floridafarmbureau.org/calendar/annual-meeting-2019/.

(The guest column below is from Stephanie See, director of state government and industry relations for the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, and Natalie Higgins, vice president of government relations and general counsel for the Equipment Dealers Association. We include it in this month’s issue as information for our members, not as a Florida Farm Bureau policy statement.)

Manufacturers and dealers of farm equipment have a shared incentive with their customers to minimize downtime and maximize productivity.

That is part of the reason why manufacturers have invested so much in cutting-edged innovations in farm equipment that incorporate the latest technology into tractors and combines.

A modern tractor contains more lines of software than the early versions of the U.S. Space Shuttle.

But while this software is already revolutionizing farming, our industry must respond to our end-users’ needs. They need to have the tools to determine when they can make a simple fix to their tractor or combine, or whether they need to involve their dealer technicians, who themselves invest countless hours in staying up-to-date on the latest technology.

An increasing number of farmers and ranchers have said in recent seasons that they want access to more tools that tell them about the service, repair and maintenance needs for their tractors and combines.

As representatives of farm equipment manufacturers and their dealer networks, we’re proud to say that we’ve heard our customers loud and clear and are prepared to act.

Manufacturers and dealers are announcing a new commitment to make a comprehensive suite of service and diagnostic information for tractors and combines available in the coming years. It is a commonsense response to meet the needs of our end users.

We have made an industry commitment to make available the tools farmers need to navigate onboard technology. In the near future, end users will have access to on-board diagnostics tools via in-cab display or wireless interface, electronic diagnostic service tools — along with training on how to use each of these tools.

Manufacturers and dealers will also make available manuals, product guides, and product service information.

A number of manufacturers already make many of these materials available. By 2021 – or in some cases earlier – customers should be able to expect the same level of information for their tractors and combines across manufacturing brands. It is an appropriate solution that makes so-called “Right to Repair” legislation unnecessary.

Proponents of Right-to-Repair measures have advocated for overly-broad laws that would allow for unfettered access to the software that governs on-board technology on farm equipment.

Giving access to the source code would not only undermine manufacturers’ innovation and intellectual property, it would risk allowing modifications that would run afoul of safety and emissions requirements for farm equipment.

Modifications also create unknown liability issues for the individuals modifying the code and dealers who subsequently take in modified equipment in for resale, as well as subsequent owners of a modified unit.

The right for a farmer to repair his or her equipment does not extend to an unlawful right to modify its software.

We invite readers to learn more about these commonsense solutions by visiting http://www.R2RSolutions.org.

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 for a level playing field for our Florida growers. We are grateful for the work by our trade officials.”

The new agreement includes the following minimum prices for certain categories of Mexican tomatoes imported into the United States:

• rounds and romas – $0.31/lb.,
• stem-on tomatoes – $0.46/lb.,
• tomatoes on the vine – $0.50/lb.,
• specialty loose tomatoes – $0.49/lb.,
• specialty packed tomatoes –  $0.59/lb.,
  organic tomatoes – 40% over non-organics.

The agreement also mandates a high percentage of inspections of the Mexican product entering U.S. territory. This is a stipulation not realized in previous agreements.

President Hoblick also added, “I hope the new accords help us move toward an overall solution for our seasonal and perishable producers…the safety and stability of our domestic food supply is too important to compromise any further.”

Read the Florida Farm Bureau press release.

Read the Department of Commerce announcement.

Jared Plair serves counties in District 8 on the Florida Farm Bureau State Young Farmers and Ranchers Leadership Committee. Counties in his district include Glades, Hendry, Palm Beach, Collier, Broward and Dade.

The 26 year-old is from LaBelle and is active in Farm Bureau at the local level as well as the state level. Plair serves as secretary of the Hendry/Glades County Farm Bureau (HGCFB) Board of Directors, chair of the HGCFB Young Farmers and Ranchers Committee and is a technical advisor on FFB’s Sugar Advisory Committee.

Plair is a farm manager for the United States Sugar Corporation where he manages more than 18,000 acres of farmland, primarily sugarcane, daily.

He is a graduate of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College where he received a bachelor’s degree in diversified agriculture. Currently, Plair is working on obtaining a M.B.A. from Warner University.

