July 2024 FloridAgriculture eNewsletter

The United States agricultural trade deficit is set to increase substantially to $32 billion in the 2024 fiscal year. This is a $1.5 billion increase from the February projection, according to the USDA Economic Research Service’s May 2024 Outlook. 

After learning of this concerning increase, the Florida Farm Bureau Board of Directors requested a draft letter be sent to U.S. Trade Representative, Ambassador Katherine Tai and the Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack. 

Members can read the letters here. Any questions should be directed to Director of National Legislative Affairs Lance Watson. 

July 2024 FloridAgriculture eNewsletter

Reflecting on recent events in Tallahassee, the 2024 legislative session concluded successfully in March. Although some priorities didn’t make it across the finish line, many budget and policy victories were achieved.  

With the leadership of Florida Agricultural Commissioner Wilton Simpson, along with the support of Senate President Designate Ben Albritton and Speaker-Elect Danny Perez, as well as many other agricultural supporters in the House and Senate, there is great optimism for the upcoming 2025 legislative session beginning next March. 

As Farm Bureau begins to build its legislative agenda for the 2025 session, members are encouraged to bring forward their issues as there could be options to address issues during the coming legislative session. 

Legislative Affairs Director Tripp Hunter expresses his gratitude for the opportunity to represent such a vital industry in Tallahassee and looks forward to continuing to work to protect and advance Florida agriculture.  

July 2024 FloridAgriculture eNewsletter

Florida Farm Bureau welcomes two new staff members, Tripp Hunter and Lance Watson. Hunter is the Director of State Legislative Affairs and Watson the Director of National Legislative affairs. Both will be working out of the Tallahassee office. 

About Tripp Hunter 

Tripp Hunter was born and raised in Tallahassee, Florida, and has been immersed in agriculture from a young age. Growing up, he gained experience in various forms of agriculture, starting with the timber industry and later transitioning to the nursery production industry. He attended Auburn University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Business and Economics. Hunter recently married his high-school sweetheart, Sarah, who is a second-grade teacher. 

After college, Hunter greatly enjoyed working in production agriculture where he was an Operations Manager for Simpson Nurseries. He it was a tough decision but when an opportunity to enter the Government Affairs world representing the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association arose, Hunter accepted.  

He hit the ground running learning about industry issues and the legislative process. His passion for representing agricultural interests led him to his current role as the State Legislative Affairs Director for Florida Farm Bureau. 

About Lance Watson 

Lance Watson was born and raised in Quincy, Florida and is part of a fourth-generation farming family. Watson is a proud two-time graduate of Florida State University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and history and a master’s degree in public policy.  He has worked for U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, the Public Service Commission and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Watson is married and has one son, Sterling Lance Watson III. 

July 2024 FloridAgriculture eNewsletter

Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District (USACE) has issued a Notice of Availability for the Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual (LOSOM) Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). USACE is proposing a new regulation schedule for Lake Okeechobee within an updated Water Control Plan (WCP).

The regulation schedule is a compilation of operating criteria, guidelines, and figures that govern the quantity, timing, and duration of releases out of the lake. The regulation schedule establishes the agency’s operational strategy to balance the congressionally authorized project purposes for flood risk management, water supply, enhancement of fish and wildlife, navigation, and recreation. Implementation of this regulation schedule corresponds with the completion of the Herbert Hoover Dike (HHD) rehabilitation and considers completed or nearly completed Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan projects. LOSOM is intended to replace the current Lake Okeechobee Regulation Schedule, known as the 2008 LORS (LORS08).  

Florida Farm Bureau Concerns Revolve Around Four Topics: 

1. The State’s ability to meet water supply needs under LOSOM 

1. The unprecedented flexibility in LOSOM’s operation plan may cause impact outside of those identified through the NEPA process 

1. The proposed plan’s modeling results produce EAA irrigation water demand volumes substantially less than volumes in the real-world data set 

1. LOSOM does not include a water conservation or beneficial use zone above the Water Shortage Management (WSM) Zone that would reduce the risk of entering the WSM Zone. Clear and concise deference is not given to the SFWMD prior to water shortage 

The Corps has stated they will review comments, address concerns, update minor changes, and are very set on a Record of Decision scheduled on August 12, 2024. Florida Farm Bureau submitted comments that can be read here.  

July 2024 FloridAgriculture eNewsletter

On May 23, the House Agriculture Committee marked up their version of the Farm Bill during a debate that lasted 13 hours and contained many amendments. The bill passed out of committee with favorable votes from all Republicans on the committee and four Democrats. Florida Congresswoman Kat Cammack voted in favor and Congressman Darren Soto opposed the bill. 

Most of the Farm Bill priorities of FFBF are contained within the bill, including: 

• Reference price increases and funding for other risk management tools
• Funding for the specialty crop block grant program
• Returning the Class I milk mover to the ‘higher of’ calculation
• Codifying authority for USDA to utilize block grants for disaster funding, and
• Continuation of the sugar policy

An amendment was offered to require a mandatory base update, but that amendment failed. 

