The Ag Mag Down to Earth
Wildlife on the farm Tips for avoiding diseases and other troubles
Preparing your 2017 garden now r
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Recipes: Winter Soups
Tom Kha Gai
by Carolyn Blakeslee
Ingredients:
Calabaza Pumpkin Soup
by Chef David Bearl
Ingredients: 1 small Calabaza pumpkin ½ lb. diced chicken 3 cups milk 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese 1 cup croutons To taste salt and pepper
Directions: Cut the pumpkin into quarters. Roast in a 350ºF oven for 30-45 minutes until tender. Mash the roasted pumpkin meat and combine with the diced chicken and milk in a sauce pan. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat to a summer. Cook for at least 30 minutes. Stir in the cheese and serve topped with croutons.
¾ lb. chicken, cut into thin strips 2 tbsp coconut oil 2 14-oz. cans unsweetened coconut milk 2 cups chicken broth (add 2 chicken bouillon cubes if the broth is unsalted) 1 14-oz. can Coco Lopez coconut cream 2 tbsp finely minced fresh ginger root 4 tbsp fish sauce 1/3 cup lime juice ¼ cup shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced 1 tbsp chili oil (optional) 1 tbsp chili garlic paste 1 tsp lemongrass concentrate OR one stalk finely chopped lemongrass 4 tbsp thinly sliced scallion ½ cup finely chopped cilantro
Directions: Sauté chicken strips in coconut oil for 2-3 minutes until the chicken turns white. Remove from heat and let rest. In a large pot, bring coconut milk and chicken broth to a boil; immediately reduce to a simmer and add coconut cream, ginger, fish sauce (the strong smell will evaporate with cooking but will leave a subtle and amazing flavor), lime juice, mushrooms, chili oil, chili garlic paste and chicken. Stir frequently, bring to a simmer. Add scallion and lemongrass. Simmer for another 10-15 minutes. Serve with fresh cilantro sprinkled on top.
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Photo by Renee Bodine
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Contents 3 | RECIPES: Winter Soups Calabaza Pumpkin Soup, Tom Kha Gai by Chef David Bearl and Carolyn Blakeslee 6
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Masthead + Letter from The Ag Mag
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NEWS
| SECOND NATURE 8 Fire Roosters, Kumquats, and Old Hank Thoreau by Melody Murphy 10 |
Three Ways to Start Your Garden Right Now by David the Good
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The Wild Side of Your Farm by Jan Cross Cubbage
16 | AG LAW Agriculture and the Legacy of Florida’s Water by William K. Crispin, Attorney At Law 18 |
AGRITOURISM Coldwater Gardens Offers Luxury in Northwest Florida by Renee Bodine
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UF/IFAS Report: Florida Agriculture, Natural Resources Employment Up 29% in 13 Years by Brad Buck
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The Miraculous Seed by Jeri Baldwin
22 | Growing Your Retirement Possum Hollow Farm, Alachua by Audrey Hamberger 24 |
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
31 | FARMING/NATURAL WONDERS OF THE WORLD Cows
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The Ag Mag
Letter from The Publisher
Volume II, Issue 1 ISSN 2471-3007
Founder/Publisher Carolyn Blakeslee 352-286-1779 Director of Programs Jeri Baldwin 352-209-3180 Distribution Terri Silvola-Finch Design + Production Carolyn Blakeslee Amy Garone Contributors Chef David Bearl Renee Bodine William K. Crispin Jan Cross Cubbage David Goodman Laura McCormick Melody Murphy Contact Us 352-209-3180 P.O. Box 770194 Ocala, FL 34477 TheAgMag@gmail.com The-Ag-Mag.com Facebook.com/ TheAgricultureMagazine Copyright ©2017 The Ag Mag, LLC All rights reserved Covering agriculture and gardening in Florida. The magazine can be found in north central Florida feed stores, tack shops, tractor dealers, hardware stores, extension services, farm bureaus, farm-friendly banks, high school and university ag departments, trailer dealers, selected restaurants, farm-oriented real estate offices, landscape and garden centers, libraries, and theatres. MAILED SUBSCRIPTIONS: Send your name and address with a check for $24 to the address above, or order securely online at https://squareup.com/store/theag-mag/ BULK SUBSCRIPTIONS: 50% discount. For more information, please visit the squareup link above.
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From the Publisher: Wow. The Ag Mag is a year old! What an amazing year it has been. In this issue, Melody wishes us a Happy New Year in a most unusual way (p. 8). David explains three ways to start your New Year garden right now, when it actually feels good to be outside even if it’s a little on the cold side (p. 10). Jan extols the virtues and exposes the dangers of wildlife on the farm (p. 12). Bill writes about our precious water (p. 16). On p. 18 Renee brings us a report on a fabulous agritourism operation in Florida’s panhandle. Brad brings great news regarding employment in ag and natural resources (p. 20). On p. 21 Jeri writes about the miracle of seeds. Audrey Hamberger brings us a revealing article on p. 22 called “Growing Your Retirement,” about a couple who transitioned out of their jobs and started a farm that has become quite successful. And in our Farming Wonders feature on p.31, we offer some True Facts about cows. As always, we hope you enjoy the articles and find them useful in growing and furthering your own farms and gardens. Thanks to all of you for your support and enthusiasm about this magazine. Happy Anniversary to The Ag Mag!
Carolyn
News Wine Festival Cancelled
B
ecause of difficulties in obtaining permits, we’ve cancelled (postponed?) the wine festival. Our friends at HITS were very gracious about it and hope to host a future event with us.
Florida’s Natural Spaces
T
he Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail is a network of nearly 500 sites throughout Florida selected for their excellent birdwatching, wildlife viewing, hiking, recreational, and/or educational opportunities. floridabirdingtrail.com/ Florida’s Wildlife Management Areas (WMA) system is managed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) for recreation and to support a wide range of native wildlife in their natural habitats. These lands are more rugged than parks, with fewer developed amenities. The system includes more than 5.8-million acres of land established as WMAs or Wildlife and Environmental Areas (WEAs). myfwc.com/viewing/recreation/ Florida has 174 amazing state parks, trails, and historic sites. www.floridastateparks.org/ There are 11 national parks in florida. nps.gov/state/fl/index.htm
percent of the cost of organic certification, but only about half of the nation’s organic operations currently participate in the program. Starting March 20, USDA will provide a uniform, streamlined process for organic producers and handlers to apply for organic cost share assistance either by mail or in person. Eligible producers include any certified producers or handlers who have paid organic or transitional certification fees to a USDA-accredited certifying agent. Application fees, inspection costs, fees related to equivalency agreement/ arrangement requirements, travel/per diem for inspectors, user fees, sales assessments and postage are all eligible for a cost share reimbursement from USDA. Once certified, producers and handlers are eligible to receive reimbursement for up to 75 percent of certification costs each year up to a maximum of $750 per certification scope — crops, livestock, wild crops and handling. To learn more about organic certification cost share, visit www.fsa.usda.gov/organic or find a local FSA office at http://offices.usda.gov.
