Agrimag August 2017

Down to Earth in Florida

AgriMag Formerly: The Ag Mag

August: Awfully Abundant, or Abundantly Awful?

When is Naturally Grown not Organic?

Our Pollinators Are Gone - What now?

Don’t Be Afraid to Cut, Cut Away!

Cuffing Agricultural Crime

FREE

Please Enjoy

Volume II, Issue 6, August 2017 August 2017

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NO BEES? NO POLLINATION? NONE OF THESE CROPS! Acerola

Adzuki Beans

Alfalfa

Allspice

Apples

Apricots

Avocados

Beets

Black and Red Currants

Black Eyed Peas

Blackberries

Bok Choy

Boysenberries

Brazil Nuts

Broccoli

Brussels Sprouts

Buckwheat

Cabbage

Cactus

Cantaloupe

Caraway

Carrots

Cashews

Cauliflower

Celery

Cherries

Chestnut

Peppers, chili, red, bell, green

Clover

Cocoa

Coconut

Coffee

Congo Beans

Coriander

Cotton

Cranberries

Cucumber

Custard Apples

Durian

Eggplant

Elderberries

Fennel

Figs

Flax

Goa beans

Grapes

Green Beans

Guava

Hazelnut

Kidney Beans

Kiwi Fruit

Lemons

Lima Beans

Limes

Loquat

Lychee

Macadamia Nuts

Mangos

Mustard Seed

Nectarines

Okra

Onions

Orchid Plants

Palm Oil

Papaya

Passion Fruit

Peaches

Pears

Persimmons

Plums

Pomegranites

Prickly Pear

Quince

Rambutan

Rapeseed

Raspberries

Rose Hips

Safflower

Sesame

Star Apples

Starfruit

Strawberries

Sunflower Oil

Sword beans

Tamarind

Tangelos

Tangerines

Tomatoes

Turnips

Vanilla

Walnut

Watermelon

In just the last ten years, over 40% of the bee colonies in the US have suffered Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). They vanish, often without a trace.

40% of Bee colonies have disappeared since 2007 It is estimated that 80% of Bee colonies will disappear by 2027 And that 100% of Bee colonies will be gone by 2032 DID YOU SEE A FAVORITE FOOD ON THE LIST ABOVE? PERHAPS YOU WILL BECOME A POLLINATOR ACTIVIST? To become an Activist see “From the Publisher” on Page 3.

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From the Publisher

AgriMag Volume II, Issue 6 ISSN 2471-3007

The major focus in this issue of AgriMag evolved quickly and practically seamlessly as our co-editor discovered a disturbing lack of native pollinators on her nature preserve. With Marnie, dire news needs a strategy for relief. For we who work to enforce your connection with agriculture, and because Marnie took her dilemma as a directive to spread the news, we bring you pollinators and pollination. The status of pollinators in our world is grim. Since most of our food owes its existence to pollinators, we wanted you to know their situation - and our suggestions for solutions that all could practice.

We urge you to read this August issue carefully as usual, but with an added commitment to find how best to help with this problem.

We plan a couple of further events to give you more information stay tuned.

On other pages, law enforcement personnel in Marion and Levy counties have recently appointed Ag Deputies to police and protect farms and farm equipment from theft and vandalism. Jan Cubbage introduces the Marion Ag deputy in this issue. Next month you will meet the Levy County Ag deputy, and learn of their plans to protect farms and farm equipment in Levy County.

Finally, I would like you to know that the AgriMag telephone problem is (we hope) solved. Part of the solution meant a new number which I share with you below. If you called us, and got no answer, please try again as I would love to talk about our magazine with you and learn your thoughts for improvement.

Jeri

Cover Photo: Honey Bees Swarming Photo by Sharon Ritacco

Down to Earth in Florida

AgriMag Formerly: The Ag Mag

August: Awfully Abundant, or Abundantly Awful?

When is Naturally Grown not Organic My Pollinators Are Gone - What now?

Sharon Ritacco, is a native Floridian with a life long love of wildlife and the environment. Many thanks to you Sharon for allowing us to use so many of your beautiful pollinator photos in this issue!

Don’t Be Afraid to Cut, Cut Away!

Cuffing Agricultural Crime

FREE

Please Enjoy

Volume II, Issue 6, August 2017 August 2017

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Publisher Jeri Baldwin Jeri@AgriMag.Press 352-209-3195 Editors Jeri Baldwin 352-209-3195 Marnie Hutcheson 352-207-6520 Contributors William K. Crispin Jan Cross Cubbage David Goodman Melody Murphy Design + Production Marnie Hutcheson Marnie@AgriMag.Press Amy Garone Ad Sales Cindy Baldwin Cindy@AgriMag.Press Distribution Terri Silvola-Finch Founder Carolyn Blakeslee Contact Us & Subscriptions AgriMag Press info@AgriMag.Press 352-209-3195 P.O. Box 635 Orange Springs, Florida 32182 Websites http://AgriMag.Press https://www.facebook.com/ AgriMagPress/ Copyright Š2017 AgriMag Press All rights reserved

sharpup1@aol.com

August 2017

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Contents 3

| From the Publisher

6 | August: Awfully Abundant,

or Abundantly Awful?

by Melody Murphy

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| When is Naturally Grown not Organic?

by Jeri Baldwin

10 | Cuffing Agricultural Crime

by Jan Cubbage 12 | Don’t be Afraid to Cut, Cut Away!

by David the Good 14 | Our Pollinators are Gone. Now What?

by Marnie Hutcheson 16

| In Memory of Our Pollinators

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| Plants to Feed Pollinators

Our Pollinators are Gone, Continued

20 | In Season Recipes 22 | Florida AG: Peanuts 23 | Meat Sheep Alliance of Florida Upcoming Events 24 | Farming Wonders: Honey 25 | Calendar of Events 26 | AgriMag Briefs 28 | The AgriMag Forum: Have You Seen Me? 30 | Windmill Acres Farm and Dairy Photo by Sharon Ritacco August 2017

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August: Awfully Abundant, or Abundantly Awful?

by Melody Murphy Let me tell you something: August is not an easy month to write about in Florida. Especially if your assignment is to write about agriculture.

It would be easier if I lived somewhere else. Elsewhere, corn is in season all over the place. (See lyric: “I’m as corny as Kansas in August…”) Here, corn is a spring crop.

How about peaches? Nope. That’s spring, too.

Figs? Already done those, earlier in the summer.

Watermelon? Same. Citrus abandons us in August. We still have a few blueberries and blackberries to pick, but guess who wrote about those in April?

Well, how about tomatoes, that old summertime standby? Sure, if they haven’t withered and shriveled up in the heat. Summer squash? Zucchini, which in most places is a late-summer punchline due to its overwhelming abundance? We did that already. Harvested and done.

What’s our real bumper crop in Florida in August? Sandspurs, beggar lice, and stinging nettles.

They flourish unaided by any farmer, luxurious in their ankle-high evil, in fields and pastures throughout the state.

But as we’re looking for a desirable harvest, let’s check out FreshFromFlorida.com – the website of the Florida Department of Agriculture and

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Consumer Services – to see what is in season in August. Ah, lovely: guava, mangoes, passionfruit, avocado. Brings to mind another Rodgers and Hammerstein lyric: “These are a few of my favorite things.” If I lived in south Florida, I’d be living on these tropical delights like they were the four food groups redefined, ideally while sitting by an aquamarine jewel of a pool surrounded by lush, gorgeous bougainvillea.

