Tag Archives: Jeb Smith

Your Land Grant Partner

January 6, 2025UncategorizedAEST, Agriculture Education Services & Technology, AI, artificial intelligence, Ben Albritton, FloridAgriculture eNewsletter, Greg Harden, Hannah Love, J. Scott Angle, Jeb Smith, Keitha Bennett, Kyndall Bauer, Raulie Raulerson, rural renaissance, UF/IFASShelby Martin

January 2025 FloridAgriculture eNewsletter

dr angle

By J. Scott Angle
[email protected]
@IFAS_VP

Senate President Ben Albritton has called for a “rural renaissance,” built in part on technologies that support agriculture.

UF/IFAS and the Florida Farm Bureau Federation are answering that call by developing the talent pipeline to use those technologies. Through what we call the AgTech Accelerator, we’re combining Senator Albritton’s call for a rural renaissance with our vision to make Florida the Silicon Valley of agriculture.

Homegrown technologies, talent and businesses are going to bring greater prosperity to places that have in the view of many been left behind in our state’s most recent economic boom.

It’s just the right time for this as Florida agriculture is about to be transformed by artificial intelligence. UF/IFAS was already dedicating research and Extension teams make AI useful and affordable on your farm, for example.

Now UF/IFAS and FFBF are mobilizing state colleges, technical schools and high schools to establish or redesign agricultural technology training programs. The agricultural jobs of the future will require education ranging from degrees at UF to two-year state college degrees to certifications that can be earned in just months.

UF/IFAS can create curriculum, host technology demonstrations, and connect colleges to industry partners.

FFBF leadership brings insight on what challenges we actually need to help farmers address so they can contribute even more to the economies of their communities.

FFBF subsidiary Agriculture Education Services & Technology already offers certifications in at least 10 specializations. We’ll need to build on that with state college programs that reach every county and a wider array of specializations.

Vinay Vijayakumar uses a laptop to program a smart robotic weed sprayer to run a demonstration on row crops at Southwest Florida Research and Education Center. Photo taken 11-14-24

Our vision is for a series of hubs of technical expertise at UF/IFAS Extension offices and research farms. Farmers, students and anyone with a great idea could come to these hubs for job skill development, entrepreneurship training or advice on how to turn ideas into products in the marketplace.

This will turbocharge your local economy in three ways. It starts with developing a tech-savvy local workforce as your sons, daughters, employees and future employees get the education and training they need without having to move away.

In addition, these regional hubs will foster creation of homegrown businesses as they help local entrepreneurs commercialize their ideas. Third, the centers will be magnets for investors looking for opportunity in rural communities and for businesses seeking affordable communities with a well-trained local workforce.

We and Senator Albritton have the same aim – to create high-paying jobs in rural areas and to make sure we have local talent to fill those jobs.

The Florida Department of Commerce and Department of Education are stepping up with funding for the early iterations of our partnerships with state colleges to launch agtech workforce training pilot projects.

It’s been invaluable to have:

FFBF President Jeb Smith with us in Ocala to talk out this vision with Central College of Florida;
Raulie Raulerson and Kyndall Bauer joining us in Apopka to strategize with Valencia College;
Hannah Love and Keitha Bennett and their background in certification at our discussion with Santa Fe College;
District 5 field representative Greg Harden’s experience with assessing farmers’ needs as we met in Palatka with Johns River State College.

Please help us bring the AgTech Accelerator to your community by letting your FFBF field representative and your legislative officials know how important technology is to Florida farming’s future.

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

Your Land Grant Partner

December 10, 2024Uncategorizedannual meeting, Clay Archey, FloridAgriculture eNewsletter, forestry, J. Scott Angle, Jeb Smith, Michael Dooner, Steve Johnson, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS College of Agricultural and Life SciencesShelby Martin

December 2024 FloridAgriculture eNewsletter

dr angle By J. Scott Angle
[email protected]
@IFAS_VP

Four Florida Farm Bureau leaders at October’s annual meeting gave me four different ways of thinking about how much agriculture does for the people lucky enough or wise enough to make it their livelihood.

I sat with each of the four-state board executive officers individually in between sessions in Miramar Beach. They were four very different discussions that demonstrated to me the multiple perspectives your leadership team brings to serving as champions for Florida agriculture.

President Jeb Smith and I talked about agriculture as a potential career that can provide meaning and purpose to young people searching for both. I was briefing President Smith on UF/IFAS efforts to develop training in agricultural technology. Beyond that individual initiative, we agree that agriculture is a way for people to feel they’re doing good while they’re doing well.

To Michael Dooner, agriculture is a way to protect the earth. As a forestry leader, your immediate past treasurer champions the benefits of agriculture to filter and produce abundant clean water and air, sequester carbon, and harbor wildlife. He wants to see producers recognized and compensated for what they contribute to society, not just what they produce.

Clay Archey, who was re-elected as your board secretary at the annual meeting, took time to meet with me and talk about how agriculture gives veterans a new opportunity for service after leaving the military. His family’s support for scholarships for veterans studying in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences demonstrates a way to recognize the value of the experience of our military personnel and channel it into another form of national security – food self-sufficiency.

Vice President Steve Johnson talked about agriculture’s values in connecting multiple generations of family. For three dollars per acre, his great granddaddy bought land in 1937 that the Johnson family is still farming in Manatee County. Steve hopes his son will someday take over the family business – but that his son will first attend the UF/IFAS College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and then get a few years of experience away from the Johnson farm.