“My passion for agriculture really came to light in middle school when I began working for a local citrus producer,” he said. “That passion was broadened as I reached my high school years while working for various cattle operations in Hendry/Glades County.”

Agriculture was a natural fit for Plair’s future given his involvement and work experience at a young age. He explained that networking with other farmers and ranchers has been one of Farm Bureau’s greatest rewards.

“Through Florida Farm Bureau I’ve been able to meet and build relationships with people across the state,” he said. “People who are involved in various other industries, but who face obstacles similar to the ones we face in South Florida.”

Each year in October, HGCFB holds its annual meeting. “This dinner brings people together,” he said. “It gives everyone a chance to catch up with one another and see other members of the county Farm Bureau that we wouldn’t normally get to see otherwise.”

[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 Florida Farmer of the Year, nominated by Florida Farm Bureau Field Services District Representative, Eva Webb. Chuck drove back and forth from his C&B Farms in Clewiston, met me in Fort Myers and visited the News-Press. Our mission and message: To explain that farmers can offer solutions to climate doom instead of being blamed for it.

Chuck brought decades of street cred to the conversation. A 1979 graduate of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Chuck looks the part of a guy who lives off the land. He wore blue jeans, muddy shoes–and the pièce de résistance – a farmer’s shirt with a Gator logo on it.

He told the story of how he has long taken measures to lock carbon in his soil. He was composting before composting was cool. He took loads of yard waste from municipal haulers–waste that was headed toward a landfill–and diverted it to his fields.

These days he’s doing a lot of experimenting with microbes. His hypothesis is that the right brew of microbes in his soil can help plants absorb more nutrients so less of them seep into an aquifer or get released to the atmosphere.

He doesn’t have scientific evidence to back his claim, but Chuck and one of my soil microbiologists have been seeking funding to run formal experiments on his land and his treatments.

Chuck’s folksy, awe-shucks delivery disarms skeptics so that his wisdom can challenge people to rethink what they believe about farmers. It was an important hour spent countering the narrative of farmers as climate villains, or at least adding context to it.

Toward the end, Chuck was asked where he saw himself in five or 10 years. Chuck looked surprised. Five years? With all the threats to agriculture, Chuck said, he can’t see past next season.

At the same time, he’s looking decades into the future. He wants his son, Boots, to run C&B, and then his grandkids, and maybe even his unborn great-grandkids after that. So he’s trying to take care of the land however he can.

He left them with an important message: He can’t take care of the environment without taking care of his bottom line. Chuck is at that intersection of sustainability that protects profits and the planet simultaneously.

I’ve been preaching this for years. But Chuck’s been living it, and now he’s talking about it.

Jack Payne is the University of Florida’s senior vice president for agriculture and natural resources and leader of the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.

Many observers have concluded that the environmental benefits provided by farmers and ranchers are essential for the health of U.S. society. Several participants at an August conference in Gainesville suggested that these benefits warrant compensation.

The UF/IFAS Conference on Agriculture and Forestry in a Changing Climate included considerations of food production, consumer needs and policy issues. U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor was the keynote speaker.

Chaired by Lynetta Usher Griner, a timber and beef cattle producer, and rancher Jim Strickland, the forum included a tour of North Florida agricultural properties.

A series of panel discussions at the conference addressed various subjects associated with variable climate conditions. All attendees agreed that reliable scientific information should guide responses to those conditions.

Jared Plair serves counties in District 8 on the Florida Farm Bureau State Young Farmers and Ranchers Leadership Committee. Counties in his district include Glades, Hendry, Palm Beach, Collier, Broward and Dade.

The twenty-six year old is from LaBelle and is active in Farm Bureau at the local level as well as the state level. Plair serves as secretary of the Hendry/Glades County Farm Bureau (HGCFB) Board of Directors, chair of the HGCFB Young Farmers and Ranchers Committee and is a technical advisor on FFB’s Sugar Advisory Committee.

Plair is a farm manager for the United States Sugar Corporation where he manages more than 18,000 acres of farmland, primarily sugar, daily.

He is a graduate of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College where he received a bachelor’s degree in diversified agriculture. Currently, Plair is working on obtaining a M.B.A. from Warner University.

“My passion for agriculture really came to light in middle school when I began working for a local citrus producer,” he said. “That passion was broadened as I reached my high school years while working for various cattle operations in Hendry/Glades County.”