However, this is north central Florida, where we currently have some peanuts growing in the dust and baking in the heat of summer. They should be ready for harvest later this month, perhaps, and in September.

But still: August is not our best month in Florida.

For weather or for agriculture. And as a writer whose current task it is to write about the agricultural delights of the Sunshine State, I profoundly lament this fact. Or am I being entirely fair?

August has always been my least favorite month.

There are no holidays in it. It is appallingly hot.

It was the month I was made to go back to school every year. It is the month we, as Floridians, begin to worry in earnest about hurricanes, the month our air conditioners go on strike from overuse. “Summertime and the living is easy”?

Not in Florida.

But as I force myself to consider, with an open mind, August in Florida, to remember with a lessthan-sullen spirit all the Augusts of my life, and to try to seek the good things about this confluence of time and place, a few bright spots do come to mind.

First, there are scuppernongs and muscadines.

I love these tart, juicy, thick-skinned grapes.

They are ripe on the vine in late August, and nothing is better than plucking and immediately eating a sun-warmed handful from the green-and-gold, light-dappled shadows of a backyard arbor.

Then there’s okra, which flourishes in Floridian summers. I like it any which way: sliced, tossed in cornmeal batter, and fried crisp; in gumbo; stewed with tomatoes and served over rice. I love pickled okra, which is a fabulous accompaniment to almost any lunch. I even put okra in my jambalaya, which is slightly uncommon but why not go ahead and gild the lily.

Green beans: of course.

How did I forget that summer staple of frontporch snapping into a lap-held bowl? Steamed so they’re still bright green and a little crisp, with fresh lemon juice, butter, and whatever herbs you fancy, is a nice summery way to serve them. And yes… August is a highlight of the long heyday of herbs in local gardens.

August is also prime time for wonderfully oldfashioned butter beans. Onions also do well here in the heat of summer. Chopped and gently

sauteed to bring out their sweetness, they make a sublimely savory seasoning for any of the vegetables mentioned above. (Anybody craving a vegetable plate yet? No? Just me?)

Feeling fruity? Pineapple comes into its own in summer, a truly tropical treat to beat the heat in August. Whether enjoyed fresh or grilled (just try it – you can thank me later), nothing says summer quite like ripe, sweet, juicy pineapple.

If you’re lucky, you might know someone (as I do) with plums and pears ripening on their trees this month. If you’re really lucky, you might beat the wasps to them.

How did I forget these Augustan joys? Well… ahem. Perhaps it is just my bad attitude about August, which has blinded me to its good points.

Maybe I just need to visit my local farmers’ market this month and rejoice in the delights currently in season, which I will take home to enjoy in air-conditioned comfort while scrupulously avoiding all back-to-school advertisements and weather reports of tropical storms ominously circling out in the Gulf.

But if I come home with a sandspur stuck to my shoe: August, we’re done. We are so done.

Melody Murphy has been hating August for a long time now, but grudgingly promises to try and adjust her attitude.

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When is Naturally Grown Not Organic?

Part 1

by Jeri Baldwin One important chore in my youth on our small farm meant several hours regularly given to “side dress” our plants. Side dressing played a huge role in the success of the vegetables and field crops we struggled against the Florida elements to grow. Ripe vegetables meant we had fresh food on our table instead of dried beans and corn bread.

However, even the promise of fresh food did not mean that we welcomed the chore. Nor did side dressing offer a pleasant, refreshing day in Florida’s August oven. It did mean dressing for the day in the raggiest, most threadbare clothes we could find. It meant, too, that we chose to wear shoes that day instead of slopping around in s--t all day.’ We donned our largest, most tightly woven hats and trudged to our barn lot and animal pens. Two areas nearest the pens had manure thrown into them morning and evening morning every day. As the pile grew, it often cascaded downward, which left the ground around the pile a bit slippery. Some manure had begun composting and some had arrived on the pile that morning – so we faced a vast range of color, condition, AND odor.

A couple of wheelbarrows sat beside the pile, and we – brother, Daddy, and I worked with shovels to fill the ‘barrows. Fill meant sling, since no one wanted to walk more than necessary. Sling meant that the newest manure splatted, so sometimes if we didn’t notice soon enough, the splatter did –

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on legs, boots, shirts, and arrrggghhh – faces and hair. Of course my brother and I never meant to splat each other, but the task absorbed us so that we forgot to look when we slung!

My Daddy kept a wary eye on both of us, but somehow our shovels still slipped as we aimed, and he, moving faster than he ever did, reluctantly, still joined the action.

Apparently by now, the meaning of side dressing is clear. We moved manure from our animals to our plants, carefully lifted a shovel full of poop and dropped it near the plant. Then, with the worn, steel hoes we chopped the manure into the soil around the plant. We needed to stay about 8-14 inches from the stem of the plant, since the potency of animal manure could kill the plants before it could enrich them.

All that long, odoriferous day, every vegetable and every field crop received the same careful treatment over their roots. We took turns trudging back to the barn for more loads of the valuable ‘dressing.’ Soon the shovelers and

the loads in the wheelbarrow resembled each other so closely that the difference could only be determined by who walked and what got pushed.

If seedlings had just gone into the ground, we bent slightly and dumped a small amount nearby, then raked manure around the stalk and chopped it into the soil. If we worked with older plants, stalks and branches seriously impeded progress. Shovels caught in the branches and returned our loads right back to us. With older plants, we all wanted to push the wheelbarrow and bring another load of our black gold. If we had seedlings, we wanted to side dress the plants.

The winner who got to do what they wanted suffered the reward of an unbalanced shovel splatting them, instead of the plant.

Regardless of what Mama cooked for our noon meal, it tasted like gritty, stinging manure. Water may as well have been dipped from the nearest puddle instead of the water bucket.

Late afternoon found us counting plants until side dressing circled each one.

Mama would latch the back door so we couldn’t sneak in while she worked away from the area.

She insisted we hose each other outside, and dump as many clothes as possible on the back porch. Then inside where warm water and soap never, ever felt so wonderful.

My article this month – August – meant to compare organic growing with naturally growing, a subject filled with misinformation and confusion, so I will still address it. But August, and the grief of dealing with and reporting pollinator loss led me to believe that one more heavy subject would do you in. It certainly did me. Hence, I decided to sling something else at you.

Meantime, do you know the difference between organic and naturally growing? Next month – When Is Naturally Grown Not Organic? Part II

Jeri Baldwin

2017 UF/IFAS

Florida Equine Institute and Allied Trade Show September 21, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Southeastern Livestock Pavilion 2200 NE Jacksonville Rd, Ocala, FL

To register: https://2017feiats.eventbrite.com Topics will include forage nutrition for horses, recognizing and addressing behavioral issues in horses, important updates concerning equine neurological diseases with presentations by Dr. Maureen Long, DVM, Associate Professor, UF College of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Carissa Wickens, UF/IFAS Extension Equine Specialist, Department of Animal Sciences, and Tayler Hansen and Jill Bobel, PhD students, UF/IFAS Department of Animal Sciences.

