October 2021 FloridAgriculture eNewsletter

The White-Reinhardt Grant Program

The White-Reinhardt Grant Program funds projects that will increase agricultural literacy. County Farm Bureaus may apply for $1,000 grants for education programs for grades K-12 in order to initiate new ag literacy programs or expand existing programs. Organizations or schools may work with their local Farm Bureau to apply.  Apply here.

White-Reinhardt scholarships to the 2022 National Ag in the Classroom Conference are for full-time educators and/or volunteers who actively participate in classroom ag literacy programs or events. This scholarship provides travel expense funds for educators to attend the national conference and then use the information gained to expand their outreach to students regarding food, fiber and fuel. Apply here.

The White-Reinhardt Fund for Education is a special project of the Foundation in cooperation with the AFB Women’s Leadership Committee. It was established to honor two former chairs of that committee, Berta White and Linda Reinhardt, who were leaders in the national effort to improve agricultural literacy.

If you have any questions, please contact [email protected].

Florida FarmPAC has historically raised all of its funding through a voluntary $2 contribution on a member’s annual membership renewal. These contributions have allowed Florida Farm Bureau to support many pro-agriculture candidates at significant levels.

As Florida’s population continues to grow and more and more legislators reside in urban areas, it’s more important than ever, that Florida Farm Bureau have a strong impact on legislative elections. A well-funded FarmPAC helps us to elect candidates who support agriculture and will influence policy.

As a member of our PAC Roots Team you are able to help elect candidates who care about keeping Florida agriculture strong.

Click here to become a member of the FarmPAC Roots Team.

Florida FarmPAC provides members the flexibility of making monthly, annual or on-time contributions to support Florida agriculture. FarmPAC accepts corporate or personal contributions.

October 2021 FloridAgriculture eNewsletter

John Thomas
Hernando-Citrus County Farm Bureau President
District 5

John Thomas was born and raised in the small community of Oak Grove in Southwestern Citrus County. “The town had a school house, a church and a post office,” recalls Thomas. With its dirt roads and overhanging oaks, Oak Grove is reminiscent of “Old Florida,” much different from how most would view Florida today.

Thomas’ family has deep roots in Citrus County agriculture, in the cattle industry in particular, and his grandfather was part of the 1850 census. Like most rural children in the 1940s, Thomas was born at home and is one of four siblings. Today, he and his wife, Ella, also a Citrus County native, own the property in which he spent his childhood years.

The Thomas’ were raised in the cattle industry and are still very much involved today. John and Ella have two daughters, Sarah and Martha, both of whom are University of Florida graduates and have families and cow-calf operations of their own.

“We raised our girls to be hard workers, we taught them the importance of going to church, going to work and how to provide for themselves,” Thomas said. “Ever since they were babies, they were with us in the pastures and learning about agriculture – cattle, hay and watermelon production.”

Thomas said that it was because of the support from organizations like Farm Bureau, he was able to raise his children, and now grandchildren, in agriculture. “Farm Bureau stands for all of us and helps us accomplish what we have to do every day to make a living,” he stated.

Service to Hernando-Citrus County Farm Bureau (HCCFB) is deeply rooted.  Thomas is the second generation to serve as president, currently in his twelfth year. He succeeds his father and father-in-law in presidency with a tenure of 44 years on the board of directors behind him.

“I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t involved in Farm Bureau,” he said cheerfully. Upon obtaining his driver’s license when he was 17, Thomas purchased Florida Farm Bureau Insurance and has been a member ever since. He celebrated his 75th birthday last June.

Held every year in the fall, the HCCFB Annual Meeting is an event that draws a crowd of 250-300 people to the Hernando County Fairgrounds. The event is a time where members of the community enjoy fellowship and visit with legislative officials and other special guests over a catered meal.

A bake sale and pie raffle is held to raise money for the HCCFB Women’s Committee in conjunction with the annual meeting.

Last Christmas, local young farmers and ranchers held a turkey cooler donation drawing where, through the generosity of the community, they were able to raise enough money to purchase 100 turkeys to donate to families in need.

“I am so proud of what our young people are doing to make an impact in our community,” Thomas said. “Because of them, Farm Bureau will be strong for years to come.”

Florida FarmPAC is Florida Farm Bureau Federation’s political action committee. Funded exclusively by Farm Bureau members, FarmPAC provides support for pro-agriculture candidates who value Florida Agriculture and will support Farm Bureau’s legislative agenda. Each FarmPAC contribution is approved by the Florida Farm Bureau Board.

