Located in Fort Pierce, FL, Save the Chimps is a non-profit sanctuary providing life-long world-class care to nearly 240 chimpanzees that have been retired from research, entertainment, military and being pets in homes.

Save the Chimps provides loving care, clean housing, fresh food, daily enrichment and specialized medical treatment. Most importantly, it provides the chimpanzees with the social companionship and freedom they need to live happy and full lives. Our residents eat three healthy and nutritious meals per day – totaling over 2,500 pieces of fresh fruit and vegetables daily!

As the world’s largest privately funded sanctuary for chimpanzees, Save the Chimps relies 100% on donations from generous groups and individuals. In-Kind donations of items the chimps need and love are welcomed and appreciated.

The facility welcomes generous spirit of Florida’s farmers and welcome future produce donations. At this time, delivery will need to be arranged by the donor. Save the Chimps cannot accept more than the equivalent of a pick-up truck full of perishable items at a time due to our limited storage at the Sanctuary.  Donation letters are provided to the donors for their tax records.

For more information, contact Carolyn at 954.224.9315, or Mika at 772.429.2225 or [email protected].

To learn more about Save the Chimps visit savethechimps.org.

Blair Beauchamp
Levy County Farm Bureau President  

Elected as president in November of 2019, Blair Beauchamp is proud to represent farm and ranch families throughout Levy County. Beauchamp is a 5th^th generation Floridian, raised in Chiefland. His family grew peanuts, watermelon and raised beef cattle.

Prior to becoming president, Beauchamp served as a member of the Board of Directors for Levy County Farm Bureau.

Today, he and his wife, Tammy, own and operate W.O. Beauchamp Farm, named after his late grandfather, where they grow watermelon and raise beef cattle. The two earned a CARES award for their Best Management Practices in 2017.

Tammy is the bookkeeper at Beauchamp farm and also works for nearby Alliance Dairy.

“One of our events we are most proud of is the Youth Speech Contest we sponsor every year,” Beauchamp said. The Youth Speech Contest takes place in the fall every year and the winner presents their speech at the Levy County Farm Bureau Annual Meeting.

Beauchamp explained that LCFB offers scholarships to young people interested in pursuing a degree in agriculture.

“Our goal for this coming year is to bring more awareness to people in the community that Farm Bureau has more to offer than just insurance,” he said.

“We want to get the word out their Florida Farm Bureau Federation is an advocate for grassroots farmers. Being a part of Florida Farm Bureau gives farmers like me the voice we need in Tallahassee.”

[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 from. The experts. You.

Every year we strive to provide more of the know-how that keeps you in business. To do that, we have to make the business case for more funding from the Legislature. We call it “workload” – how much of a funding increase we request to keep up with your needs.

If you’re one of those folks who say you wouldn’t be in business without IFAS, please say it to a legislator. Call, write or even visit Tallahassee if you can. You have a powerful voice. You’re the proof that state dollars are spent effectively.

At a recent meeting of the Florida Agricultural Council, UF/IFAS Research Dean Rob Gilbert updated the group with a sampling of our latest scientific breakthroughs. They include:

• Dr. Mike Mulvaney at the UF/IFAS West Florida Research and Education Center documenting how cover crops increase soil moisture storage. His results have been used to implement a $75-per-acre cost share program in the Blue Springs area, while increasing farm income by $60 per acre for cotton growers in the western Panhandle.
• Dr. Johnny Ferrarezi planting 5,440 grapefruit trees across 30 acres at the UF/IFAS Indian River Research and Education Center to evaluate rootstocks and scions to rebuild the region’s grapefruit industry.
• Research by Drs. Joao Vendramini, Jose Dubeux, and Esteban Rios on a bermudagrass variety with greater early spring forage production than most bermudagrass cultivars with similar nutritive value and persistence. It has promise as way for ranchers to cut their feed bills.You may have your own story of how UF/IFAS science improved your bottom line. Please tell people in Tallahassee about it.We can do more of the kinds of things Dean Gilbert highlighted if we have the resources to do so. Workload not only helps us pay researchers’ salaries, but it contributes to the Extension workforce that delivers UF/IFAS science to your community.

Those Extension needs are extensive. For example, there are about 25 county agent positions on hold because we lack funds, even where counties have approved paying part of those salaries. A workload increase would also allow us to consider adding regional specialized agents in precision agriculture, farm enterprise management and natural resources management.

It depends on state funding. Like cops on the beat or schoolteachers in the classroom, agricultural scientists in the lab, greenhouse, demonstration farm, or experimental grove are public servants.

Because your work is largely hidden from the public – and from legislators – so is ours. Please help us tell the story of how we feed Florida, the nation and the world.

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.