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he U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced that starting March 20, 2017, organic producers and handlers will be able to visit the 2,100 USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices to apply for federal reimbursement to assist with the cost of receiving and maintaining organic or transitional certification. USDA reimburses organic producers up to 75
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Second Nature by Melody Murphy
Fire Roosters, Kumquats, and Old Hank Thoreau
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anuary 1 begins a new year in the Western calendar. In the South, we celebrate it with blackeyed peas and collard greens, which are said to bestow good luck and prosperity. Here in the Sunshine State, we are fortunate to have citrus in season, sunshine growing on trees, when the earth begins a new orbit around the sun. The Chinese or lunar new year typically falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice, this year on January 28. According to the Chinese zodiac, this is the Year of the Fire Rooster. Citrus is a traditional Chinese New Year gift, specifically tangerines (which in Chinese sounds like the word for luck) and oranges (which sounds like the Chinese word for wealth) representing good luck and prosperity, just like the South’s blackeyed peas and
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collard greens. Kumquats and mandarins are also auspicious gifts and decorations during this festival. The bright orange color also symbolizes gold and the wish for rich abundance in the new year. Citrus, the earth, the sun, the moon, and their orbits: everything is a circle. It all connects. East and West, sun and moon, good fortune (whether luck or wealth) and the good gifts of the earth. Eastern and Western traditions aren’t that far apart when you consider how many things the Old Farmer’s Almanac tells you to do, or not do, based on the phase of the moon. This ranges from the agricultural — when to plant, prune, or harvest — to the personal — when to cut your hair, begin a diet, or quit smoking. So why not celebrate another new year, this time
moon-based, at the end of January, having just celebrated a sun-based one at the beginning? Regardless of your heritage, who couldn’t use more good fortune and celebration? As for roosters, surely a lunar new year under the auspices of this sun-heralding farm fowl is a good omen for agriculture. In his immortal Walden, Henry David Thoreau has this to say of everyone’s favorite yard-bird: “I thought it might be worth the while to keep a cockerel for his music merely, as a singing bird. The note of this once-wild Indian pheasant is certainly the most remarkable of any bird’s, and if they could be naturalized without being domesticated, it would soon become the most famous sound in our woods.” He goes on to imagine what it would be like “To walk
in a winter morning in a wood where these birds abounded, their native woods, and hear the wild cockerels crow on the trees, clear and shrill for miles over the resounding earth, drowning the feebler notes of other birds — think of it! It would put nations on the alert. Who would not be early to rise, and rise earlier and earlier each successive day of his life, ’til he became unspeakably healthy, wealthy, and wise?” Sounds like the good fortune of the rooster is right up there with blackeyed peas, collard greens, and citrus. Old Hank, as he would be known in the South, further toasts the rooster: “This foreign bird’s note is celebrated by the poets of all countries along with the notes of their native songsters. All climates agree with brave Chanticleer. He is more indigenous even than the natives. His health is ever good, his lungs are sound, his spirits never flag.” Clearly that is a bird to emulate. Elsewhere, Hank calls brave Chanticleer’s crow “an expression of the health and soundness of Nature, a brag for all the world … a pure morning joy.” Now, Hank was unacquainted with the rampant rooster of my grandmother’s neighborhood. No one knows who he belongs to, but he can often be seen high-stepping through her yard on his way to who-knows-where, frequently accompanied by a hen. He also likes to place himself outside my window at four o’clock in the morning when I am visiting, trumpeting his clear and shrill sounds with his robust lungs and unflagging spirits. This does not inspire in me a pure morning joy or a desire to celebrate him with a poem. I love roosters. I even used to have one as a child. I admire their looks and enjoy their cheerful crow. But not at four o’clock in the morning. So when I am walking Beaujangles, the evil but endlessly entertaining family dog, and we turn
a corner and encounter the rampant rooster, do I let Beaujangles chase him to his heart’s content? I believe we all know the answer. How will I, personally, celebrate the Year of the Rooster? It all comes full circle: I will be at the Kumquat Festival in Dade City, which, perfectly, falls on Chinese New Year. And, as they have a KFC, I will celebrate the Fire Rooster with some Nashville hot chicken (thinking darkly of the rampant rooster of Bartow), before I steep myself in good fortune with the delightfully sour-sweet taste of all things kumquat. By the way: The genus of kumquats is called, perfectly, Fortunella. I told you it all connects. Melody Murphy wishes you a Happy New Year, Eastern and Western, solar and lunar, with all good fortune to be found under the sun and moon.
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Three Ways to Start Your Garden Right Now by David the Good
H
appy 2017! Every New Year is a chance to start fresh. Even if you feel you failed with your 2016 gardening, learn from it, then forget about it. You have turned the page and now is the time to attack your 2017 gardens. “But wait, David — how am I supposed to ‘attack my 2017 gardens?’” you ask. “It’s cold out! Nothing will grow now!” Sure, it’s too early to plant much in the garden, but you can still improve your chances that 2017 will be a gardening success. Here are three ideas to get you started. 1. Double-dig beds Double-digging is a great way to prepare an area for planting, even in Florida sand. My double-dug beds right in the ground need less water and compost to be happy than my square-foot garden beds. It’s easy to do. First mark out the borders of your bed. I like 4x8 beds. Then dig a single spade-width trench at one end of the bed, down to the depth
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of the spade head. Put the soil you remove into buckets or a wheelbarrow. Then take a spading fork and spear it a foot deep into the bottom of the trench starting at one end, rocking back and forth and continuing across the trench until you’ve loosened all the soil in it. Now dig the next strip of dirt next to it and turn it over into the previous trench. Repeat the loosening of the soil at the bottom of that new trench, and just keep doing the same thing until you’ve dug the last trench of the bed. In that final trench, dump in the soil you dug from the first one. Now you have a nice fluffy bed of soil that should stand 4 inches or so taller than the surrounding ground. Rake in some compost, cottonseed meal, bone meal, and other amendments and it’s all ready to be planted in the next month or two. Double-dug beds take some work but they really make plants happy. The deep, loose soil allows your crops to find
nutrients and water a lot more easily. Just don’t walk on them or you’ll undo your hard work! 2. Start composting Have you ever wanted to raise worms and use them for composting? Or get a good compost pile going at long last? This is the time of year. If you’re throwing out food scraps and yard waste — stop! That’s all potential food for your land. It’s a waste to let it go and composting doesn’t need to be a pain. If you like the idea of easy composting, check out my book Compost Everything: The Good Guide to Extreme Composting on Amazon. Despite the scary name it’s a very accessible book with lots of inspiration. And it’s funny. My compost piles aren’t anything serious. I usually just pick an unused garden bed and turn it into a compost pile for the year, throwing on kitchen scraps and used paper towels, weeds and leaves, coffee grounds and cardboard — basically kitchen waste except
for meat and fatty things. As time passes it rots down, then eventually I rake it up and dump it on the next garden bed, leaving behind beautiful soil on the previous bed. As for worm composting, I didn’t bother with a nice storebought system. Instead, I took a broken dishwasher, turned it on its back and drilled holes for drainage, then put in wet shredded paper, leaves, and some worms I got from a friend. Good enough for me! I always had some worms and worm castings from that system and it cost me nothing. 3. Build a Hugelkultur bed Hugelkultur is a cool method of composting and gardening at the same time. Popularized by Austrian farmer Sepp Holzer, hugelkultur beds are now popping up all over Florida. The concept is simple: dig a trench and fill it with sticks and big logs, then cover them all up with the soil you dug out. If you have some water oaks you need to take down, instead of burning them or letting the city take them, turn them into soil instead. I know it sounds crazy, but burying wood in the garden has some serious benefits. First, it creates a water reservoir over time. If you’ve ever gone into the woods and found a rotten log, you know how wet that rotten wood can stay as it breaks down. Imagine all that water beneath your vegetables! Another benefit of burying wood is its ability to attract beneficial fungi to your garden. There are strange
and fascinating symbiotic relationships between plants and fungi. If you see mushrooms in your lawn or garden, that’s almost always a good thing. Some people don’t like the idea of hugelkultur because they think it might bring termites to their homes. Hey, this is Florida — there’s no way we can really keep termites away. I just wouldn’t build a bed right next to my house. Termites do good work out in the wild. They’ll turn that wood into humus for your soil. If you build a hugelkultur mound, it improves the soil in that area for years and years to come. These three ideas are just a start. You can also use this fine month of January to go through seed catalogs and pick out new varieties of vegetables you’d like to try. Or join a helpful gardening Meetup.com group, like The Gainesville Gardening and Preparedness Network. Go check out Joe Pierce and
his nursery at the Mosswood Farm Store in Micanopy. Or buy some great books on topics like seed-saving and permaculture, Florida gardening and composting, then start reading. The sky is the limit. Just get started now — spring is around the corner. I’m rooting for you. David The Good is a Florida native, a gardening expert and the author of four books you can find on Amazon, including Totally Crazy Easy Florida Gardening, Create Your Own Florida Food Forest, Compost Everything: The Good Guide to Extreme Composting and Grow or Die: The Good Guide to Survival Gardening. Find fresh gardening inspiration at his website www. TheSurvivalGardener.com and be sure to follow his popular YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/ user/davidthegood. Author’s photo: David holding a calabaza he grew; photo by Rachel Goodman.