We know that while our members are working hard every day on their farms, it is critical for Florida Farm Bureau to have a strong voice and help hold your elected officials accountable in Tallahassee. FarmPAC is the roots of what helps to make our political activism grow. As the fundraising arm of our grassroots mission, FarmPAC aides in keeping legislators in office who support Farm Bureau priorities.

Why should you give?

Until now, Florida FarmPAC has raised all of its funding through a voluntary $2 contribution on a member’s annual membership renewal. This has provided consistent funding throughout the years, and has allowed us to support many pro-agriculture candidates at significant levels.
But as Florida’s population continues to grow and more and more legislators come from urban areas, it’s more important than ever that Farm Bureau have a strong impact on legislative elections. With a well-funded FarmPAC, we can help elect candidates who support agriculture and help our closest legislative advocates gain influence.

That is why we are asking active Florida Farm Bureau members to help us increase the impact that FarmPAC can have by joining our PAC Roots Team!
Florida Farm Bureau’s strength has always been in its grassroots members. If a large group of grassroots members commit to making modest, sustained contributions, FarmPAC can drastically increase our ability to help pro-agriculture candidates and expand our impact on the legislative process.

How can you give?

Below you will find a form where you can sign up to make monthly, or annual or a one-time contribution to FarmPAC.
Notice that we are not asking for substantial contributions from any of our individual members. As a grassroots organization, we would prefer to fund FarmPAC with many modest contributions rather than a few large ones. You can sign up for $5 or $10 per month or make annual contributions up to $500.

FarmPAC can accept corporate or personal contributions, so please fill out the form below to become a member of our PAC Roots Team.

August 2021 FloridAgriculture eNewsletter

Tell me about yourself-county and family-How did you get involved in agriculture?

I am 34 years old, born and raised in Palatka, Florida. I am a 7^th generation rancher and I have 2 daughters. My operations consist of cow/calf stocker operation, timber, and a commercial blueberry farm.

I learned to love agriculture at a young age and followed what suit with what my family did. I was fortunate enough to step into a management role. I hope to continue and grow and hopefully set it up for my two daughters, the 8^th generation, to have a very successful operation if they choose.

If you farm currently, what crop?

Timber and blueberries

What is your favorite thing about being involved in Farm Bureau?

Farm Bureau is special because of the cross section of different commodities involved. When you attend an annual meeting or a conference you have everybody from aquaculture to beekeepers, it is neat to get to meet and get to know everybody involved in all different commodities.

Is there a Farm Bureau/Ag event that takes place in your county that you participate in or are proud of?

Our YF&R chapter was involved with the districtwide “Meals of Hope” and recently packed 51,000 meals. Our Annual Meeting is really good and we always have a great guest speaker and a big turnout. Overall, I am proud of our board’s involvement with the County and the kids. We are always trying to give back to the students who want to pursue an agricultural career or degree with a scholarship program.

How are you “Cultivating Tomorrow” within your community?

We really try to reach out to future generations by letting them know who Farm Bureau is. I feel that every new generation becomes more and more removed from the farm. St. Johns County does not have an agricultural program in the schools. We are working together to help bring a spotlight on agricultural education in the school system.

August 2021 FloridAgriculture eNewsletter

By J. Scott Angle
[email protected]
@IFAS_VP

After 25 years, do you keep chasing a dream? Collier County Farm Bureau President Matt Stephenson-Smith does.

Stephenson-Smith entered the University of Florida as a 24-year-old transfer in 1994. Decades later, he found himself still taking undergraduate courses, spending evenings after work staring into a computer screen feeling like his eyes were about to bleed.

At least two people never gave up on his dream. One, of course, was Stephenson-Smith himself. The second was UF College of Agricultural and Life Sciences Dean Elaine Turner. She knows that being in the opportunity business—helping students achieve their goals, their dreams—sometimes means being in the business of second or third opportunities.

As much as Stephenson-Smith wanted a degree, he also wanted a career in agriculture. Career leapfrogged ahead with a job offer in 1996. A grower in Southwest Florida gave him 36 hours to decide—Gainesville or Naples, degree or job.

Stephenson-Smith packed the car and drove south. Even as he succeeded in business, he felt he had unfinished business. The dream. He couldn’t see it as clearly as before, couldn’t figure out how to make the time, how to get back to Gainesville, and how to make the case for readmission with a checkered transcript.

About 10 years ago, Turner, then the associate dean, helped him see the path back. It’s called “Fresh Start.” It’s a readmission opportunity under special circumstances that resets the student’s GPA. Turner collected his letters of recommendation and personal statement, mapped out prerequisites he’d need to take in Southwest Florida and cleared him for readmission.