This year’s program will also feature a live animal demonstration with Laurine Fuller-Vargas of Cedar Lock Farms, Run for the Ribbons Horse Show and Thoroughbred Retirement and interactive, educational breakout stations.

August 2017

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Cuffing Agricultural Crime

By Jan Cubbage Agricultural Deputy, Cpl. Tim Ogletree of the Marion County AG WATCH Program.

Pictures provided by Marion County Sheriff’s Office

“Agricultural Crime” is a major headache to ranch and farm owners, produce growers, citrus grove owners, plant nurseries and other ag-related businesses.

The scope of agriculturally related crime is well understood by state and county law enforcement officials.

The North Florida Agricultural Crime Intelligence Unit was conceived in December 2016.

County sheriffs sent special deputies to attend the first quarterly meeting of the newly created North Florida Agricultural Crime Intelligence Unit in January. 2017, in Gainesville, Florida.

A Florida related Agricultural crime was recently solved in Fresno, California by an Agricultural Crimes Task Force located there. Florida based beekeepers ship thousands of Florida bee hives to the Fresno

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Valley almond groves in early spring to pollinate the almond tree flowers. Persons who knew the value of a hive full of healthy bees were busy as bees stealing hives (1,200 of them) in the night. The absconded hives were valued at $200,000. On May 25th, a stake out caught the two hive snatchers repainting hives at their “bee hive chop shop.” The captured hive snatchers are currently facing nine felony counts.

In Marion County, in 2007, 129 head of cattle, “valued at $110,000” were stolen over a period of several months including ten head whisked away from the campus of Belleview High School FFA’s stock pasture. Marion County deputies put the cuffs on three teenaged residents who used their families’ trucks, trailers, and horses to conduct their night-time livestock thefts. The

heisted cattle were sold through three regional livestock markets.

Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods responded to the need for a special deputy familiar with livestock handling and agricultural equipment on the rural roads of Marion County.

Sheriff Woods, in April 2017, appointed an “Agricultural Deputy” as well as organizing an “AG WATCH Program.”

The assigned Deputy, Cpl. Tim Ogletree drives a Marion County Sheriff Ford F-250 pickup with “AG DEPUTY” lettering on the doors.

By day and sometimes by night, Deputy Ogletree drives county roads responding to reports of equipment theft and loose and missing livestock. Ag Crimes theft in Marion County has included diesel fuel, 4-wheelers, mowers and livestock trailers.

Special Deputy Ogletree offers

the following suggestions for preventing these types of thefts: • Use heavy chains and locks on both ends of farm entrance gates • Keep mowers, tractors, and trailers parked away from roadways • Use hitch locks • Take the keys out of ignitions • Do not pen livestock in sight of roadways • Brand livestock • Keep a record of all farm visitors and contract workers • Ask for identification in the form of a driver’s license.

An alias is easily printed on a business card so do not accept them as ID • Do background checks when hiring The AG WATCH program is free of charge for agricultural operations. It gives the Ag Deputy the chance to respond quickly to a farm based crime, loose livestock or a vehicle damaged fence.

The MCSO will assign a unique ranch/farm property number to

each participant. That property ID # will be displayed on a 1’ X 2’ metal AG WATCH sign(s).

Agricultural based owners can then post the signs next to property entrance gates.

Owners may also register livestock and an individual equipment inventory with the sheriff’s office.

Property owners can enroll to receive the AG WATCH signs online at http:// www.marionso.com/agwatch/?rq=ag Jan Cubbage

According to the Florida Agriculture Crime Intelligence Unit, Marion County produces approximately $188 million in agricultural exports annually, the highest in North Central Florida and many surrounding counties.

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Don’t Be Afraid to Cut, Cut Away!

by David the Good When I was an amateur gardener, I hated to thin anything out and would try to save every tree and every seedling. Now that I know better, I am merciless. If you want high production, you need to be merciless too.

air. Branches run into each other, larger trees overshadow smaller ones, and the canopy has closed in many places, leaving a very pleasant and dark shady area beneath… which doesn’t give us much fruit production above.

I covered my views on the value wide spacing in a previous article for The AgriMag, but today we’ll go a little deeper into my philosophy of planting and thinning.

From my research, I’ve found that one of the most productive ways to garden is to keep things open using savannah-like layers with enough spacing to grow both long and short crops. One farm I read about (I am sorry to say I cannot find the name of the farmer) has rows of pecan trees with lots of space in between them for the cultivation of mustard greens. Marvelous! The light shade allows the mustard to grow later into the heat of summer, plus you get the high-value pecan crop after the mustard has been harvested.

I currently rent a farm with a couple of acres of tree crops, plus some open ground where we grow short crops such as corn, peas, cassava, yams, sweet potatoes, and beans. In the field crop area – which is about an acre – I plant my vegetables and root crops with plenty of room and let the rain water them.

Yet portions of the orchard areas were planted way too close when the farm was established eight years ago, hence the chainsaw work we undertook this morning.

Though the trees did well a couple of years ago, many now fail to set fruit due to lack of light and

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You might think that a good method would be to plant your trees far apart to begin with – and this is good if you’re a planner or commercial farmer and know exactly what you want from your land and will take care of all the trees to avoid gaps. I’ve

gotten a little crazier. My preferred mode of forest gardening is to start a wide range of trees from seed, cuttings and bare-root trees and plant them all over the place, crazy-quilt style, then as the canopy begins to close, select and remove the ones I find to be under productive, sick or just plain in the way.

It may sound wasteful, crazy and anarchistic, but I borrow this approach from nature. She drops seeds everywhere in a jumble.

Wander around a forest and you’ll see what I mean. Since I start a lot of fruit trees from seed and enjoy seeing the genetic variation and selecting for what I like, I often plant things “too close” at the beginning, knowing that some of what grows may not be great.

If it’s in a great location but doesn’t produce the best fruit, just graft it. If it makes great fruit and is next to another tree that makes great fruit, you can practice extreme pruning or festooning and keep them both… or just pick one and take out the other. When you propagate your own trees, you’re not out the cost of purchase and

it makes removing them easier.

This doesn’t make sense with everything, of course, as some trees take a long time to fruit – but some, like peaches and other stone fruit, can produce much faster from seed than you might think. I once harvested a few peaches from a seedling tree that was only two years old!

Vegetable gardens also benefit from overseeding and then thinning, unless you’re dealing with a lot of acreage and don’t have the time to go back and thin. In my vegetable plots, I plant more seeds than necessary so I can overcome low germination rates, insect losses or the occasional marauding animal. It’s easy for me to go out to the garden with

a pair of scissors and snip off seedlings at ground level. It’s harder to plant the gaps in a fast-growing bed of crops.

There’s not much loss. Plants you thin can be composted.

The trees you fell can be used in smokers or left to slowly compost down to rich, crumbly humus over time.

Overcome the desire to save everything and just give your best plants the space they need.

They’ll do better at getting the water and sunlight they need and reward you with bountiful harvests.

Cut, cut away!

David The Good is a gardening expert and the author of five books available on Amazon, including: • Totally Crazy Easy Florida Gardening, • Compost Everything: The Good Guide to Extreme Composting, and • Grow or Die: The Good Guide to Survival Gardening.