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The Wild Side of Your Farm
by Jan Cross Cubbage
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ne December morning, after I turned my horses loose following their dawn feeding, my half-Great Dane, half-Rhodesian Ridgeback dog, Dane, approached me with a special gift wrapped in his massive jaws. It was an opossum, looking rather wet, limp and lifeless. I instructed Dane to drop his present, which he did — and together, we headed up the hill back to the house. I knew the opossum was just “playing possum” and would recover from his trauma and wander away from the barnyard shortly. I think Dane has caught that same possum a half dozen times in the past two months. On the way to the house, I spotted 14 hen turkeys strolling across the northern section of the pasture, and when they spotted Dane they took off in a frenzied flight for the fenced boundary of our property and into the woods. I’ve never seen turkeys fly so high. A few of them soared easily over 40-
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foot longleaf pines. This flock of turkey hens has regularly visited our farm pastures, strolling in now and then to pick up acorns under our massive oaks. There are more than 9.5-million acres of farmland in Florida. Chances are, wildlife are making use of most of these acres as part of their habitat. I harbor an appreciation for the presence of wildlife on our farm, but not without understanding that there are pluses and minuses to having wild critters crossing our fences. I’ve had some unusual and memorable experiences with wildlife. For example, there was a coyote that I named Wiley. While managing a Thoroughbred horse farm a few years ago in northern Marion County, I would hand-walk our sales yearlings around the farm, up and down the paddock lanes. It wasn’t long before our farm neighbor’s female Lab, Belle, would join me for my morning strolls.
In the lusty month of May, a young male coyote started visiting Belle — and while her owners were away, the two of them developed an amorous relationship. So, naturally, the young coyote joined Belle on our hikes around the farm as I led our sales yearlings each morning. A gal, her horse(s), a Lab and a coyote … our odd quartet met six mornings a week for two months. Coyotes are considered nuisance animals on farms and rightly so. Coyotes hunting, whether as single animals or in packs, can readily kill cats, small dogs, sheep, and poultry. Attacking large animals such as ponies, cows, and horses are not part of their agenda. Coyotes probably eat far more rats and mice than your barn cats do. On our farm, both our highly territorial Shackleford ponies and the presence of our dogs keep coyotes off the property. We’ve never had a problem with coyotes, even though they prowl in our neighborhood
frequently. Returning to the subject of opossums, these white-furred marsupials, the only marsupials found in the U.S. and Canada, are omnivorous, nocturnal creatures that are afraid of people. But possums can be silent killers in the darkness of night as they raid a hen house. Possums will use their 50 razor-sharp teeth to chew through chicken wire and grab a sleeping hen from its perch in the hen house. Again, there is nothing like a watchful farm dog or two to catch these thieves in the act. Don’t forget to protect your dogs against rabies. It is the law in our rural counties to have proof of current rabies vaccination for your dogs. Opossums have been targeted as a species to eliminate from farm properties when University of Florida researchers tagged them 20 years ago as carriers of an equine neurological affliction called Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis (EPM). More recent studies have concluded that it is not just possums that are spreaders of EPM protozoa via fecal material in grass, hay, and water — in fact all wildlife, including grass egrets, turkeys, and other wild fowl that travel about drinking stagnant surface waters during Florida’s long hot months can ingest protozoa and excrete it later on pasture grass or at livestock watering locations. There are farm management practices that can prevent EPM as well as another disease called leptospirosis, a bacterial disease that can affect
cattle and horses, pets, and even people. Leptospirosis is a bacterial infection that can cause fevers and liver damage but is treatable with antibiotics. Here in Florida, researchers testing equine blood drawn for Coggins tests (Equine Infectious Anemia) have found that more than half of tested horses are carrying antibodies proving that they have at one time had a leptospirosis infection. The same results have been determined concerning EPM. The best way to prevent these infections from affecting your farm animals is to fence off any areas within your pastures that occasionally flood and hold water. Excavating a retention pond, a limerock-floored pond that collects rainwater runoff but drains quickly, is an
efficient way to get unwanted water from collecting in your pastures during the summer rainy season. And of course, fence the retention pond off so livestock cannot get into it. Allowing horses to drink from surface-collected water in your pastures is a recipe for illness. In hot weather, it might be fun for horses to splash in big pasture puddles, but these areas of collected water are a soup of protozoa, amoebae and bacteria originating from the fecal material of waterfowl and wildlife. Another beneficial thing you can do is to keep your water tanks clean and drain them often. How many times have you seen egrets perched on the rims of your pasture water fountains or tanks? Resting
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egrets let go their droppings into the water tank, and the tank’s water is warmed by a hot summer sun. This warm water may become a place of incubation for detrimental microorganisms ready to complete their life cycle in the body of your farm animal. Raccoons, the masked bandits of the woods, are often encountered in stables in barns searching for food. They will tear holes into feed bags, for oats and corn are among their favorite foods. Always store feed in metal cans and in a closed-up room. Cat food is gourmet fare for raccoons, so keep you barn cat’s food in a secured area. Florida Fish and Wildlife has known for a long time that raccoons carry rabies, distemper, and parvovirus, diseases that can be transmitted to farm pets. It is a very bad idea to feed wildlife at your barn or home, but some people do and generally regret it later. On the other hand, having wildlife living on your farm, and even encouraging their presence, has its merits. The opossum, for example, has been found by wildlife biologists to eat hundreds of ticks every year of their adult lives. The ticks jump on the opossum to feed, and in turn the possum eats the ticks. On a typical day on our 40 acres, I would not be surprised to count 25 or more species of birds: turkeys, ibis, sand hill cranes, ring-necked doves, ground doves, grass egrets, mocking birds, blue jays, cardinals, warblers, wrens, loggerhead shrikes, crested fly catchers, bluebirds,
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blackbirds, wood thrush, brown thrashers, fork-tailed kites, cow birds, ravens, hawks, bald eagles, assorted woodpeckers — you get the picture. All of these feathered friends contribute something to our farm ecosystem, largely as ravenous eaters of insects. Any farm owner who has mowed a pasture knows there is some invisible signal sent out that will attract a flock of grass egrets that will scurry about, snatching and gobbling grasshoppers and moths as tractor and mower travel along. U.S. Fish and Wildlife estimates that 670-million birds are exposed to toxic pesticides every year by U.S. farming operations. Ten percent of exposed birds die immediately. An unknown number may sicken and die, including baby birds whose parents feed them insects that have been exposed to toxins. The balance of
nature becomes violated when you choose to spray toxins in the form of pesticides and herbicides on crops, fruit trees, lawns, pastures and gardens. Tread lightly with these products or better yet, don’t use them at all. On our farm, lightning strikes have killed a couple of trees. We let dead trees stand. Dying and dead trees make homes for wildlife and perches for birds of all sizes. Woodpeckers will take care of termites and other insects that are drawn to dead wood. Armadillos are another farm visitor that gobble up termites, as well as ants and ant larvae. Rumor has it that armadillos spread leprosy. No leprosy-afflicted armadillos have been found in Florida yet as far as we know, but to be on the safe side always handle road kills with gloves and cook until they are well done before
consuming. I can’t imagine our farm without its wildlife. Wildlife in all of its myriad creatures is an integral part of our paradise and circle of life here in Florida’s rural environment. The connection between Florida’s agricultural enterprises and wildlife is a few thousand years old and, I believe, worth celebrating and preserving. Jan Cross Cubbage, a blood stock agent and Thoroughbred farm manager, is a retired high school teacher of history and science, author of Screaming Ponies, and a former licensed Thoroughbred trainer in six states.