When it came time to move to Gainesville, again, it wasn’t the right time. He was fresh off a divorce and wanted to stay near his two sons in Collier County.

That was where things stood until about six years ago, when Turner came to Immokalee to attend an event at the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Southwest Florida Research and Education Center.

Turner recognized Stephenson-Smith across a crowded auditorium and asked for an academic progress report. By Stephenson-Smith’s telling, in that auditorium encounter Turner was academic adviser, psychologist, and motivational speaker. She encouraged him to enroll in UF Online.

It was the nudge he needed. He enrolled, with a major in environmental management in agriculture and natural resources.

By this time, it wasn’t about his career. But it was still about family. He wanted his sons to see him take care of unfinished business, to realize a dream.

That dream, shrouded in fog at times, became so clear that it included a summa cum laude designation, and he earned the grades for it. It required a written thesis, though, and that was a challenge given his work, family and other academic responsibilities.

Again, Turner and CALS administrators helped him find a way. Three months before graduation, after extensive self-study, Stephenson-Smith passed the certified crop adviser exam. CALS administrators advised him to convert those hours of preparation into a written thesis. He titled it “Certified Crop Adviser Exam Preparation.”

Turner approved it. Stephenson-Smith was ready to come to Gainesville in spring 2020 to walk in a commencement ceremony as an honors graduate. COVID-19 shut down in-person ceremonies, of course.

Turner’s philosophy is that there are many different paths to a degree. Some paths start through traditional freshman admission, some through transfers and others through re-entry. Turner says, it’s her job to help students find the path (or Stephenson Smith’s case, the paths) to get them to their goals. That includes a path across the stage. This past spring, the 2020 graduates were invited to Gainesville for the ceremony, and Stephenson-Smith came with his parents and his sons.

The diploma is the epilogue of a story of inspiring persistence that likely makes him an effective Farm Bureau leader. And it has the signature of a dean who helped make it happen, to find the path, to achieve a dream.

Scott Angle is the University of Florida’s Vice President for Agriculture and Natural Resources and leader of the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS).

July 2021 FloridAgriculture eNewsletter

Hardee County Farm Bureau President Steve Johnson is a fourth generation farmer from Wauchula. He and his wife, Andrea, a fifth generation farmer, live in the same house that Steve grew up in. They have three children, B.J., Emma Jane and Laney.

Steve and Andrea produce beef cattle, citrus and custom harvesting  in Hardee and Manatee Counties under Treeair Cattle Company and Johnson Harvesting, Inc.

This December will mark two years that Johnson has served as president of Hardee County Farm Bureau, though his involvement in Farm Bureau goes back to 2002. “Andy Neuhofer is the District Field Representative for our area and he was the one that encouraged me to join,” said Johnson.

“Over the years I have served on the county board of directors, as secretary and as vice president,” he added.

In addition, Johnson has dedicated 14 years to serving on the Florida Farm Bureau State Board of Directors where he currently sits as vice president.

Johnson explained that it’s the people in Farm Bureau that you come to know that make it special. “It’s nice to get to know like-minded folks, people you can depend on for life,” he said.

Each year, in November, Hardee County Farm Bureau holds the annual Ag Fest. The event has been held at the Hardee County Cattleman’s Arena in Wauchula. It is an opportunity for elementary school students to learn about agriculture first-hand from local farmers, ranchers and other agricultural producers and wildlife specialists.

“We have been doing this event for over 20 years,” Johnson mentioned. “We bring in roughly 400 4th graders, feed them and teach them over about a 6-7 hour period about local agriculture through 20 different stations from milking cows, citrus,  hay production, row crop production and even the phosphate miners come in to present.”

“Agricultural technology is constantly changing,” he added. “It’s important to have youth understand the changes and adapt to them. It’s possible to grow more on less land and we need to get them excited about agriculture. What they are doing today can make a difference for years to come.”

July 2021 FloridAgriculture eNewsletter

Each year, Florida Farm Bureau recognizes state legislators who play a significant role in advancing bills that support Florida farms and ranches and advocate for Florida agriculture.

In the 2021 legislative session, the Right to Farm Bill, Florida Farm Bureau’s top priority, passed by overwhelming margins in both the House and the Senate, emphasizing the strong bipartisan support of SB 88, Farming Operations.

Florida Farm Bureau is recognizing the House and Senate sponsors of the Right to Farm Bill as its 2021 Legislators of the Year. Fourteen other members of the legislature will also be recognized as Champions for Agriculture because of their efforts to support specific aspects of the organization’s legislative agenda.