Agriculture was a natural fit for Plair’s future given his involvement and work experience at a young age. He explained that networking with other farmers and ranchers has been one of Farm Bureau’s greatest rewards.

“Through Florida Farm Bureau I’ve been able to meet and build relationships with people across the state,” he said. “People who are involved in various other industries, but who face obstacles similar to the ones we face in South Florida.”

Each year in October, HGCFB holds its annual meeting. “This dinner brings people together,” he said. “It gives everyone a chance to catch up with one another and see other members of the county Farm Bureau that wouldn’t normally get to see otherwise.”

The robots are coming. They’ll be bringing you on-demand, low-cost advice.

My advice comes from people like Senthold Asseng, who spends a lot of time thinking about the future of farming. He seeks technology-based solutions to your problems.

He paints a hopeful picture of your future farm. Wireless microsensors are going to tell you which plants need nutrients. The robots will respond, applying fertilizer only where it’s needed.

Other high-tech monitoring will warn you when the first pests arrive in your field, well before you’d ever see them. Then you’ll dispatch robots or drones to nip them in the bud and save yourself a whole field’s worth of pesticides.

The way I see it, the only way you’re going to stay competitive is to sell more and spend less. That’s why University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences engineers like Senthold are so important to your future. He is identifying ways technology can save you on labor and other costs – all while you produce more.

You’ve heard me say it time and again – that the food business is global, and innovation is the way America competes. Farmers must also continue to be leaders in protecting the land and water that makes food production possible. The same techno-fixes that reduce costs are also likely to make farming a greener business.

UF/IFAS experts each have a granular expertise on one of the dozens of factors that influence your success, from irrigation to plant disease to whether you can afford to adopt a new technology.

One of the reasons I recently appointed Senthold to lead the Florida Climate Institute is his ability to look at your farms from 30,000 feet. He’s a big-picture thinker. His interest is not a debate about the causes of climate change. It’s to help figure out which technological tools we need to respond to whatever comes from the sky.

The sensors, robots, drones, and computers that Senthold looks at may cost more than you can spend – for now. But at some point, you may not be able to afford NOT spending on technology.

The robots are coming. If not to your farm, then to your competitors’, whether they’re in California, Mexico, or overseas.

That’s why you can expect to see UF/IFAS hire more agents to help you harness technology. Agents like Charles Barrett at our Suwannee Valley center. While he can talk to you in depth about irrigation, he’s going to encourage you to put soil moisture sensors in the ground. He recognizes that technology can tell you more than he can.

Senthold asserts that all the components of the future farm already exist. What will change is that they’ll become cheaper. What will also change is that you and your heirs will become more fluent in their use.

Robots need robot wranglers. Huge harvests of data require data scientists. Automation software can’t work without programmers. Figuring out how to apply the know-how of these cutting-edge professions to food production, Senthold reminds us, is another job of the future farmer.

Jack Payne is the University of Florida’s senior vice president for agriculture and natural resources and leader of the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.

As a grassroots organization, Florida Farm Bureau has the opportunity to make a difference during every election cycle.

Whether it is at the local, state, or federal level, Farm Bureau can improve the future of Florida agriculture throughout the political process.

More than 300 young farmers attended the 2019 annual Young Farmers and Ranchers Leadership Conference themed “Ready. Set. Grow.” The conference, held July 12-14, included informative breakout sessions on current agricultural issues, networking opportunities with current members and more.

Farm Bureau’s Young Farmers and Ranchers are members between the ages of 18 and 35, who volunteer their time and resources to speak out on behalf of farm families in their local communities.

In an effort to encourage our members to be involved in the legislative process, we asked conference attendees to take a quick, 12-question digital survey and the results were impressive. The following questions and results that caught our attention were:

• 93% of our members said it is extremely important to be politically influential.
• 75% said that for us to improve in the political process, we need to elect more farmers to the Legislature.
• 60% would run for office if they felt they could make a difference.
• 60% would make a small monthly contribution to a Farm Bureau PAC.

Thank you to all of our members who participated in this survey and attended the conference. Your feedback is greatly appreciated.

This survey showed us that our members are willing to be politically active and engaged in the process. Our entire organization initiates our legislative priorities and gives Florida Farm Bureau its influence as the Voice of Agriculture in our state.