Playing possum. When attacked, the possum will freeze, curl up, and fall on its side. Its mouth will open up with the sides drawn back, exposing the teeth, its tongue may hang out from the side of the mouth, its heart rate decreases, its eyes will remain open, and it discharges a foul-smelling substance from its anal glands and might even defecate and urinate. By then, most predators will be disgusted and leave the possum alone.
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Agriculture and the Legacy of Florida’s Water by William K. Crispin, Attorney At Law
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ast month, The Gainesville Sun, warning of water woes unless changes are made, reported that “an additional 15 million Florida residents by 2070 could increase the demand for water by more than 50 percent, with a third of the state paved over and a noticeable decline in agricultural land.” This report was collectively prepared by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), 1000 Friends of Florida and the University of Florida’s Institute for Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/ IFAS). The Sun highlighted the following: Water usage related to development is projected to more than double to 6.48 gallons per day in 2070, while agriculture water usage would decline by 24 percent due to conversion of farmland to homes, shopping centers and other development. Under that trend, a third of the state would be developed, with the
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conversion of 5 million acres, including 2 million acres of agricultural and natural lands, to development, the report said. Meanwhile, the Tampa Bay Times ran a story in its December 9 edition, presenting an image of Florida’s agriculture as “dying on the vine,” due largely to the challenged citrus industry and loss of agricultural land to development. This report attempted to support an assertion by some that the Commissioner of Agriculture no longer deserves to have a seat at the table with other cabinet level positions. The article also references attorney John Morgan, of Morgan & Morgan, for his suggestion that the Commissioner be demoted from the cabinet level. Ironically, Mr. Morgan is best known for his public activism and advocacy for allowing greater access through legalization of marijuana, a product of agriculture. While there are industry challenges ranging from trade
agreements to disease, jumpingoff-the-cliff kinds of conclusions reached by the Tampa paper fail to take into account the many important and contributing facets that Florida’s agriculture provides the citizens at large. The tone of the article brought forth a sure-footed response from one who has a depth of understanding of agriculture in our state, Jack Payne, Senior Vice President for Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Florida. Payne states that the Tampa Bay Times article presents an “opportunity to tell the true story of Florida agriculture” and that “The article paints a grim picture of a slipping position of agriculture in the Florida economy. While agriculture certainly faces its challenges, it has successfully faced those challenges for about 10,000 years. We’ll counter this exaggerated report of Florida agriculture’s imminent demise with the tools we use best — solid science, data, and information.
IFAS is the clearinghouse for excellent material on the economic impact of agriculture, including an updated Florida Agriculture facts booklet (light green cover) that we give out as well as several fact sheets of information. I am reminding you that these materials exist and can be found here: [http:// bit.ly/2d5xOLe] and here: [http://bit.ly/2hnZwF9]. IFAS is communicating our sciencebased statistics to reaffirm the message of Florida agriculture’s tremendous impact on the economy and lives of all 20 million Floridians, not just the 2.1 million whose livelihoods are directly connected to it.” Payne’s framing the Tampa story as an opportunity to present a clearer picture of the comprehensive contribution of agriculture is well taken. The story’s primary premise relies on the projected trend of the conversion of ag land to development. The trend should bring an awakening to citizens of the need to balance open ag land that provides food, fiber, and habitat with developments that bring houses, strip malls and concrete. A state that welcomes travelers with the adage “Open for Business” won’t have much to offer business if the water runs dry and the natural attributes of the state that attract so many cannot sustain the projected population growth. When the Department of Community Affairs was dismantled a few years ago by Governor Scott, a valuable tool for development oversight and growth balance expired. In our world of competing
interests, agriculture is one of the few stalwart industries that can provide a barrier to continued runaway growth. Instead of labeling agriculture land as “land in waiting” (for development), the state should be pursuing the creation of agricultural zones, urban development boundaries, and conservation easements. Our population exists on top of the Floridan and Biscayne aquifers, which together have been our water ace in the hole. But as the string of research papers have divulged, there is a limit to how much water can be drawn from the aquifers and that their recharge is critical to their long-term existence. Agriculture land use provides a surface area for such recharge; houses and concrete do not, because they allow the rain to eventually drain to the storm sewers and the ocean. As Adam Putnam, the current Florida Commissioner of Agriculture stated, “Water is Florida’s golden goose, and we must ensure that we have a reliable, abundant and clean supply of water now and for future generations. A long-term and strategic approach is crucial to protecting the quality and quantity of our most precious resource.” Only the Commissioner of Agriculture is on record for driving the critical issue of water and addressing the reality of limited supply versus open-ended demand fueled by population and development growth. If one were to place a dollar value on the continuing contribution that agriculture does in managing the state’s
natural resources, instead of a linear review of cash market receipts, a far more accurate view of the value agriculture brings to the table on an ongoing basis becomes evident. William K. Crispin Afarmersfriend.com
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Coldwater Gardens Agritourism Offers Luxury in Northwest Florida by Renee Bodine
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oldwater Gardens fuses small-scale agriculture with ecotourism, bringing a new perspective to the traditional rowcropped fields stretching throughout Florida’s rural panhandle. This working farm showcases naturally grown produce, hydroponics and aquaponics, shitake mushrooms cultivated on oak logs, free range egg-laying chickens, and hives of European honeybees to pollinate crops and produce honey. Through sustainable farming practices, the small staff promotes fresh and local food, supports watershed stewardship, and provides environmental education. Their operation was a highlight during 2016’s 50th Annual Santa Rosa County Farm Tour. Guests learn about agricultural conservation practices and longleaf pine forest restoration on 352 acres nestled between cotton and peanut fields, forest, and Coldwater Creek, not far from Milton and Pensacola. Three acres of gardens supply Palafox Farmers Market and a couple of restaurants with produce year-round. Coldwater Garden employees are gardeners, horticulturists, agronomists, foresters, and
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hoteliers. They check in guests, give tours, teach gardening and butterfly classes, and plan events. Yoga getaways are popular. Most weekends, the grounds are booked for wedding parties. Guests can stay in a “glamping” tent, cabin, or treehouse and hike seven miles of trails, go biking, tubing, or canoeing. There is no TV or internet and cell coverage is spotty. Promotional brochures invite visitors to “escape back to nature,” and while agriculture is the reason for Coldwater, the rentals and events keep it profitable. This new-school farm has been in the making for a decade, starting as an idea by businessman Rusty Erdman and a partner to invest in land with water on it. “It wasn’t a clearcut plan. I didn’t know anything about innovative agriculture. We tried a lot of things to see what would work,” he said. The property was a mix of clear-cut forest and dense, unmanaged woods. Roads, water, power, utilities, and hiking trails had to be built. Gardens were planted five years ago. Neighboring farmers told Erdman about technical and financial assistance available
from USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS); District Conservationist Trent Mathews from Jay Field Office helped them develop a resource management system. “These are long-term comprehensive plans and require a lot of forward thinking on the part of the landowner,” Mathews said. NRCS helped build Coldwater’s first high tunnel. Although in other parts of the country the structures extend the growing season by keeping crops warm, in Florida eight months of the year high tunnels protect plants from the heat, said farm manager Ashley Moore. “You wouldn’t want to build the side walls less than six feet high. With a shade cloth the air flow helps control pests, disease, and keeps crops from rotting,” she said. Restoring the historic longleaf pine forest is a priority, and in 2014 NRCS helped plant 20,000 longleaf pine trees. The staff gives tours to teach the public about the management of this ecosystem that once covered 90-million acres and is home to nearly 600 plant and animal species, including 29 that are threatened and endangered. Taking care of the land and water is important to the owners and staff. “The creek is a big draw. We are trying to restore the area, farm sustainably, and not pollute. We are right on the water,” Erdman said. Coldwater Creek runs seven miles to Blackwater River, into Pensacola Bay, and drains into the Gulf of Mexico. “The folks at Coldwater Gardens have been a joy to work with,: said Mathews.. “They are very progressive in their business thinking and have built a sustainable operation that complements nature in such a unique way. It is absolutely beautiful.” According to USDA’s Ag Census, 105 million visitors spent more than $85 billion in 2015 on agritourism in Florida. The number of Florida farms offering recreational experiences more than doubled from 281 in 2007 to 724 in 2012.