The House has turned their attention to appropriations for the summer, so there will likely not be any more movement in the House until the lame duck session at the end of the year. The Senate has not advanced any form of the Farm Bill within the Senate Ag Committee yet. 

Director of National Affairs Lance Watson will keep members informed as more information becomes available. 

July 2024 FloridAgriculture eNewsletter

By Rob Gilbert
[email protected]
@IFAS_VP

Former Putnam/St. Johns County Farm Bureau board member Eric Hjort is a leader. That means he works on behalf of Florida agriculture, not just for Tater Farms. Part of how he does that is by working with UF/IFAS.

Our capacity to help Farm Bureau members make a living depends on active participation from people like Eric. The future of farming in Florida is better off for his support of the land-grant mission through his engagement in our teaching, research and Extension.

Eric doesn’t just embrace innovation. He helps us discover. Currently he’s given us (specifically, Dr. A.J. Lindsey) access to 30 acres (15 acres in Lake Placid and 15 acres in Hastings) to figure out the best way to fertilize St. Augustine and Bermuda grass.

This helps Tater Farms. They get a look at how different fertilizer applications work on their farm. Their sacrifice of 30 acres also helps you, though, because the data generated from Tater Farms’ acreage will help us update fertilizer recommendations that FDACS consults as it makes rules in its BMP manuals for the whole state.

But Tater Farms is going much farther. Eric’s son Gage is a highly trained agricultural engineer who is working with our faculty members Drs. Nathan Boyd and Arnold Schumann on targeted spraying technology. With the help of artificial intelligence, Boyd, Schumann, and Gage hope to refine the spraying of non-selective herbicide on turf grass. This represents a huge potential win-win-win for turf farmers. It could reduce input costs, reduce environmental impact and increase turf yield because presently certain herbicides kill good turf along with bad weeds.

We need science to create these win-win-wins, and we need future-thinking emerging leaders like Gage to help us pursue win-win-win science.

Here we at UF/IFAS would like to take a little credit for Gage’s pursuit of innovation. He is a recent alumnus of our Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department, where he majored in biological engineering. And maybe even a little for Eric’s. Eric is a graduate of our Wedgworth Leadership Institute for Agriculture and Natural Resources, where he went through a two-year leadership development program that included travel throughout Florida, the U.S. and even a trip abroad.

Dr. Lincoln Zottarelli and colleagues are working with Tater Farms to see if they can automate irrigation through tile drainage. If it works, it will reduce water use by irrigating fields at just the right rate to maintain ideal soil moisture based on readings from sub-surface moisture sensors.

Tater Farms, started in 1975 by Frank and Polly Johns, has a history of success and innovation. Originally a cabbage and potato farm, they planted their first crop of turfgrass in 2004. Eric, president of Tater Farms, has helped continue this tradition of innovation and leadership by getting out in front of the industry by a decade on things like irrigation and targeted spraying. And they’re doing it by working with UF/IFAS.

He’s making sure you get the benefits, too, as he serves as a leader. I recently visited with him in his volunteer capacities as board member of the Turfgrass Producers of Florida and of the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association.

Whether it’s through FFBF, TPF or FFVA, Eric is helping Florida get to farming of the future. UF/IFAS is helping him and Gage get there faster and more profitably.

Rob Gilbert is the University of Florida’s interim senior vice president for agriculture and natural resources and leader of the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS).

June 2024 FloridAgriculture eNewsletter

By Rob Gilbert
[email protected]
@IFAS_VP

Florida agriculture has a recipe for profitable farming that protects water quality. The ingredients include science, financial incentives, and encouragement from peers.

We’re fortunate in Florida to have a great partnership to supply you with all of the above.

The University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) develops the science. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) makes water-friendly farming less costly. The Florida Farm Bureau Federation (FFBF) encourages you to adopt controlled release fertilizer, cover cropping and more – and highlights farmers who embrace these innovations.

There are many more partners, but these three represent the academia-government-industry partnership on which the land-grant mission is based.

At the recent Suwannee CARES event, we celebrated another dozen farmers who are doing it right. They got plaques, applause, and photos with FFBF President Jeb Smith.

They also cruised a midway that offered everything from pork sliders to roasted PBJs.

UF/IFAS hosted the party at its North Florida Research and Education Center—Suwannee Valley. FFBF identified the honorees and helped bring together 700 people to celebrate environmental stewardship. Kathy Mears, chief of staff to the commissioner of agriculture, and West Gregory, who leads the FDACS Office of Agricultural Water Policy, attended to show their support.

Even with state statute as his marching orders to implement BMPs, Gregory says the key to widespread adoption is not to force them on farmers but to help them figure out how to implement them effectively and profitably.

His office defrays costs for new equipment, supplies or techniques with direct funding or through the Farm Bureau, the water management districts, or UF/IFAS.