Find new inspiration every weekday at his website TheSurvivalGardener. com and on his popular YouTube channel.

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Our Pollinators Are Gone.

What now?

By Marnie Hutcheson Do you know what this picture means? This lonesome flower on an impossibly long stem?

Normally when the luffa bloom, the blossoms are swarming with pollinators of all kinds. When a blossom is pollinated it has a visible fruit growing away from the bud cluster by the next day. That is not happening here! This entire crop of luffa is only barren bloom stalks reaching higher and higher in search of pollinators. There are only 12 luffa fruit in the whole patch. Less than half the plants have fruit. Last year there were five times that number growing by this time.

There were fewer pollinators last year than the year before, but there were still enough busy creatures to take full control of my gardens and give me lots of fruit and vegetables. But this year, Shady Grove Preserve’s pollinators are gone, not just the honey bees, but all the wild pollinators.

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Native bees, bumble bees, moths, butterflies, pollinating flies and wasps, and other wonderful creatures; dragon flies, fireflies, and caterpillars have all gone missing. See the centerfold page 16 &17 for pictures of some of the pollinators we have entertained every year at Shady Grove Preserve until 2017.

What is going on? I had no blueberries or blackberries in April, and no new fruit on my pear trees in June. By late June I could no longer deny that I had a serious problem. It was the Luffa, every pollinators’ favorite daily pastime, with their barren bloom stalks reaching higher every day with new blossoms, that finally convinced me that my pollinators were gone. I went looking for answers.

in what has been called “Colony Collapse Disorder.”, CCD. Scientists now believe that is due to a combination of factors including parasites like Varroa mites, diseases, inadequate nutrition, stress, and pesticides. Current predictions indicate that all Honey Bee Colonies could be gone in 5 - 10 years.

European honey bees have sustained American beekeeping since they were introduced in the 1600s.

In 2016 they produced $336 million in Honey in the USA. So, we pay attention when they are in trouble.

The inside front cover of this issue lists the main crops that are affected by the loss of honey bees.

See Farming Wonders: Honey, for more facts about Honey production in the USA. [1] Native pollinators are dying in droves. Most people don’t know it’s not just honey bees that are dying. Native bees and other pollinators are experiencing population declines and range reductions even more devastating than the Honey Bees. Factors affecting honey bee health also affect native pollinator’s health. Several bumble bee species on the east and west coasts of the United States are currently “crashing”. [2] [3]

Native Pollinators; bees, bumbles, moths, butterflies and their cohorts like mice, bats, and birds, etc., pollinate almost EVERYTHING that needs pollinating. Native pollinators are adapted to local climate ALL pollinators are in terrible conditions, soils, and plant life so trouble, not just Honey Bees.

We have heard about Honey Bee they are the most important polcolonies mysteriously dwindling linators, but we don’t “farm” them, or make money from their honey,

so we don’t pay attention, until crops and gardens fail to produce.

Native pollinators pollinate approximately 75 percent of the crop plants grown worldwide for food, fiber, beverages, condiments, spices, and medicines.

One out of every three mouthfuls of food and beverages is delivered to us by pollinators. As such, agricultural products produced with pollinator assistance make a significant contribution to the economy. It is estimated that insect-pollinated crops directly contributed $20 billion to the United States economy in the year 2000. If we include indirect products, such as milk and beef from cattle fed on alfalfa, native pollinators value to agricultural production is raised to $40 billion in the United States alone.

Native pollinators assist plants in providing food and cover for wildlife, preventing erosion, and keeping waterways clean. Pollinated plants produce fruit and seeds that are a major part of the diet of approximately 25 percent of bird species, and many mammals. Plants provide egg laying and nesting sites for many insects, including butterflies.

Pollinators support biodiversity, and there is a positive correlation between plant diversity and pollinator diversity. [4]

What is Killing our Pollinators? Human activities have destroyed and fragmented many native pollinator habitats; human sprawl, cutting trees down, plowing native forage areas, destroying wild flowers and other pollinator food sources. We replace the diverse native species with non-productive monocultures that suck up an inordinate amount of water, and produce no useful forage or shelter for pollinators or wild creatures.

The destruction and fragmentation of pollinator habitats have led to significant declines in many populations. At least 185 species of pollinators are considered threatened or extinct by the World Conservation Union (IUCN).

Many remaining habitat areas are isolated and degraded by invasive plant species, making them less suitable for native pollinators and other wildlife.

These changes in habitat can lead to a reduction of native pollinator food sources and sites for mating, nesting, roosting, and migration. [5] Pesticides and Pesticide Drift Excessive use and improper application of many pesticides impact pollinators and their habitats. Some insecticides directly kill pollinators, particularly insects, and herbicides reduce forage plant diversity by killing wildflowers. Reports published in June 2017 say, “Neonic Toxicity Heightens When Combined With Other Chemicals.”

Pollinators are not killed by just one pesticide, but by the combination of several pesticides.

Bees exposed to Neonic pesticides have trouble surviving the winter but, bees exposed to combinations of pesticides die immediately.

AND, Pollinators get this deadly exposure to multiple pesticides in their wild forage areas rather than in the fields that have been sprayed directly. Pesticide drift causes the various pesticides to accumulate in the native wild flowers and gardens outside the areas originally sprayed. The combination of these pesticides is deadly to so many kinds of insects we don’t even have studies to give us the whole picture of the death we are spreading. [6] 72% of honey tested was contaminated by one or more of these pesticides. Try putting that on your toast.

Bad Weather April and May, 2017 were terribly dry. Consequently, there were few flowers to pollinate and by June, there were fewer pollinators.

June was very wet and hot. High humidity, high temperatures, and torrential downpours created a situation where pollinators could not fly and forage. Pollen washed away before the pollinators could access it. There were few sources of food in Florida for pollinators in many areas. So starvation took a huge toll. The few domestic bees in Florida at that time, had practically no stored honey at the end of the month. [7]

Continued on page 18.

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In Memory of O We regret that we cannot mention all of the thousands of insect and anim

Domestic Honey Bees

Native Wild Bees & Bumbles

Native Wasps, Flies, Moths, & Butterflies 16

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Our Pollinators mal species that are heading for extinction. They will all be sorely missed.

Many thanks to Shady Grove Preserve and Sharon Ritacco for allowing us to use these photos.

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Our Pollinators Are Gone.

The Lesson. What are our chances of survival if bad weather in ONE Spring can cause our pollinators to completely disappear? How typical that none of the scientists remembered “bad weather” when they predicted pollinator declines.

I saw no pollinators in April, May, June, and July. This loss is personal and devastating. Some people have a savings account; I have a Nature Preserve. What is a nature preserve if it can’t preserve creatures as fundamental as these? Will they come back? If they do, there are lots of flowers longing to feed them here, with even more planted next year. I won’t give up. Am I alone in this?

I started asking everyone I met at the markets and the grocery store, and people agreed, “There are no pollinators this year.” But, we continue “human activities.” We take land, decimate habitats, mow wildflowers and forage, and give nothing back. We spread pesticides that drift and combine with other pesticides to form an inescapable deadly mix that contaminates our vegetables, wild flowers, and gardens for miles around. And, we blithely ignore and deny that we are perilously close to stressing nature beyond recovery.