Photo, above: Farm manager Ashley Moore harvests greens for the Palafox Farmers Market in Pensacola. Below: Farm manager Nick Phoenix sorts through mushrooms grown on oak logs harvested on the property.
Coldwater Gardens offers tours on Wednesdays, but the public can call ahead to arrange a tour for small groups at 850-426-1300 or info@coldwatergardens. com. Learn more about NRCS technical and financial assistance by visiting your local USDA field office or go to Getting Started with NRCS. Renee Bodine is Public Affairs officer at NRCS and can be reached at 352-338-9565.
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UF/IFAS report: Florida Agriculture, Natural Resources Employment Up 29% in 13 years by Brad Buck
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bout 1.56 million people worked full- or parttime in agriculture, natural resources and food industries in 2014, an increase of about 40,000 workers from 2013, and nearly 29 percent from 2001, according to a new University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences economic report. Direct employment in the agriculture and natural resources sectors accounted for 13.8 percent of all jobs statewide. Employment in these sectors grew from 1.24 million jobs in 2001 to a peak of 1.34 million in 2008 before the recession, then recovered to 1.56 million in 2014, the latest year for which information is available. “I would characterize that as modest growth in the industry, although the growth rate was higher before and after the recession (before 2007 and after 2010), and ag-food fared much better during the recession than many other leading industries such as construction and tourism,” said Alan Hodges, Extension scientist with the UF/IFAS food and resource economics department. “Growth in economic activity of agriculture,
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natural resources and related food industries continues to contribute to the stability of the state’s economy.” While jobs grew at 2 percent per year, the agricultural inputs and services sectors grew at a faster rate of 8.2 percent annually. Agriculture, natural resources, and their related industries accounted for $155 billion in sales revenue and contributed $127 billion to state gross domestic product in 2014, the report said. Hodges sees a bigger picture perspective in the latest results. “Agriculture and natural resources industries should be viewed in the context of the broader food and fiber economy in which they operate, because value-added processing/manufacturing and distribution activities are the largest sources of jobs and income and are directly tied to other major industries in the state such as tourism,” he said. Non-food commodity groups such as environmental horticulture, and forestry and forest product manufacturing, are actually larger than food commodity groups in Florida, he said. Employment reflected that growth.
Employment was highest for the food and fiber commodity groups of environmental horticulture, fruit and vegetable farming/processing, forestry and forest products, livestock and dairy farming, and animal products manufacturing, according to the report, which can be found at http://bit. ly/2d5xOLe. Economic contributions of ag-food industries are greatest in Florida’s metropolitan areas because of large-scale manufacturing and distribution to the urban population, he said. But basic agricultural commodity production in rural areas and interior counties is more important, relatively speaking, where it represents more than half of all employment and GDP in some areas. Brad Buck is Public Relations Specialist in the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Communications Office. The mission of UF/IFAS is to develop knowledge relevant to agricultural, human, and natural resources, and to make that knowledge available to sustain and enhance the quality of human life. Visit the UF/ IFAS web site at ifas.ufl.edu.
The Miraculous Seed by Jeri Baldwin
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ardening enables miracles every day. Miracle-making is assured, even easy, because of the work done by seeds, arguably the world’s most miraculous living group of cells. For a bit of corroboration, may I share, from Seeds, by Dr. Thor Hanson: “We live in a world of seeds. Seeds surround us all day long. Without our seeds there would be no bread, no rice, no beans, corn, or nuts. They are quite literally the staff of life, the basis of diets, economics, and lifestyles around the globe. They anchor life in the wild, too; seed plants now make up more than 90 per cent of our flora. Roll back the clock several millennia and we find seeds evolving as trivial players in a flora once ruled by spores, where tree-like club mosses, horsetails, and ferns formed vast forests that remain with us in the form of coal.” George Bernard Shaw wrote that there is a “fierce energy in even the tiniest seed, the spark and all the instructions needed to build a carrot, an oak tree, wheat, mustard, sequoias, or any one of the estimated 352,000 other kinds of plants that use seeds to reproduce.” Seeds provide the means to grow to anyone who wishes. Coaxing a plant from the tiny, usually oval, and often colorful seeds — with the extraordinary assortment of vegetables, herbs, trees, and fruits possible with those tiny particles
of wonder — enable us the ultimate wonder of the earth. “But, I have a brown thumb,” is a cop-out that disregards the viability of seeds, the good sense of the gardener, and the ingredients the earth provides. The earth is ready to offer rich topsoil, sun, and water. Adding seeds to the mixture will bring forth magic, in whatever form chosen — vegetable, tree, herb, fruit, grass or flowers. Gardeners who wish the joy and fulfillment of growing may have it. The key to bountiful growing is a wish to do so, a willingness to learn the secrets of putting all the parts of growing together, and the work to bring success to yourself. That, with seeds and the cooperation of the earth’s supplies, will find you with bragging rights and good food or beauty to share. In considering the vast range of possible satisfactions available in 2017, consider placing growing your own food and flowers first on the list. The rewards will leave you breathless and delighted with your gardening prowess, sharable yields, and a sense of unbeatable fulfillment. Happy growing in 2017! Jeri Baldwin is a writer, historian, photographer, farmer, and co-founder of Crones Cradle Conserve Foundation, the 756-acre ecological preserve and education center in Citra.