During the third week of the legislative session, the House and Senate each released their budget allocations to their respective appropriations subcommittees. These rough numbers are a preliminary look at the direction of the state budget going forward. On the policy side, the House and Senate put forth legislation that will have a heavy impact on our Ag-strong agenda. These measures address Rights of Nature petitions as well as water and Best Management Practices (BMPs).

This week saw significant movement on several bills that make up the bulk of Farm Bureau’s priorities this year.

On Monday, Sen. Albritton passed SB 1382 in its first committee stop in the Senate Environmental and Natural Resources Committee. This bill contains the language that would prevent county charter amendments from granting legal rights to natural objects such as rivers, water bodies and other natural features.  SB 1382 also provides for additional research and development of BMPs as well as a nutrient reduction cost-share program.

There are bills in the House bills that contain this language, and both of them moved through their first committee stops this week as well.  HB 1199 by Rep. Blaise Ingoglia contains the “Rights of Nature” preemption.  It passed the Civil Justice Subcommittee on Wednesday on a 14-1 vote.  Rep. Toby Overdorf is sponsoring HB 1363 that deals with the BMP and cost share program.  It unanimously passed the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday and is scheduled to be heard in committee again next Monday.

Rep. Bobby Payne’s HB 1343 also passed the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Tuesday with broad support from agriculture, business groups as well as environmental groups.  This bill is largely the result of recommendations from the Blue Green Algae Taskforce appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis last year and is the companion to SB 712.  This proposal is a comprehensive approach to water quality and importantly helps to help preserve, strengthen and add credibility to the Best Management Practices program.

Click here for the full issue briefs on BMPs, water quality and Rights of Nature petitions: Issue Briefing Packet

Large poultry operations throughout the Southeast are using Al-Clear, an ARS-developed treatment for poultry litter to clear the air of ammonia. Al-CClear can improve bird weight gain, enhance feed conversion and reduce mortality rates.

Cutting ammonia emissions also reduces the need to ventilate poultry houses, saving producers propane and electrical energy costs.

When used as fertilizer, litter treated with Al-Clear also results in improved crop yields and less phosphorus runoff, which improves water quality. Horse owners can use Al-Clear to control ammonia in stalls. For more information, visit https://sera17dotorg.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/bmp_poultry_litter.pdf.

Florida Farm Bureau competitors and delegate members will travel to Austin to attend the American Farm Bureau Annual Meeting, Jan. 17-21, 2020.

Young Farmers and Ranchers advancing to the national competition include Jake and Tiffany Sache (Levy County) for Achievement in Agriculture, Kyle and Alisha Patterson (St. Lucie County) for Excellence in Agriculture and Pete Dola (Levy County) for the Discussion Meet. Each Florida state winner will compete for national titles.

The convention is a time to network with other state Farm members from across the country and learn about important policy issues affecting agriculture. The convention offers engaging speakers and general sessions. It also provides an opportunity to recognize leaders in agriculture. For more information, visit https://www.fb.org/events/afbf-annual-convention/.

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 Best Management Practices, fire assessments, water policy and other natural resource issues, rights of nature proposals and funding for research and development.

More than 200 Farm Bureau members attended Tuesday morning’s Legislative Briefing Breakfast at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center, where they heard from Senate President Bill Galvano, as well as Rep. Paul Renner, Rep. Toby Overdorf, Rep. Bobby Payne and Rep. Rick Roth.

Later that morning, more than 100 members attended a meeting in the House Chamber where they heard from Sen. Ben Albritton, Rep. Chuck Clemons and Rep. Josie Tomkow. These lawmakers all spoke about important agriculture-related issues, legislation they are supporting for the upcoming session and the important role Farm Bureau members and agricultural producers play when they meet with their lawmakers in Tallahassee.

Finally, the day concluded with a successful “Taste of Florida Agriculture” reception in the Capitol Courtyard where Farm Bureau members had the opportunity to interact with more than 40 lawmakers and many legislative aides and staff from the Capitol while they enjoyed sampling a wide variety of Florida-grown foods.

We appreciate the support we received from our members from every corner of the state. Farm Bureau enjoyed a successful day of lobbying in support of our members’ legislative agenda and our state’s agricultural community. Thank you to all the farmers and ranchers, vendors and sponsors who traveled to Tallahassee to advocate in support of agriculture! To view more photos from Florida Farm Bureau Legislative Day, please visit https://www.flickr.com/photos/floridafarmbureau/sets/72157712158647868.

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 to keep you – and your children and grandchildren – in the food business. We won’t settle this in two days of events. All the more reason to talk about tomorrow today.

The Future of Food Forum on Jan. 15 aims to give us direction on what researchers and farmers should be doing now to bring innovation to Florida fields. International experts will share the podium with Florida producers.