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What can we do? Changing “Human Activities” will be hard. But, there are things we can do as individuals right now.

• FEED THE POLLINATORS. When you drive around your area, how many blossoms do you see? Not Many... Right now there are some Crepe Myrtles, that’s about all. STOP MOWING THE WILD FLOWERS. PLANT MORE FLOWERS. Plant species that will feed the pollinators from early spring through the winter if possible.

Learn to recycle rainwater, and take care of these plants. See the list of Food for Pollinators on page 19, and don’t forget native wild flowers.

• CONTRIBUTE TO BEE AND POLLINATOR RESEARCH. Check out BeeFriendlyInitiative. org [8} These folks from Washington State and Washington State University are fighting CCD. Help them. Their research is bearing fruit, but they need help in $$.

• OBJECT TO THE USE OF PESTICIDES. Colorado and Maryland require permits for spraying. Campaign to outlaw dangerous pesticides like Neonics, already banned in several areas of the world. Several States enforce “no spray zones” established by citizen requests.

Work with your local and state governments to establish such rules in your area.

continued • LIMIT / BAN DESTRUCTION OF WILDLANDS. Devise ways to keep wild lands intact.

If you have ideas on this one, please speak up.

• PAY ATTENTION. Get involved, don’t let life and the pollinators slip away. It isn’t about “ your children and their children” anymore. It’s about your food and your budget next year and all the years after.

What do you suppose the price of vegetables and fruit will be next year? ...Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you got till it’s gone?

Resources [1] http://www.beeculture.com/u-shoney-industry-report-2016/ [2] https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/ FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5306468. pdf [3] June 2017 Smithsonian study counts native bee population declines for the first time: http://www. smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/ new-map-highlights-bee-populationdeclines-across-us-180962268/ [4] Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/plantsanimals/ pollinate/ [5] https://plants.usda.gov/pollinators/Native_Pollinators.pdf [6] http://naturalsociety.com/2-largestudies-link-neonic-pesticides-beedeaths-poor-health-1513/ [7] https://www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/fvmhoney.pdf [8] http://beefriendlyinitiative.org/

Plants to Feed Pollinators Fruits & Vegetables

Trees

Flowers

Adzuki Beans Beets Black Eyed Peas Bok Choy Broccoli Brussels Sprouts Cabbage Cactus Carrots Cashews Cauliflower Celery Chili, red, bell, green peppers Clover Cocoa Coriander Cotton Cucumber

Apples Apricots Avocados Chestnut Citrus Trees Coconut Crepe Myrtle Elderberry Figs Florida Hard Pears Fringe Tree Guava Hawthorn Hazelnut Kiwi Lemons Limes Loquat

Black-eyed Susan Cannas Coral Honeysuckle Fox Glove Gaillardia Impatiens Luffa Marigolds Meadow Beauty Nasturtiums Passion Flower Pentas Purple Coneflower Salvia Shrimp Plant Sunflowers & Tick Seed Blackeyed Susans Trailing Lantana

Eggplant Fennel

Macadamia Nuts Mangos

Vines

Goa beans Green Beans Kidney Beans Lima Beans Mustard Seed Okra Onions Papaya Prickly Pear Quince Rapeseed Safflower Strawberries Sunflower Sword beans Tamarind Tomatoes Turnips

Nectarines Palm Peaches Pears Persimmons Pomegranates Red and White Mulberry Sparkle berry Tangelos Tangerines Tupelo

Shrubs Beauty Berry Florida Dogwood Saw Palmetto Spice Bush Walter's Viburnum Witch Hazel

Blackberries Boysenberries Cantelope Confederate Jasmine Grapes Passion Fruit Rose Watermelon

Herbs Basil Bee Balm Borage Rosemary Sage Thyme Winter Savory Lyre Leaved Sage

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In Season Recipes Ratatouille (pronounced rat-tat-too-ey) Amy Levinson

Here’s a great recipe for the summer season when squash is fresh and bountiful! Don’t let the fancy french name intimidate you (it’s basically squash stew) and you don’t have to be a career vegetarian, like me, to enjoy it!

I make this every year in large quantities and freeze the leftovers.

1 large diced onion It’s a great item to have in the freezer for when it’s time to feed 3/4 lb mushrooms -sliced those unexpected visitors! Serve it as an appetizer or an entree 4 summer squash -- over pasta, in crepes, in an omelet with some cheese or just in a 4 med Zuchinni bowl over rice. Feel free to half the recipe!

3 yellow Squash 7 14.5 oz. cans stewed tomatoes Sautee garlic, onion and mushrooms in 1/4” olive oil in very large skillet, pot, or dutch oven.

3 C white wine 2 T Basil Quarter & Slice all squash and add to mixture -- add stewed to1/2 t Dill matoes plus 1 c white wine.

1 t Tarragon Add remaining ingredients (herbs) and simmer -- Wine and water 2 t Chervil from squash will evaporate over time. Add another cup of wine, 2 Cloves Garlic twice, until all liquid is gone. (TOTAL COOKING TIME: approxiOlive Oil mately 90 mins.)

Makes 2, 9” casseroles -- serves 6 people, twice!

Pepper

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Vegetable Vinaigrette

1 Cucumber - seeded and sliced thin 1 Onion sliced into thin rings 3 Stalks celery - sliced in 1” pieces 1 Green Pepper 2 Tomatoes -sliced 1/4”

Amy Levinson

Dressing: 1/2 cup Vinegar 1/2 cup Oil 2 t Tarragon 1 t Parsley 1/2 t pepper 1/2 t garlic salt

Mix oil and vinegar with spices - set aside. Prepare vegetables in medium covered container. Add vinegar mixture, shake well and chill thoroughly.

Add vegetables periodically over the week, as this gets better with age! Be creative and enjoy something Cool, HEALTHY, TASTY, low calorie, and different this summer!

Amy Levinson is a local organic farmer and “foodie” who brings her vegetables and healthy homemade goodies to the farmer’s market every Thursday at On Top of the World. ~ Stop by and say “hi!”

3 Rock Farm 352-854-9997

Quick and Easy Summer Stir Fry

Go Oriental or Italian with this mix. Cooking time is about 20 minutes total, keep this in mind when you prepare rice or pasta to go with it. This recipe feeds 2-4, adjust amounts and particulars to suit your needs.

In a large heavy pan or wok, saute in butter or oil, and set aside.

• 1-2 cups Sliced criminis, button, or other favorite mushrooms • 1 sliced Sweet onion or Shallot If you are including meat, saute your meat cut in strips, in the same pan and set aside.

Pick your favorite veggies from the summer vegetable stands and slice them into your favorite sizes. Examples: • 1/3 - 1/2 head of Purple or orange cauliflower and or Broccoli and Broccoli flowers • 1 each Yellow and Green zucchini, and a carrot

• •

1 fresh corn cut from the cob 12 small yellow red or purple tomatoes cut in half • 1 Green, red or yellow pepper • 1-2 stalks celery Combine these crunchy veggies in your favorite oil or butter and saute until just tender (10-15 min.)

Now add the mushrooms, onions and meat along with: • 4-6 green onions or try some garlic flowers - cut like chives • 12-14 snow peas

vegetables, reduce heat and bring to a simmer. Stir gently until it thickens in 2 minutes.