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Growing Your Retirement by Audrey Hamberger
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ucked just north of Alachua’s suburbs lies a narrow driveway leading up to Possum Hollow Farm, a place with delectably healthy roots invested in the richness of biodiversity. Pulling into the farm this time of year, you’ll see dormant orchards of aged chestnut trees and luscious fields of leafy greens. Heads of red- and white-veined varieties of curly and flat-leaf kales, Swiss chard, bok choi and an out-of-this-world artisan mix of lettuces dot the plots lined with fruit trees, sunflowers, and birdhouses. Perhaps the most pleasant feature of the farm, however, are the stewards of the land, Joe and Trace Durando. Twenty years ago, Joe and Trace purchased what they named Possum Hollow Farm to literally grow their retirement plan, a wholesale persimmon and chestnut orchard and native plant nursery. As an alumnus of the University of Florida’s Masters of Environmental Horticulture Program, Joe worked for Chestnut Hill Farm grafting future generations of chestnut trees. Trace held a position working for the City of Gainesville, and both planned to keep their positions as their orchards matured. Possum Hollow Farm began as cow fields amongst a flood plain forest. Joe and Trace utilized the fields for their orchards and preserved the forest areas. They worked to fill in some of the
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open fields by propagating and planting extensive hedgerows containing species of endangered and rare native plants for preservation as well as attracting beneficial insects for pollination purposes. Four years after the orchards were planted, the trees were in full production. Big, juicy orange persimmons and prickly pods of chestnuts were anticipated for the year’s harvest, but unfortunately, a hailstorm blew through the farm and beat those dreams to the ground. Much of the year’s harvest was damaged and rendered unsellable, and many trees and native plants took a beating as well. So, through the harshness of Mother Nature, Joe and Trace had no choice but to grow from this experience, and thus they were inspired to diversify Possum Hollow’s fields. Joe decided to focus solely on the farm and grow their operation to provide wholesale vegetables, lettuces, flowers, fruits, and nuts to local restaurants. This method would maximize their harvest potential as well as extend the marketing season. Joe took to preparing the fields to plant beds of flowers, fruits and vegetables. They have never used any pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, plastic mulches, or factory farm manure on their crops or land. Joe plowed the fields with his single tractor, disking and tilling multiple beds where the existing orchards and native plant nursery would
allow. He amended the soil composition once prior to planting with a conventional mineralbased fertilizer for optimum plant health. Seeds were planted, and weeds were controlled by hand and hoe, a method they still use today. Once the harvests were coming ready, Joe and Trace started marketing their produce and flowers wholesale to area chefs. Local chefs recognized the undeniable quality and freshness of Possum Hollow Farm’s produce and flowers and quickly supported their efforts, buying what they could directly from Joe. They soon found themselves amongst bountiful harvests and an overabundance of produce and flowers to cut for bouquets. They decided to set up at the local markets and sell there as well. They started with (and still hold) booths at both the Union Street Market and Haile Plantation Market in Gainesville, throughout the growing season. Joe and Trace sell only what they produce on their farm. This seasonally varies with differing flowers to chestnuts, persimmons, blackberries, pineapples, pears, ginger, and turmeric roots. Trace enjoyed her experience at the markets so much that she served on the Haile Farmers Market Board of Directors for 19 years. Seven of those years, she Board President, just stepping down in 2016. During her term of office, she worked diligently to increase the outreach and visibility of the market. At last the dream was fulfilled; Possum Hollow Farm was producing bountiful harvests each season, and Trace retired from her position with the City of Gainesville to spend her days tending to the farm and markets. Today, you can dine out and enjoy Possum Hollow Farm’s deliciously fresh produce and flowers, when available, at local venues such as Mildred’s Big City Food, and Civilization in Gainesville. You can also visit their booths at the markets, or pick up their produce at Florida Grub Hub. Support these and other local farmers who wish to live their golden years producing exceptionally good foods for all of us to enjoy! Audrey Hamberger operates the local-food Florida Grub Hub with business partner Laura McCormick at 304 S. Magnolia Ave., Ocala, http://floridagrubhub. com/.
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Calendar of Events EVENTS: WORKSHOPS, MEETINGS, CLASSES, CONFERENCES, ETC. Tuesday, January 3 1. Levy Soil and Water Conservation District meeting. 6:30pm, 625 N. Hathaway Ave., Bronson, http://myswcd. org/. Upcoming meetings (first Tuesday): Feb. 7, Mar. 7, Apr. 4, May 2, June 6. 2. Springs Academy Tuesdays. Lecture theme: Springs biology. Noon, $5. North Florida Springs Environmental Center, 99 NW 1st Ave., High Springs, 32643, http://bit.ly/2fpuk65. Friday, January 6 Florida Heifer Development Program workshop focusing on replacement heifer development, and practices that will help producers effectively grow their future cow herd. 8:30-2:30,
Archer 352-495-9090
Beef Unit Pavilion, North FL Research and Education Center, Marianna, 850-547-1108, http:// bit.ly/2hO3kPn. Monday, January 9 Pesticide exam, 9am. Bartow. 863-519-1049. Tuesday, January 10 1. Dixie Soil and Water Conservation District Board meeting. 6:30-7:30, Cypress Inn Restaurant, Cross City. Upcoming meetings (second Tuesday): Feb. 14, Mar. 14, Apr. 11, May 9, June 13, July 11. 2. Marion County Soil and Water Conservation District Board meeting, 9am, USDA Ocala
High Springs 386-454-1271
Ocala 352-351-8008
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Service Center, 2441 NE Third St., Suite 204-2, Ocala, Information: Ann Bishop, 352-622-3971, x.112. Upcoming meetings (second Tuesday): Feb. 14, Mar. 14, Apr. 11, May 9, June 13, July 11. 3. Pasture and Paddock Management Workshop, 6:30pm, Extension Office in Bronson. 352486-5131 to reserve your space. 4. St. Johns River Water Management District Governing Board meeting, 9am, District headquarters, 4049 Reid St., Palatka. Information: Missy McDermont, 386-329-4214, www. sjrwmd.com. Upcoming meetings (second Tuesday): Feb. 14, Mar. 14, Apr. 11, May 9, June 13, July 11. 5. Understanding and Applying Performance Data (cattle). How to decipher the data and develop a practical plan for utilizing these resources when selecting bulls. 6:30-8, Washington County Ag Center, 1424 Jackson Ave., Chipley, 850-638-6180, http://bit.ly/2h82DMX. Wednesday, January 11 The Villages Environmental Discussions Group. John Wilchyski will speak about the Butterfly Works farm; Maia McGuire, UF, will discuss microplastics. 12:45, Belvedere
Library Community Room. resourcewisdom@gmail. com. Thursday, January 12 Vegetable Gardening for Beginners. Using the square foot gardening technique: bed construction, soil prep, pest control, suggested veggies. Free, 7-8, Tower Road Branch Library, 3020 SW 75th St., Gainesville. http://tinyurl.com/huznzxt. Friday, January 13 26th Annual Southwest Florida Water Resources Conference, Cohen Center, FGCU, Ft. Myers. www.awra.caloosahatchee.org/2017/ Tuesday, January 17 1. Gilchrist Soil and Water Conservation District meeting. 6:30pm, Akins BBQ, Bell. Upcoming meetings (third Tuesdays every other month): Feb. 21, Mar. 21, Apr. 18, May 16. 2. Landscaping for Newcomers. Focus on Florida Friendly Landscaping and Alachua County ordinances and soil/weather conditions. Free, 1012, Tower Road Branch Library, 3020 SW 75th St., Gainesville, http://tinyurl.com/zo9xtcb.