FDACS also supports some of the science. It funds the work of UF/IFAS researchers who validate the effectiveness of existing practices and discover new ways to grow more food with fewer inputs. I’m thankful to FDACS for supporting work on carrots, corn, and watermelon at the UF/IFAS research farm in Live Oak.

None of us could do this individually. In recent years we at UF/IFAS have deployed researchers across the state to update nutrient rate recommendations that in some cases are a generation old. FDACS, sometimes through the Suwannee River Water Management District, has invested more than $17 million in the past decade to help farmers buy soil moisture sensors and air seeders. Farm Bureau finds exemplary producers who inspire others to commit to BMPs.

So, while we celebrate the farmers who are getting it right, we also celebrate the academia-government-industry recipe we’ve relied upon to implement the land-grant mission for 150 years.

Rob Gilbert is the University of Florida’s interim senior vice president for agriculture and natural resources and leader of the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS).

June 2024 FloridAgriculture eNewsletter

The election of pork producer delegate candidates for the 2025 National Pork Producers (Pork Act) Delegate Body will take place at 10:00am on Thursday, July 25, 2024, in conjunction with a Board of Directors meeting of the Florida Pork Improvement Group at the Florida FFA Association office, 5600 SW 34th St., Gainesville, FL 32608. All Florida pork producers are invited to attend.

Any producer, age 18 or older, who is a resident of Florida and has paid all assessments due may be considered as a delegate candidate and/or participate in the election. All eligible producers are encouraged to bring with them a sales receipt proving that hogs were sold in their name and the checkoff deducted. For more information, contact the Florida Pork Improvement Group, PO Box 147030 Gainesville, FL 32614 or by phone, (352) 384-2633.

June 2024 FloridAgriculture eNewsletter

 The FDACS Best Management Practices Manual revision process is still being conducted, with the Office of Agricultural Water Policy (OAWP) on track to complete updating the remaining 8 manuals by the end of 2024. The manuals that have been completed are cow/calf and sod. Manual revisions left are poultry, equine, specialty fruit and nut, dairy, nursery, citrus, VAC and livestock.  

Florida Farm Bureau Federation staff will continue to participate and monitor the revision process on all upcoming manuals, provide comments and suggestions, as well as ensure that sustainable and industry acceptable practices are incorporated into the manuals with minimal governmental overreach. FFBF has also been very successful in recruiting and engaging its active members to participate in the manual revision process, representing their respective industry. 

June 2024 FloridAgriculture eNewsletter

The South Florida Water Management District (SFMWD) manages five different Water Supply Planning Regions throughout their 16-county geographic boundary. These water supply plans are updated every five years and were developed to assess and project water demands and potential sources of water through 20-year planning horizon. The plan updates are used by local governments, water users and utilities to update and modify local comprehensive plans, facility work plans and ordinances.

The Lower East Coast Water Supply Plan (LEC WSP) area includes Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and parts of Monroe, Collier, and Hendry counties. The South Florida Water Management District is developing the 2023-2024 Lower East Coast Water Supply Plan Update (2023-2024 LEC Plan Update) to assess projected water demands and potential sources of water for the period from 2021 to 2045.

The Lower East Coast Planning Area has a growing population and limited freshwater resources. Because freshwater resources are limited, the 2023-2024 LEC Plan Update focuses on other water supply sources, such as reverse osmosis to treat brackish groundwater, reclaimed water, storage options, seasonal surface water and water conservation to address future demands.

Florida Farm Bureau Federation remains very involved in all statewide Water Supply Plans, commenting regularly to ensure agriculture’s right to adequate water supply to stay in business. Comments on the LECWSP arose due to concerns over inadequate incorporation of the new Lake Okeechobee regulation schedule and its effect on agricultural water supply.

Below are the comments that were submitted to the LEC plan manager.

“On behalf of the Florida Farm Bureau Federation and our 132,000 member families, many of which live and farm within the boundaries of the Lower East Coast Water Supply Plan (LEC WSP) area, I appreciate the opportunity to comment on the Lower East Coast Water Supply Plan Update.

We have remaining concerns regarding how the upcoming Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual (LOSOM) will be handled in the Water Supply Plan Update. Uncertainty remains on how to create and implement this plan without knowing what the lake schedule will be. The way that the schedule is described in the current LOSOM Water Control Plan does not provide the certainty and predictability needed for uniform and reliable operations. When we go back and review prior water supply plans, heavy reliance is placed on the lake regulation schedule, and with current LOSOM operations, and its inability to meet the lake’s MFL, we have no way of knowing how this will affect water supply.

Due to these concerns, we would like to request a delay in the plan process.

Florida Farm Bureau Federation greatly appreciates the District’s openness and willingness to listen to the concerns of our industry. We are thankful for the opportunity to provide these comments and look forward to continued collaboration.”

For more information, please contact the Florida Farm Bureau Federation Government and Community Affairs Division.