Cover and allow to simmer at low heat until the vegetables are the softness you prefer. 3-5 minutes. Serve immediately with rice or crunchy noodles.

Italian Stir Fry: Add 2-4 cups of your favorite spaghetti sauce to the mix and top with grated cheese. Simmer 3-5 minutes.

Serve immediately. For gluten free - Serve it just as it is.

Oriental Stir Fry: Mix 2 Tbsp. corn starch in 2/3 cup cold water us a fork or whisk, mix until there are no lumps.

Whisk in 1/4 - 1/2 cup soy sauce and the juice of one half lemon, and season to taste.

Add this mixture to the

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Peanuts

100 gram serving. While they grow underground, peanuts surpass many tree nuts in protein content.

Pinders, ground peas, and peanuts are names for the nutritious food that had added 1 Billion dollars to the nation’s economy from colonial times until the late 1980s. Originating in South America about 2,800 years ago, the peanut journeyed from Brazil to Spain, then to Africa.

Historians believe that slave runners carried peanuts on their vessels to feed the slaves brought to the southern United States. An African name, nguba, translated to goober in English, and inspired “Eating Goober Peas,” the song which Civil War troops often sang as they ate their peanuts.

The vast majority of peanuts grown in the United States are dried, shelled, and processed into roasted nuts, peanut butter, peanut oil, peanut brittle, and other candy. In the South, folks enjoy boiled peanuts, considered a delicacy of the region. Few natives of other US regions ever learn to eat, let along enjoy, boiled peanuts. Boiled, Cajun or smoked peanuts, are mainly consumed by southerners. A particularly popular social evening for many friends and neighbors is a “peanut boilin’. A huge cast iron pot filled with water, green peanuts, and salt over a roaring fire, provided guests with the treat.

A mainstay of southern culture since colonial times, goobers or peanuts, provided one of the more versatile crops grown on farms in America, especially southern America. Peanut growing is dominated by Georgia, whose farmers raise almost half of the peanuts annually produced. Six other southern states, Alabama, North Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Oklahoma, and Florida complete the domination of peanut growing.

Florida grows 13 percent of the nation’s peanuts, second after Georgia at 44 percent each year.

The major Florida counties that grow the most peanuts overlap the five north Florida counties of the AgriMag distribution area. Alachua, Citrus, Lake, Levy, and Marion Counties grow 28 percent of the peanuts in Florida. No surprise at the concentration of peanut farming in those counties, as they also have the light, sandy loam soil which grows the best crop. The remaining Florida growers stretch north, then west across the Florida panhandle. There is no concentration of growers in any other area as there is in north central Florida.

Dr. George Washington Carver’s research on peanuts in the late 1880s revealed their high nutritional value for humans and animals. He also identified over 390 uses for peanuts. Peanuts are rich in essential nutrients, including several B vitamins, vitamin E, manganese, magnesium, and phosphorus. They are also high in dietary fiber.

Peanuts contain about 25 grams of protein in a

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“Peas, peas, peas, peas, eating goober peas, Goodness how delicious, eating goober peas.”

Meet our Advertisers

Meat Sheep Alliance of Florida From left to right: Sally Mangra; Vice President, Ruth Taber; Secretary/Treasurer, 2017 Ram Lambs, and Nickcola Slagle, Fairmeadow Farm Manager.

The Meat Sheep Alliance of Florida (MSA) is an organization dedicated to helping fellow producers meet the challenges of sheep production in the sub tropics of Florida. Every problem has an answer. Knowing how to treat and apply preventative measures can be the difference between success and failure. Our goal: help members be the best they can be, provide the latest information on production, nutrition and health issues, and mentor new members.

MSA offers opportunities for education and fellowship with a fall seminar. This October, Susan Schoenian, sheep and goat management expert, author of “Sheep 101” and “Sheep 201,” will be our keynote speaker for the “Meat Sheep Alliance of Florida Fall Symposium: Sheep and Goat Management.”

In early spring the MSA sponsors the “Florida Sheep, Wool, & Herding Dog Festival.” The Festival is open to the public and features herding dogs, sheep shearing, wool judging, fiber arts and fiber projects, sheep showing, educational workshops, sheep breed displays, and delicious, locally grown lamb. See you there!

Want to learn more about sheep? Check out our website at http://MeatSheepAllianceOfFlorida.com Or call 352502-2564.

MSA Schedule for 2017 • August 18 - MSA Sponsored Commercial & Purebred Sheep Sale and Eid Mubarak Ram Lamb Sale at the Ocala Livestock Market, Ocala FL • September 16 - Famacha Certification Course & Beginning Shepherd Seminar at

Fairmeadow Farm, Ocala FL • October 14 - Meat Sheep Alliance Fall Symposium, Sheep & Goat Management, Susan Schoenian Keynote Speaker • February 2-3, 2018 Florida Sheep, Wool & Herding Dog Festival at the Greater Ocala Dog Club Grounds, Ocala FL MSA of Florida has over 130 members. The board members: Carol Postley, President; Sally Mangra, Vice President; Ruth Taber, Sec/Treas; Jan Limp, Newsletter/Website; Doug Myers, ASI Rep; and Ender Tasci, Youth.

A sample of sheep breeds represented in the organization: Hair Sheep: Katahdin, St. Augustine, Barbados Blackbelly, Dorper, and St. Croix.

Wool Sheep: Florida Cracker, and Southdown.

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Farming Wonders of the World

Honey:

Is often called nature’s finest work Has been around at least 8000 years Is preferred raw by many consumers Is used by many to heal wounds and burns Adds between $15 and $20 billion dollars to the US economy every year The average honey bee makes about 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime Bees fly about 55,000 miles to make one pound of honey One in three bites of food we eat is dependent on pollination

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Calendar of Events Events, Workshops, Meetings, Classes, Conferences. Etc Friday, August 18, 2017 Noon

Thursday, August 24, 2017

PUREBRED & COMMERCIAL BREEDING STOCK & EID MUBARAK RAM LAMB SALE Meat Sheep Alliance of Florida: ****All Breeds Welcome**** Ocala Stockyard, LLC 9100 NW Gainesville RD Ocala FL 352-732-4454 Sheep Check In Thursday, August 17, 2017 8 AM to 8 PM Consigners Please Call: 352-5284843 or 850-391-1770 Sheep must be in good condition.

No culls.

10% commission & Insurance Fee of 25 cents per $100 value paid by Seller to Ocala Stockyard upon sale. Restaurant Open on Sale Day call Ruth Taber at 352-528-4843

Farm to School Meet and Greet All local farmers invited; Marion County public schools are starting a Farm-to-School fresh produce program 5:30-7:30 p.m.- Thelma Parker Center 1239 NW 4th Street, Ocala, FL Contact Heather McClellan, 352-671-4190

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Saturday, September 16, 2017

Natural Resources Conservation Service programs, 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., UFL Extension ServiceAg Center, 1951 Woodlea Road, Tavares, Fl. Ag producers, livestock managers, agencies, and others with interest in conservation invited. Suzy Daubert at 352-7427005, Ext. 3.