Together these conversations reminded me of what a jewel agriculture is. Each conversation was like turning that jewel ever so slightly and appreciating the glint of each facet.

Agriculture is a business. My job is to help producers make money. But that’s not the whole story.

As you know, agriculture delivers far more benefits that food, feed, fuel and fiber. It’s an important way to knit families together, reinforce national security, fuel the economy, foster a lifestyle and keep parts of Florida green even as we see the land use map changing before our eyes.

Agriculture needs to speak with a unified voice. I heard that voice at the annual meeting from Jeb, Steve, Michael and Clay. Yet each does so in individual ways to create a fuller picture of the industry we love. And I look forward to amplifying that voice year-round.

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

Grassroots Members Participate in Annual Policy Development

September 11, 2024UncategorizedAg Policy, annual meeting, FloridAgriculture eNewsletter, Grassroots, grassroots policy development, Jeb Smith, Policy DevelopmentShelby Martin

September 2024 FloridAgriculture eNewsletter

Florida Farm Bureau’s grassroots policy development is in full swing as members from across the state gathered during August to participate in the organization’s commodity and issue based advisory committee fall meetings. These committees meet twice annually to review current Farm Bureau policy and to surface emerging issues that may need heightened focus in the organization’s advocacy efforts.

County Farm Bureaus nominate members to serve on advisory committees and the final selections are made by Florida Farm Bureau Federation President Jeb Smith. In addition to advisory committees, county Farm Bureaus can also submit resolutions for policy directly, as well as the Florida Farm Bureau Federation Board of Directors. Regardless of their method of generation, these new resolutions are reviewed by the oversight committee and then forwarded to the voting delegates to be ratified at the state Annual Meeting.

Member-ratified policy is the backbone of our organization. Without strong policy, we lack clear direction. The grassroots nature of this process is vital to ensure that our policy is truly representative of a broad cross section of our membership. As the state’s largest general agriculture organization, it can be challenging to ensure that policy does not pit subsets of our membership against each other. For this reason, our policy decisions are not made in haste; the process takes a full year to complete.

For more information on Farm Bureau’s policy development process, please contact the Agricultural Policy Department at 352.374.1543.

Rural Recharge Episode 17 Out Now

July 5, 2024UncategorizedAFBF, American Farm Bureau, dairy, Hawthorne Creek Creamery, Jeb Smith, Kevin Lussier, Rural Recharge, Young Farmers & RanchersShelby Martin

Kevin Lussier, AFBF Young Farmers & Ranchers Chair, joins President Jeb S. Smith on the newest episode of Rural Recharge.

Lussier owns and operates Hawthorne Creek Creamery in Alachua County. In 2021, Lussier and his wife, Shelby, were the Florida Farm Bureau Achievement in Agriculture state winners. Kevin has served on the Florida Farm Bureau state YF&R Leadership Group, the Florida Farm Bureau state board and now serves on the national level as the AFBF YF&R Committee Chair.

In this episode, Lussier shares his journey to becoming a dairy farmer, his involvement with the Florida Farm Bureau YF&R leadership group, his national involvement with American Farm Bureau and current issues he sees young farmers facing.

Your Land Grant Partner

June 4, 2024UncategorizedCARES, County Alliance for Responsible Environmental Stewardship, FDACS, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, FloridAgriculture eNewsletter, Jeb Smith, NFREC, North Florida Research and Education Center, Rob Gilbert, Suwannee CARES, Suwannee River Water Management District, UF/IFASShelby Martin

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).

Tomato Suspension Agreement Update

May 8, 2024UncategorizedAg Policy, DOC, FloridAgriculture e-Newsletter, Jeb Smith, Mexico, tomato dumping, Tomato Suspension Agreement, tomatoes, U.S. Department of CommerceShelby Martin

May 2024 FloridAgriculture e-Newsletter

On April 18th, 2024, the U.S. Court of International Trade remanded a 2019 decision to the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), which determined Mexican tomatoes were being dumped in the U.S. market. This decision came as a result of a court case filed by a large Mexican tomato exporter.

The TSA was reached in 1996 by the DOC and signatory producers/exporters of fresh tomatoes grown in Mexico to stop the unfair trade practices of Mexican tomato exporters. An investigation conducted by DOC concluded that Mexican tomatoes are being dumped at an average rate of 20.91%. In response to this, the 2019 TSA was established to close the loopholes of the previous suspension agreements, in exchange for suspension of anti-dumping duties against Mexican exporters. However, since the 2019 TSA became effective, the DOC has documented over 100 cases of Mexican companies that are still in violation of this binding, legal agreement. Furthermore, during the 28 years under this agreement, Mexican tomato imports have increased nearly 400 percent, allowing Mexico to dominate the U.S. tomato industry by controlling over 65 percent of the market.

Florida Farm Bureau Federation is dedicated to advocating for the domestic fresh tomato industry and for the termination of the 2019 TSA.

“Application and effective enforcement of the current trade remedy laws, that are feasible for U.S. producers, is the first step toward the development of much need comprehensive policies,” stated Florida Farm Bureau President, Jeb Smith.

It is important to note that this decision will have no effect on the 2019 iteration of the TSA, as it solely determined the DOC should have used a different timeframe to evaluate dumping levels. We can expect the DOC to re-conduct its 2019 dumping investigation by using data from the original 1996 dumping case, rather than the most recent data.

For further information or questions, please contact Florida Farm Bureau’s Ag Policy Department.