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Thursday, January 19 1. Designing Your Edible Landscape including fruit trees, veggies, herbs. 6-8pm, $5, Tower Road Branch Library, 3020 SW 75th St., Gainesville, http:// tinyurl.com/z7myt2o. 2. Florida History from Palmetto Leaves to the Yearling to the River of Grass. 2pm, Betty Jean Steinhouse, Lady Lake Library, 2nd Fl., 225 W. Guava St., Lady Lake. Reservations required, 352259-4359, www.LadyLakeMuseum.org. 3. Tri-State Cucurbit Meeting. Insect, weed, disease management; cucurbit varieties; water and nutrient management. Pesticide CEUs available. 7:301, $5/includes lunch. Jackson County Ag Conference Center, 2741 Pennsylvania Ave., Marianna, http:// bit.ly/2ilS0qT. Saturday, January 21 2017 Florida Bull Test Sale. The 17th Florida Bull Test was conducted at the NFREC in Marianna. There were 129 consignments from FL, AL, GA, and MS. Activities conclude with this sale; only bulls meeting specific benchmarks are eligible including structural soundness and disposition, and breeding soundness. Internet bidding will be available too. http://bit.ly/2hix9bF.
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January 21-24 Tropical Plant Industry Exhibition, Broward County Convention Center, www.fngla. org/TPIE/. Sunday, January 22 Red Hills Fire Festival. Kids’ activities, wagon tours, music, fire equipment, prescribed burn demos, food trucks, presentations by experts in fire and wildlife. Free, 11-3. Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy, 13093 Henry Beaudel Dr., Tallahassee, 850-363-1079. January 25-26 Florida Citrus Show, Havert L. Fenn Center, Ft. Pierce. Registration is free to growers. http://bit.ly/2hCmOqg. Sunday, January 29 Southwest Florida Veg Fest. Free, 10-4, Centennial Park, 2000 W. 1st St., Ft. Myers. http://bit. ly/2eZjTrr. Monday, January 30 Florida Agriculture Network meeting. Topic: Growing leafy greens on small acreages for local markets. Attendees will meet Farmer Ben Strong and tour a production area to observe how greens are produced and direct marketed in Lawtey, FL. Chef James Jackson, from the Call Street Café in Starke, will prepare a meal from local foods and discuss his desire and need to source local food for his restaurant. Purchasing a meal is optional but it must be paid for by January 23rd. Attendees who do not wish to eat are welcome to attend the workshop. UF/IFAS researchers will share a stink bug insect pests update and cole crop cultural practices. There will also be allotted time for farmers to network. $12/meal (http://
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tinyurl.com/govqnkr), workshop is free, 4:30-7pm, 1930 NE CR 225, Lawtey, FL 32058. January 30-February 3 Florida Gardening 101. Organic gardening, soil building, Florida Friendly Landscape, caring for your Florida lawn, invasive plants to avoid, plant propagation (seeds, cuttings and other techniques), annuals and perennials, pruning, palms, vegetables for Marion County, insects and diseases, more. $35/ person, $50/couple. Classes 6-8:30 nightly. UF/IFAS Marion County Extension Auditorium, 2232 NE Jacksonville Rd., Ocala, 352-6718400. Tuesday, January 31 1. Hydroponic Nutrient and Water Management for Protected Agriculture Systems. Plant nutrient basics, water quality and media selections, mixing fertilizer, pH, injectors, more. 8-5, Suwannee Valley Ag Extension, 8202 County Rd., 417, Live Oak. 386-362-1725, http://bit.ly/2g7PZjV. 2. Vegetable Seed Workshop. Growing seeds for vegetable gardens and how to make an inexpensive seed light. $15/person or $20/couple. 6-8, Tower Road Branch Library, 3020 SW 75th St., Gainesville, http:// tinyurl.com/zqoyvmd. Tuesday, February 7 Springs Academy Tuesdays. Lecture theme: Springs stresses: groundwater pumping, fertilizers, wastewater disposal, recreation. Noon, $5. North Florida Springs Environmental Center, 99 NW 1st Ave., High Springs, 32643, http:// bit.ly/2fpuk65. February 8-12 Florida Earthskills Gathering. Workshops on many
pioneer skills including hide tanning and edible mushrooms. Attend for part of a day or spend several days. Prairie Creek Lodge, Hwy. 20, Hawthorne. Information: Crones Cradle Conserve, 6411 NE 217 Pl., Citra, 352-595-3377, www. CronesCradleConserve.org. February 9-11 Public Interest Environmental Conference: Land Conservation: The Worth of the Earth. UF, Levin College of Law, Gainesville. https://ufpiec.org/ February 9-20 Florida State Fair, Tampa at I-4 and U.S. Hwy. 301. Info/813621-7821, Box office/813-627-4360. Animals, art/craft competitions and marketplace, batcopter rides, exhibits, fireworks, learning garden, headline concerts, horticulture, petting zoo, steam enwww.FloridaStateFair.com. Friday, February 10 Small Scale Mushroom Production. Mushroom ID, fruiting, problems; shiitake log production; shiitake on natural logs inoculation; oyster in bag production; handling and processing; marketing. $120 before 1/20. 8:15-4:30, Suwannee Valley Ag Extension Center, 8202 Creek 417, Live Oak, 386-362-1725, http://bit.ly/2gehpBH. Saturday, March 4 4th Habitat for Humanity Strawberry Festival, 9-5, McPherson Center, 25th Ave., Ocala. www.HabitatOcala.org/ Strawberry-Festival. March 10-11 2017 UF Bee College, St. Augustine. For beekeepers of all experience levels, gardeners, naturalists, county agents, etc. $70 and up. http://bit.ly/2i0O16q.
Dates Vary Citrus County Extension Svc. Remote Plant Clinic Dates and Locations. Every Tuesday, 1pm: Lakes Region Library. Fourth Tuesday, 2pm: Homosassa Library; alternating Tuesdays at Extension Office. First Wednesday, 2pm: Floral City Library. Second Wednesday, 1:30pm: Central Ridge Library. Third Wednesday, 1pm, Citrus Springs Library. Second Friday: 1:30pm, Coastal Region Library. Information: Citrus County Extension Svc., 3650 W. Sovereign Path, Suite 1, Lecanto, FL 34461, 352-527-5700, www. citrus.ifas.ufl. edu. Every Monday Plant Clinic. Bring your questions, plant samples, problems. 9-3, Government Annex (Sheriff), corner of Morse Blvd. and CR 466, The Villages.
FARMER
&
from plants that merely smell like death to those that can actually cause it. Based on Amy Stewart’s book Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln’s Mother, the exhibit opens into the garden of an abandoned Victorian house.
Feed & Hay Peanut Hay
FIRS Deliv T er FREE y
Coastal
Store Hours: 8am - 5pm (M - F) 8am - 12 Noon (Sat) 15398 NW 44th Ave Rd. Reddick, Fl 352-591-2266
Please return by
linda@farmerandra or fax to 941-36 The Ivy House
Our Signature Recipe
Baked
PROOF
Every Saturday Farmstead Saturdays, 9-3. Free admission. Lunch and pastries available. Crones Cradle Conserve, 6411 NE 217 Pl., Citra, 352-595-3377, www. CronesCradleConserve.org.