FAMACHA CERTIFICATION COURSE & BEGINNING SHEPHERD SEMINAR Fairmeadow Farm 9276 NW 60th Ave Ocala, FL 34482 SCHEDULE: 10 AM - 12 PM FAMACHA CERTIFICATION COURSE $25 12 PM - 1 PM LUNCH 1 PM - 3 PM SCRAPIE & BEGINNING SHEPHERD Cost is $25 per person. Please call Sally Mangra to register, 386-785-8757

Wednesday, August 23, 2017 Free Goat Cheese Tasting at Windmill Acres Farm Store, From 12 - 2 pm 13323 SE 114 ST RD, Ocklawaha, FL 32179 352-812-7013 or 352-812-3241

Saturday, August 26, 2017 Free Goat Cheese Tasting at Windmill Acres Farm Store, From 12 - 2 pm 13323 SE 114 ST RD, Ocklawaha, FL 32179 352-812-7013 or 352-812-3241

September 17-19, 2017 Florida Organic Food and Farming Summit Hilton University of Florida Conference Center

Farm tours, trade show, workshops, guest Speakers, and day-long training sessions.

Call 352-377-6345,x131 or email summit@foginfo.org Thursday, September 21 2017 UF/IFAS Florida Equine Institute and Allied Trade Show 8:00am -4:30pm Southeastern Livestock Pavilion 2200 NE Jacksonville Rd, Ocala, FL Topics will include forage nutrition for horses, recognizing and addressing behavioral issues in horses, important updates concerning equine neurological diseases with presentations

by Dr. Maureen Long, DVM, Associate Professor, UF College of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Carissa Wickens, UF/IFAS Extension Equine Specialist, Department of Animal Sciences and Tayler Hansen, PhD student, Equine Nutrition, UF Department of Animal Sciences.

This year’s program will also feature a live animal demonstration with Laurine Fuller-Vargas of Cedar Lock Farms, Run for the Ribbons Horse Show and Thoroughbred Retirement and interactive, educational breakout stations.

Saturday, October 14, 2017 Fall Symposium: SHEEP & GOAT MANAGEMENT Klein Conference Center 3001 SW College RD Ocala FL 34474 Keynote Speaker: Susan Schoenian call Ruth Taber at 352-528-4843

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AgriMag Briefs Agriculture’s Woman Of the Year Dr. Martha Roberts, the 2017 Woman of the Year in agriculture, is the latest recipient of the 33 year old award for outstanding service to the Florida Agricultural community. Dr. Roberts worked for the Florida Department of Agriculture for 35 years, seeking improvements in policy for the FDAC industry, trade, and production practices.

Dr. Roberts, a microbiologist/ chemist, served at the Assistant Commissioner of Agriculture in 1984, the first woman in the US in that capacity. The award will be presented to the recipient during the 2018 Florida State Fair in Tampa.

New Farmers Market Opening On August 4th, the newest farmer’s market in Marion County will open in Marion Oaks.

The Marion Oaks Farmers Market is a coalition of several faith based communities and Measure Up Market to enable and encourage healthier eating in north Florida.

It may be found at the Hebron Evangelical Church, 125 Marion Oaks Trail.

The market will be open on August 4th and September 1st , then will open weekly beginning October 6th. Vendors may set up for free in August and September.

The August 4th market day will feature a Health Fair, with many of Marion County’s health service providers present. The September

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1st market offers a Chef Demonstration highlighting healthy, affordable, and easily prepared food.

The market will offer credit, debit, and SNAP access to customers who purchase goods.

For more information e-mail marionoaksfarmersmarket@ gmail.com or call 352-342-1499.

Where To Grow?

Farmers constantly face challenges in successfully growing fruits and vegetables for the US consumer. Climate changes, lack of fresh water, competition for land, and farm children (and other young people) opting for easier ways to earn a living give modern farmers pause to wonder what that means for the future of farming.

A $3 million dollar grant from the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture has been awarded to a a team of researchers who will conduct a four year search for more places to grow produce. The study will focus on crop, environmental, economic, and climate models to predict current and future impacts on crop yield. Places that presently have sufficient water to grow fruits and vegetables will be studied to possibly determine the reasons for success, and use those to locate similar growing sites.

2018 Farm Bill The long, long road to a beneficial farm bill began in Gainesville at the University of

Florida in June. The U.S. House Agriculture Committee listened as growers from several southern states expressed their concerns and goals for the newest version of the bill.

Farmer incomes are down by 50 percent, so many references to this problem were offered in the statements of speakers.

Congressman Neil Dunn (RFL) of the House Agriculture Committee told those present that the 50 percent decline in farmer income would be a significant driver in the new bill. The chair of the Agriculture Committee warned the audience that writing the new farm bill will be difficult because there are fewer resources available to fund the 2018 bill than there was in 2014.

The Florida Farm Bureau encouraged full support of specialty crop production as Florida ranks second in specialty crop production in the nation, including watermelons, grapefruit, tomatoes, oranges, cucumbers, and snap beans, and wished to maintain that ranking. Other issues that the Florida Farm Bureau urged support for includes price and yield loss safety nets, producer friendly conservation programs, permanent and comprehensive disaster relief, and long-term renewable energy benefits, as well as the specialty crop block grants.

Citizen participation through the entire process is strongly encouraged as everyone needs to understand and address the process of the 2018 farm bill.

AgriMag Briefs It’s Here - Online Sales of Fruits and Vegetables Just when everyone seemed to accept instant messages, photos, and resources from the internet, the prediction of online produce purchasing unsettles our anticipations again.

The unbelievable notion looks eminent. This seemed certain when the owner of Amazon. com paid 13.7 billion to purchase Whole Foods. Farmers with an eye on the future should be getting in line – and online – for the opportunity to take advantage of this emerging distribution option.

Caution: as growers, be prepared for extremely high standards from distributors. The higher standards, the more can be charged. Growers who can produce to high standards consistently have endless potential.

Currently, for those who missed it, online sales of food and drink is 20 billion; predictions are that that figure will triple with more brokers and growers investigating the possibilities.

Strawberries by drone delivery anyone?

Back To School An EnWaging Idea More than 57,000 new jobs will become available in agriculture in the next five years. There are not enough qualified people to fill those job slots. The USDA predicted that two jobs would

continued be waiting for every trained person. A recent survey indicated that 55% of those studied do not have anyone in the next generation prepared to assume a leadership role on their farm.

With those above figures, farmers and consumers must encourage their nearest College of Agriculture to increase class offerings, particularly online, and offer training for new jobs which become available as technology impacts agriculture and new approaches are required.

Agriculture’s Power Surge As the planet’s original environmentalists, farmers often embrace the cutting edge of management best practices which are mutually beneficial – to farming and the earth.

Recently, those in agriculture began to investigate clean and renewable energy. Some farmers have answered that study with solar and wind powered operations which benefit their farms – and the planet. This has resulted two benefits: they have discovered a more efficient way to produce power while caring for the planet; and added extra income to their pockets. Farmers take a portion of land and install renewable systems, resulting in a steady revenue stream which gives them a portion of income with less risk than growing crops.

Solar systems have proven to produce better in southeastern and southwestern states because sunlight is plentiful and dependable. Midwestern states, produce more successfully with wind systems, where wind is more prevalent. The two most familiar systems leave no carbon emissions, so from an air quality and climate change view, solar and wind farms are superior.