Legislators of the Year

Sen. Jason Brodeur and Rep. Jayer Williamson provided profound leadership by sponsoring the Right to Farm Bill that modernizes Florida’s Right to Farm Act, protecting farmers and ranchers from nuisance lawsuits. SB 88 is now the strongest Right to Farm legislation in the country.

“This bill is extremely important for Florida farmers and ranchers who are facing a multitude of challenges each day,” said John L. Hoblick, President of Florida Farm Bureau Federation.

“The fact that this potentially controversial bill passed by such wide margins gives credit to the leadership, commitment and hard work of both Sen. Brodeur and Rep. Williamson. I’m honored to recognize them for their support of Florida Farm Bureau’s priority bill this year.”

Champions for Agriculture

Florida Farm Bureau is recognizing 14 additional lawmakers as its 2021 Champions for Agriculture. These policy leaders advocated on issues vital to Florida agriculture.

“There are a lot of moving pieces in the legislative process and in order to be successful as an organization, we rely on legislative champions who sponsor the bills, file the amendments, chair the committees and take the tangible actions that result in a bill being passed,” said Adam Basford, Florida Farm Bureau’s legislative affairs director.

“There are so many legislators that have shown support for Farm Bureau’s priorities, but this is our attempt to thank a few who took specific action this year to get bills across the finish line.”

The following 2021 Champions for Agriculture provided leadership on key agricultural issues that significantly impact farming and the Florida economy:

Senate

• Sen. Ben Albritton
• Sen. Jason Brodeur
• Sen. Jim Boyd
• Sen. Darryl Rouson
• Senate President Wilton Simpson

House

• Rep. Kevin Chambliss
• Rep. Chuck Clemons
• Rep. Andrew Learned
• Rep. Lawrence McClure
• Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka
• Rep. Toby Overdorf
• Rep. Chris Sprowls
• Rep. Josie Tomkow
• Rep. Dana Trabulsy
• Rep. Kaylee Tuck
• Rep. Jayer Williamson

October 2021 FloridAgriculture eNewsletter

Elections have consequences. This is now readily apparent with the current political commentary – tax-and-spend proposals that will cripple family farms if implemented.

That’s why Florida Farm Bureau Federation needs your help. Florida Farm Bureau is the custodian of your federal PAC, which financially backs our pro-agriculture candidates and members of Congress.

About FedPAC

Through the years, FedPAC has supported our champions in the halls of Congress. From Adam Putnam to Alcee Hastings, FedPAC has helped those who have prioritized the Florida farmer and fought for private property rights, fair trade and labor laws, and cutting unneeded red tape. In the 2020 election cycle, FedPAC contributed to 13 of our friends in Congress, Republican and Democrat, totaling over $16,000! As we look toward the 2022 elections, and beyond to the 2023 Farm Bill, we must continue to support our friends through FedPAC – but we need the funds to do so. You have the ability to help in this cause as an active member.

Every election matters, but with razor thin margins currently, the next election will be crucial to preserving the family farm and Florida agriculture. Please consider donating to FedPAC today.

Instructions to Donate: Please write a personal* check to “FedPAC” and mail to the attention of FFBF National Affairs, P.O. Box 147030, Gainesville, FL 32614.

*By law, FedPAC is prohibited from accepting corporate donations.

 FFBF FedPAC is a registered federal political action committee. FFBF FedPAC collects contributions from members to be used for political purposes, including the promotion of good federal government on behalf of all taxpayers, farmers, rural families and agricultural interests of the state of Florida. Contributions to FFBF FedPAC are voluntary and are not a requirement of membership in any county Farm Bureau or the Florida Farm Bureau Federation.

Prior to contributing to the FFBF FedPAC, I am aware: 1) that contributions to the PAC will be used in connection with federal elections and are subject to the prohibitions and limitations of the Federal Election Campaign Act; 2) of my right to refuse to contribute without reprisal; 3) that the guidelines for contributing are merely suggestions. I may contribute more or less than the suggested guidelines or nothing at all and I will not be favored or disadvantaged by reason of the amount of my contribution or my decisions not to contribute; 4) that contributions to the PAC are not deductible for federal income tax purposes; 5) that contributions from government contractors are prohibited; 6) that I must be a U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident Alien to make a contribution.

Federal law prohibits corporate contributions to FFBF FedPAC. The maximum annual contribution for an individual is $5,000. Any ineligible FFBF FedPAC contribution (such as a contribution drawn from a corporate account or a contribution in excess of federal limits) will be returned. Federal law requires us to use best efforts to collect and report the name, mailing address, occupation and the name of employer of individuals whose contributions exceed $200 in a calendar year.