Now through March 18 Water Ways, presented by the Smithsonian’s Traveling Orchard / Alfalfa Premium Alfalfa Timothy / Alfalfa
RANCHER
Every Wednesday Farm baskets of vegetables, jams, jellies, etc., are delivered to the Ocala Public Library every Wednesday at 2:30pm. $25-50. Reserve in advance. Crones Cradle Conserve, 6411 NE 217th Pl., Citra, 352-595-3377, www. CronesCradleConserve.org.
Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesvile, www.flmnh. ufl.edu.
Restaurant & Catering
8 boneless chicken breasts 1 stick butter 1-2 cups Rice Krispies Salt & Pepper
APPROVED AS
APPROVED W CHANGES
•Dip chicken in melted butter: then roll in crushed Rice Krispies •Bake in a shallow baking pan at 350º until golden brown
Signature
Ocala
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352.622.5550
352.528.5410
Alachua Coming Soon!
Gracefully Southern Event Venue
JUNE 2016
mmw.ivyhouse@yahoo.com
EXHIBITS Now through January 15, 2017 Wicked Plants exhibit featuring more than 100 of the world’s most diabolical botanicals,
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Exhibition Service. Images, videos, information, interactive elements. Ding Darling Wildlife Society, Oct. 29-Dec. 10, Sanibel; Historic Courthouse, Okeechobee, Dec. 17Jan. 28; Sulphur Springs Museum, Tampa, Feb. 4-Mar. 18.
FREE ONLINE CLASSES Webinar Recordings 1. Citrus Worker Training Online. If you only need to train workers (and not handlers) for the new Worker Protection Standard (WPS), a website from Iowa State University can provide this training online at no cost. The program is EPA approved and documentation of training will be provided. The website is: http:// www.extension.iastate. edu/ workerprotection/. If you will need to train workers and handlers, then you will need to take the complete EPA approved WPS Train the Trainer course as offered in Bartow or Plant City. 2. Cover Crop Options for Hot and High Humidity Areas, http://bit.ly/2ahkP61. 3. Organic Seed Production webinar series. http://bit. ly/21b1y7Y. 4. Promoting Specialty Crops as Local. Communicating with consumers. http://www. piecenter.com/training/local/ 5. Specialty Crops Program webinar series. http://bit. ly/2dkrSiO. 6. Soil Health Impacts on Pest Management. 2pm. http:// bit.ly/2bMiPCe. 7. Sustainable Agricultural Research & Education (SARE) offers classes on sustainable agriculture, strategic farm planning and marketing, and more. http://bit.ly/28KVYUH
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8. USDA topics including funding and initiatives. Upcoming and past webinars are listed; they are eventually archived and available for tuning in later. http://bit.ly/2a7hyXe.
GRANTS, SCHOLARSHIPS, OTHER FUNDING First-Come, First-Served USDA, Farmers Market Coalition free SNAP EBT equipment program. FMC will cover the costs of purchasing or renting equipment and services (set-up costs, monthly service fees, wireless fees) for up to three years. http://bit.ly/2elL2TJ. Deadline January 11 Derelict Vessel Removal Grants. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Phil Horning, 850-617-9540, www. MyFWC.com/DVGrant. Deadline January 13 Wetland Reserve Easements. Open to agricultural landowners and Indian tribes. Financial and technical assistance to purchase and restore wetlands, protect wildlife habitat, and recharge groundwater. Eligible landowners can enroll in a permanent 30year easement. Deadline was extended because of insufficient applications. USDA Natural Resources Conservation Services, 352-338-9508. Deadline January 16 Pre-prosals due for the Seeding Solutions grants. Up to $1,000,000 for research proposals addressing some of today’s most monumental food and
ag challenges: food waste and loss, protein challenge, water scarcity, innovation pathways to sustainability, healthy soils/ thriving farms, urban food systems, “making my plate your plate.” Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, FoundationFar.org. Deadline January 19 NIFA Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative. OREI funds highpriority research, education and extension projects that enhance the ability of producers and processors who have already adopted organic standards to grow and market high quality organic products. Eligible entities include Land-Grant and other research universities, federal agencies, national laboratories, state agricultural experiment stations, and research foundations and other private researchers. Priority areas include biological, physical and social science research, including economics. Funded projects will aid farmers and ranchers with whole-farm planning by delivering practical research-based information and improve the ability for growers to develop the Organic System Plan required for certification. http:// bit.ly/2erEK2P. Deadline February 3 Funding to help ranchers conserve Florida panther habitat. Open to prodicers in northeastern Collier County or southwestern Hendry County. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, 813-417-6165. Deadline February 24 Agricultural Land Easements. Financial assistance for purchasing ag land easements that protect the use of cropland,
rangeland, grassland, pastureland, and forestland. USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, 352338-9554. Deadline March 31 Grants and Guaranteed Loans for Renewable Energy Production and Energy Efficiency Improvements for farms and rural small businesses. Grants can be used to improve energy efficiency or used to assist in purchasing wind, solar, geothermal or other renewable energy systems, and to help farmers with energy audits and renewable energy plannin. http://bit.ly/2fGgtbC.
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Deadlines vary Many scholarships connected with the Florida State Fair: http://www. floridaagriculturescholarships.com/fairsshows.html No Specific Deadline 1. American Heart Association Teaching Garden Grant. Open to schools. The AHA provides the materials for planting day, garden beds, organic soil, seedlings and plants, cooking demonstrations, and other activities; Teaching Garden Took Kit including school garden manual, lesson plans, and
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more. http://bit.ly/28Vv3Gm. 2. Reestablishing Quail on Florida Agricultural Lands. Financial and technical assistance. Renee Bodine, 352-338-9565. Deadlines Vary 1. Florida Agricultural Scholarships Online. Check this web site often for announcements of new awards. www.FloridaAgricultureScholarships.com. 2. USDA grants, loans, and other support. Many programs are open to individual and family
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farmers, even people starting out. Micro-loans are fast tracked. There are other programs open to farmers’ markets, nonprofits, and educational providers. www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/ usdahome?navid=KYF_GRANTS.
POSITIONS, INTERNSHIPS Deadlines Vary 1. Florida Sea Grant. If you are interested in marine and coastal work, check in with the Florida Sea Grant program, as new positions are posted frequently. www.flseagrant.org/about/jobs/ 2. Internships in the beef industry. Many opportunities; some include housing. www. floridacattlemen.org/internship-opportunities/ 3. UF/IFAS. Extension agents, dairy cattle assistants, water resources agents, horticulture agents, veterinary support, professors, teaching assistants, much more. Check out the list at http:// explore.jobs.ufl.edu/cw/en-us/listing/. Send your agriculture- and gardening-related Calendar listings to TheAgMag@gmail.com.
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Farming and Natural Wonders of the World Cows
T
he average dairy cow produces seven gallons of milk a day, 2,100 pounds of milk a month, and 46,000 glasses of milk a year. There are 350 squirts in a gallon of milk. Before machines, a skilled farmer could milk about six cows per hour; with machines, 100 cows/hour can be milked. Most cows are milked two to three times per day. A cow must have a calf in order to have milk; thus, she spends nine months of each year gestating and is then re-bred a few months after her calf is born. On average, a cow drinks
40 gallons of water/day and eats 40 pounds of fodder each day. 21 billion gallons of milk are produced in the U.S. each year, and 60,000 dairy farms are producing milk in the U.S. Resources: n www.midwestdairy.com/farm-life/commonquestions/ n www.aipl.arsusda.gov/kc/cowfacts.html n www.ansc.purdue.edu/faen/dairy%20facts. html
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