Farmers who see the possibilities are experimenting with eco-tourism as part of their operations, showing visitors their windmills and solar panels working to grow their fruits, vegetables, and herbs, and care for their farms.

Climate Change A No No In Everglades

The goal of Everglades restoration is to preserve what remains of the over-drained marshes, while also boosting South Florida’s drinking water supply, reads part of the mission statement for Everglades Restoration.

State of Florida officials have qualified that mission statement, threatening to withdraw its funding and cooperation from a Congress appointed team of scientists who monitor restoration progress in the Everglades. The scientists for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recommended in December that the effects of climate change could require adding more water storage alternatives to Everglades restoration plans.

Continued on Page 28.

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AgriMag Briefs

continued

Florida officials objected to the scientist’s findings, saying the committee shouldn’t be suggesting changes that could lead to more studies and delays of Everglades restoration.

The officials propose to pull its $300,000 annual funding from the scientists, and use a team from the University of Florida to monitor Everglades progress.

Climate change makes restoration harder, according to the scientific review committee’s December report of Congress. The document cited sea-level rise pushing more saltwater into the Everglades and rising temperatures accelerating evaporation of water supplies as potential hazards to restoration.

AgriMag

Forum TidBits

We hope that more of you will share your pollinator pix and stories on the forum. So, we have added a new Category, just for Pollinators.

It’s called,

Have you seen me?

https://www.agrimagpress.com/forum/have-you-seen-me

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AgriMag

Forum TidBits

Xin Fox of Gainesville, posted the following comment on the Pesticide Drift post under the Comments and Questions Category.

“Is anyone following the bumble bees? I had a hive in my

back yard, but they are gone now. They were there last fall, but not this spring. They were the great big all black bumble bees.” - Xin Fox Thanks for sharing, Zin! What a beautiful bumble beel hive. -Looking for Pollinators - Marnie

AgriMag August Ad Special Special ends August 31, 2017 - Ads run Sept, Oct, Nov 2017

Buy a 1/4 page ad for $50 / month for 3 months ~total $150 when you place your order ~

AND be featured in our “Meet Our Advertisers” Page for free Call 352-207-6520 for details See August featured advertisers Meat Sheep Alliance of Florida on page 23 And Windmill Acres Farm on page 30

AgriMag Distribution 12,000 copies of AgriMag are printed monthly and distributed in Alachua, Citrus, Levy, and Marion Counties, as well as The Villages and Wildwood.

This magazine can be found in your neighborhood. It’s in feed stores, tack shops, tractor dealers, hardware stores, extension services, farm bureaus, FL Farm Credit offices and other farmfriendly banks, a few vets, UF/IFAS, high school and university agricultural departments, trailer dealers, selected restaurants, farm-oriented real estate offices, Thoroughbred associations, landscape and garden centers, nurseries, libraries, economic development offices/chambers of commerce, wineries, farms with retail outlets, and theatres including The Hippodrome and OCT.

Hey, Advertizers GeT Noticed!

Advertize in Agrimag

Ads@agrimag.press August 2017

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Meet our Advertisers

Windmill Acres Farm and Goat Dairy Meet Alan and Yvonne Hart, the owners of Windmill Acres Farm and Goat Dairy, LLC, a family owned farm in Ocklawaha, FL.

Alan and Yvonne have been maintaining their goat herd, milking, and making products since 2010. Their goal is to always produce a healthy product that they would want to purchase themselves.

Alan and Yvonne have an aggressive herd health management program that keeps their goats in clean and comfortable environments in the belief that if the goats are kept healthy, they won’t need to be medicated. They do not use antibiotics or hormones as growth or performance promoting agents.

The dairy herd is fed high quality non medicated feed along with perennial peanut hay. This not only promotes consistent flavor in their milk products but also keeps production at favorable levels.

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Windmill Acres Farm is the only Grade A Goat Dairy in the State of Florida. Alan Hart is a certified Master Goat Producer since 2010. He was awarded the Florida Innovative Farmer award in 2011 and the National Innovative Farmer award in 2013 for his use of natural agricultural methods to reduce the carbon footprint of his farm and protect natural resources.

Examples include using skylights instead of electric lights, re-harvesting rain water for future use, and composting all the farm’s organic material for use in the farm gardens. They also sell it and offer it free to visitors.

Call for details.

The Windmill Acres Farm Store has a wide variety of Goat Milk products and other Farm Fresh items that include: Goat Milk, Goat Cheese Cheesecakes and Quiches, Goat milk Fudge, Goat Cheese (Feta, Ricotta and Chevre in several flavors).

You can also find Chicken and Duck eggs, and goat Meat.

August is National Goat Cheese Month -- Alan and

Yvonne, invite you to join them for the celebration at the Windmill Acres Farm Store with free cheese tasting on: • Wednesday, August 23, 2017 from 12 - 2 pm.

• and Saturday, August 26, 2017 from 12 - 2 pm.

While you are there, be sure to mention that you saw this ad in AgriMag and get a free Mini Goat Cheese Cheesecake.

Windmill Acres Farm & Store 13323 SE 114 ST RD, Ocklawaha, FL 32179 352-812-7013 or 352-812-3241 http://windmilldairies.com

See Page 23 to learn more about this Featured Advertiser!

Meat Sheep

ALLIANCE OF FLORIDA

SERVING PRODUCERS IN FLORIDA AND THE SOUTHEAST

http://MeatSheepAllianceOfFlorida.com

RED WAGON PRODUCE

“Don’t Fuss. Call Us!”

Aqua Well & Septic

Drilling ~ Pump Repair ~ Filtration ~ New Systems Lift Stations ~ Tanks Pumped ~ Drainfield Repairs

24 Hour Emergency Service Dane Boyd 352 - 427- 4919 352-489-5350 1-800-343-2578

1935 New Lenox Lane, Dunnellon FL 34434 Serving Marion, Citrus and Levy Counties since 1984

Fresh Produce Vegetable & Herb Plants Organic Practices

April & Gil Norris 352-537-0413 RedWagonProduce@hotmail.com

See us at local Farmers Markets: Thursdays: 9am - 12pm Circle Square Commons Saturdays: 9am - 2pm Ocala Farm Market

www.superiorlandscape.net FULL SERVICE GARDEN CENTER

LANDSCAPE DESIGN & INSTALLATION

Palms • Shade Trees • Citrus Trees Annuals • Perennials • Shrubbery Pottery • Custom Planters Mulch • Pine Straw • Soil

Ponds • Waterfalls • Fountains Paver Patios • Driveways Landscape Lighting Outdoor Kitchens

SUPERIOR LANDSCAPE & GARDEN CENTER 5300 North US Highway 27, Ocala, FL 34482

352-368-6619

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Crones’ Cradle Conserve Foundation

Ecological Preserve

Retreat Center

Natural Farm

Florida Certified Stewardship Forest

6411 NE 217th Pl. Citra, FL 32113 6.4 miles east of 301 on CR 318

352-595-3377 catrone@aol.com FB: Crones’ Cradle Conserve Foundation cronescradleconserve.org No Pets or Smoking Cash or Check Only

Farm Store Open 7 Days a Week Ask about renting our Certified Kitchen & Honey House

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