For example, we’ll have a Gates Foundation executive and the Nigeria-based leader of a global tropical agriculture institute sharing the stage with the Farm Bureau’s own Women’s Leadership Committee chair, Sarah Carte. Another panel puts a Hillsborough County strawberry grower together with captains of agribusiness from companies such as Syngenta.

The next day, Jan. 16, the techies are up. We’ll host “Pathways Towards the Next Generation of Agriculture and Natural Resources in Florida.” We’ll explore how we can harness huge amounts of data to improve your crops, as well as what policies we’ll need to make that happen. We’ll assemble the state’s leading water policy experts to hear what needs to happen to keep the taps running on farms even as cities get bigger and thirstier.

I know you’ve got plenty to deal with in the here and now. But if you don’t start considering drones, artificial intelligence, robots and the like, you’ll be competing some day against growers who already are thinking about these things.

One could dismiss this as all talk if we at UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences didn’t have the capacity to act on some of the vision that emerges. When we convene experts, we get A-listers. With UF/IFAS, Florida farmers have one of the best R&D shops anywhere on the planet.

You’re going to need it. Your grandparents or great-grandparents fed about 18 people when they ran the farm. Today, you feed 164. You can expect to be feeding even more as we add 2.5 billion more mouths to the planet by mid-century.

I don’t know how much harder you can work to keep up. You’re going to have to work smarter. We can help. Come to these campus events to get a glimpse of what lies ahead.

If you can’t make it, reconnect with the closest UF/IFAS research and education center or Extension office. But start planning for that future now.

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.

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.

The land was good to the Martin family over the last century and today, continues to provide for the Martins. Citrus, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, spinach, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, greens and beets grew in abundance where they were sold at the family’s fruit and vegetable stand. Robbie and his brother Rory became involved in the 1980s when they worked full-time with their grandfather at the stand.

“We sold fresh, hand-squeezed juice back in those days before we purchased an electric juicer,” Martin said. “In the summertime we grew black eyed peas, corn and okra and year-round we had cattle.”

Today, Martin and his wife, Leaha, along with their son, Chase (10), live on the family farm in a home they built in 2007. Martin also has a son, Hunter (22), who lives in New Jersey. The Martins produce citrus for juice and manage a small cattle herd.

In November of 2019, Robbie was elected president of Sarasota County Farm Bureau (SCFB). His brother, Rory, was his predecessor, serving a total of 23 years as SCFB president.

“I wanted to continue the good job my brother did serving our Farm Bureau for our county and for agriculture,” he said. Robbie and Rory’s grandparents also served as directors for SCFB in past years.

Last year, SCFB held its inaugural Clay Shoot Fundraiser, which raised $11,000 directly towards youth development and leadership programs for young farmers and ranchers in Sarasota County.

The successful event was held at the Knights Tale Gun Range in Sarasota. Planning for the second Clay Shoot is underway and will be held on Jan. 25, 2020. “So far, we have had an outstanding response to the event,” Martin mentioned. “I am anticipating 200-plus shooters to participate.”

SCFB strives to support the local community year-round. “We do Farm-City Week proclamations with county commissioners in the fall and our Young Farmers and Ranchers organize food drives and donate items to local pantries,” Martin said.

Robbie has served his county as an Agricultural Deputy for the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Department for 17 years where he specializes in cattle and horse issues, trespassing, animal cruelty cases and illegal hunting. He and his family are active members of their local church, Bayside Community Church. He is also a member of the Florida Agricultural Crimes and Intelligence Unit.

“To know that I am farming land that my grandfather and great-grandfather farmed makes me proud,” Martin stated. “It is nice to have a piece of family history that a lot of blood sweat and tears were poured into. It feels good to be able to continue to do that.”

Robbie shared a family favorite and highly requested recipe below:

Broccoli Rice Casserole

INGREDIENTS
1 stick salted butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
2 boxes frozen chopped broccoli
2 large bags (boil on bag rice)
1 small can cream of mushroom soup
1 small can cream of celery soup
1 small jar Cheez whiz

DIRECTIONS
Melt butter in pan on medium heat, meanwhile, boil rice. Add chopped onions and chopped celery to melted butter. When the celery and onions start to brown slightly, add both boxes of chopped broccoli.

Cook broccoli, chopped celery, onions and butter on medium heat for 15-20 minutes. Using a large mixing bowl, combine all the cooked ingredients with the soups and cheez whiz together. Stir until blended well.

Using a 13 X 9 baking dish, cook uncovered for approximately 30 minutes on 350 degrees or until the top of the casserole starts to brown slightly and/or starts bubbling around the edges. The dish should serve 12-15, depending on the appetite of the eaters. Total prep and cook time –approx. 1 hour – 1 hour 15 minutes.