Tag Archives: Suwannee County

Cakes for a Cause

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Cake auctions are a beloved tradition for County Farm Bureau events across Florida. Attendees donate desserts to be auctioned off, with proceeds benefiting local charities or community programs. These auctions showcase the counties’ creativity and generosity, with the excitement of friendly competition often fetching bids well into the thousands. By using desserts as a tool for giving, Florida Farm Bureau members unite in their efforts to support local programs and celebrate agriculture. 


Funds raised at Hernando/Citrus County’s annual meeting supported
Citrus County 4-H and the Hernando/Citrus Farm Bureau Women’s programs.

 


Bill Elrod of Elrod Auctions proudly donates his services as a professional auctioneer to run the cake auctions in Clay, Bradford and Putnam/St. Johns counties. Clay County’s cake auction proceeds are used for student scholarships. 

 


The Hamilton County Women’s Committee cake auction raised $2,750 to be split between the Women’s Fund and a local charity that will be determined by the Women’s Committee in December.

 

 
Highlands County auctioned off 17 cakes, resulting in a $1,300 donation to Highlands County 4-H. 

 


In Hillsborough County, annual meeting attendees raised money for their Young Farmers and Ranchers program. 

 


Indian River County’s cake auction funds scholarships to help local high schoolers interested in agriculture fund their college
expenses. 

 


Jefferson County raised money for youth agricultural activities to
promote a better understanding of where food comes from among
local students. 

 


Marion County raised more than $2,300 for a local food bank.  

 


Okeechobee County raised a total of $3,250 for Real Life Children’s Ranch, a ministry that offers residential group homes with a family atmosphere for neglected children. It is one of the few group homes in Florida designed to care for groups of siblings. 

 


The Polk County Women’s Committee cake auction proceeds will be donated to Florida Agriculture in the Classroom, a non-profit organization that provides educational resources to help Pre-K through 12th grade educators incorporate agricultural concepts into their core subject area classes.   

 


South Sumter High School students helped facilitate Sumter County’s cake auction to raise funds for their FFA Chapter.

 


Suwannee County Farm Bureau’s lively cake auction raised money for Vivid Visions, Inc.– a local crisis center founded in 1995 by Suwannee area residents to support survivors of domestic violence. 

 


Taylor County collected nearly $800, donations that will support youth agricultural programs. 

The generosity of Florida Farm Bureau member bidders and bakers creates a lasting impact across our communities. We look forward to carrying on this tradition for years to come.  

AG TALK: A Strong Partnership

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[email protected]
@JackPayneIFAS

Ten years ago, John Hoblick told an audience on campus recently, he helped find a new leader for the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. He offered his humble assessment that he had done a great job.

It was his sly, humorous way of paying me a public compliment. He really has done a great job in the decade since, and that’s why he was on the podium at the UF/IFAS Dinner of Distinction in the first place.

John and I didn’t create the strong relationship between UF/IFAS and the Farm Bureau. It precedes us by decades. As John reminded us all at this year’s dinner, though, we didn’t take the relationship for granted either.

In some states, John said that night, the land-grant university and the Farm Bureau don’t get along. It hurts both entities.

By contrast, in Florida, when event organizers sought someone to offer a tribute at my last Dinner of Distinction as senior vice president, the choice was obvious. The guy who helped pick me, and the guy who’s going to help pick my successor, was the guy to bid me farewell.

As stewards of the state’s leading organizations for agricultural scientists and agricultural producers, John and I have become close friends as well as compatible colleagues. We’ve talked about fishing, family, travel and dogs. That has helped us get through the times we have disagreed.

We keep the interests of Florida farming first. We see the results in a $165-billion-a-year industry despite disease, extreme weather events, market volatility and unfair trade practices. We also see great examples of the relationship between farmers and scientists across the state.

In Okaloosa County, Farm Bureau President Keith Free watched Jennifer Bearden grow up and become a county Extension ag agent, and now he has her drive the other tractor in an annual two-vehicle parade through downtown Crestview. In Polk County, UF/IFAS Extension Director Nicole Walker and Polk County Farm Bureau Executive Director Carol McKenzie give 6,000 fourth-graders a close-up look at agriculture in their community.

Suwannee County Farm Bureau mainstay Randall Dasher and UF/IFAS Extension veteran Bob Hochmuth helped revive what had been the Suwannee Valley Agricultural Extension Center and make it a research station. UF/IFAS forage researcher and Extension specialist Jose Dubeux has a standing invitation to send his students for regular visits to Jackson County Farm Bureau board member Mack Glass’s ranch to monitor perennial peanut trials.

I could go on and on. The strong relationships with the Farm Bureau and other commodity associations helped fuel a decade of remarkable progress at UF/IFAS.

We have improved our research and education centers, earned record research funding, achieved record student enrollment in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and grown our corps of agricultural Extension agents over what we employed a decade ago.

I don’t get to pick my successor, but I did get to suggest search committee members. Like the event organizers, I found my choice was obvious. President Fuchs accepted my recommendation to put John on the committee.

He’ll do a great job. So, with Farm Bureau support, will my successor.

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.