September2016theagmagonline

The Ag Mag Agriculture and gardening in north central Florida

Volume I, Issue 9 September 2016

Back to School Fall Gardening Bison in Florida

Burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia) September 2016 |

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Crones’ Cradle Conserve Foundation

Ecological Preserve Retreat Center Natural Farm

Farm Store Open 9-3 7 Days a Week

Workshops & Events Call 352-595-3377 or email catcrone@aol.com Women’s First Sunday Brunch 1st First Sunday of Each Month 11 am $10.00 Reservations Required by Noon on Friday before

A Day Out

Spend a Refreshing Day in the Open Tours & Luncheon $20.00 per person Gather Your Friends (min 10) & Schedule a Farm Tour and Delectable Luncheon of Fresh, Natural Vegetables

Word Weavers

1st & 3rd Wednesday Each Month 6 pm - Pot Luck Dinner 6:30 pm - Writing Exploration Any level of writing skill welcome

Orange A-Fair

October 29, 2016 9 am - 3 pm Fund raiser for Citra Museum at the Citra Community Center Food - Fun - Entertainment Vendors - Reminiscers Antique Farm Equipment

Fall Natural Foods & Gift Gala

December 10, 2016 10 am - 3:00 Natural and Organic Foods to Sample Silent Auction & Raffle Unique & Original Gifts in our Store Make Holiday Gifts, Decorations, & Crafts for all ages $2 Admission $2 Sample Tickets $1 Raffle Tickets

Rent our Certified Kitchen & Honey House 6411 NE 217th Pl. Citra, FL 32113 6.4 miles east of 301 on CR 318

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

Farming Wonders of the World Aerial Views

September 2016

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Photo by Jeri Baldwin 4

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Contents

3 | FARMING WONDERS OF THE WORLD Aerial views 6

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Masthead + Letter from the Publisher

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NEWS

8 | The Joy of Data

A visit with Richard Wiswall, Farmer

Oct. 11 Panhandle keynote speaker

by Jose Perez 10 | Fall Into a Garden

by Jeri Baldwin 12 | Invasives Burmese pythons and the Judas events

by Brad Buck 14 | SECOND NATURE Southern Septembers: Sycamores, sasanquas, and scuppernongs

by Melody Murphy 16 | Dare to Garden What’s the worst that can happen? Nothing!

by David the Good 18 |

Bison Florida’s first prime rib returns

by Jan Cross Cubbage

21 | Florida Prison Farms

Marion County’s Pioneering Program

by Laura McCormick 24 | AG LAW Florida Farming: Food production is a national security issue

by William K. Crispin, Attorney At Law 27

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS RECIPES

by Chef David Bearl September 2016

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The Ag Mag

Volume 1, Issue 9 ISSN 2471-3007

Publisher + Editor Carolyn Blakeslee 352-286-1779 TheAgMag@gmail.com Director of Programs and Events Jeri Baldwin 352-209-3180 TheAgMag2@gmail.com Design + Production Carolyn Blakeslee Amy Garone Contributors Chef David Bearl William K. Crispin Jan Cross Cubbage David Goodman Laura McCormick Melody Murphy Contact Us 352-286-1779 P.O. Box 770194 Ocala, FL 34477 TheAgMag@gmail.com The-Ag-Mag.com Facebook.com/ TheAgricultureMagazine Copyright ©2016 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, farmfriendly 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/the-ag-mag/ BULK SUBSCRIPTIONS: Email Carolyn at TheAgMag@gmail.com for more information.

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Letter from the Publisher

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id you know bison are part of Florida’s history, and that several herds are alive and well today in the state? See p.18 for Jan’s article on bison.

It’s time to start planning your fall gardens. Jeri writes about this on p.10, and David throws his go-for-itness into the mix on p.16.

Burmese pythons have been known to turn each other in to the authorities! Turn to p.12 for details on the “Judas events.”

Richard Wiswall, who will be speaking in Florida on October 11, shares the joy of data. His farm became much more profitable once he delved into figures for a few days each season.

He shows us how beginning on p.8.

Chef David Bearl joins us with recipes on p.34. His resume is a mile long, and part of his daily duties involves serving as Chef for the UF/IFAS Family Nutrition Program.

Laura’s piece on Florida prison farms (p.21), Bill’s article about food security (p.24), and Melody’s essay about the joys of September (p.14) round out this issue. We hope you enjoy it!

Cheers,

Carolyn

Front cover: burrowing owl For more information: http://bit.ly/1SgXQcM

News

the community.” We thank Brooke for her help in bringing this publication to life.

Springs restorations

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Brooke Hamlin retires

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ix years ago, magazine publisher Carolyn Blakeslee had the idea for The Ag Mag but put it on the back burner until a year ago, when she asked her friend Brooke Hamlin to partner in producing it. The first issue was published in January and in May another friend, Jeri Baldwin, came onboard and added the voice of decades of sustainable farming experience to the team.

In August, Brooke broke the news to us that she had decided to return to retirement due to her desire to resume her adventures with family, friends, and horses. “It has been a grand challenge to bring this magazine to all of you who have embraced it so enthusiastically,” she says, “and I’m happy that The Ag Mag will continue to bring wonderful stories, important information, and lively discussions to

even springs restoration projects in Citrus and Hernando Counties will receive $12 million in state funding from Legacy Florida in 2016-17 through the Division of Water Restoration Assistance program. A total of 35 springs projects across the state will receive $56.6 million, the largest amount ever provided for Florida’s springs.

Projects are selected based on pollutant reduction, water conservation, cost effectiveness and available matching dollars.

For a list of all 35 projects statewide that are being funded, visit http://bit.ly/2bcootW.

Backyard poultry salmonella outbreaks

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DC, multiple states, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS) are investigating outbreaks of human Salmonella infections linked to contact with live poultry in backyard flocks.

Statistics are from late July: • In the eight outbreaks, 611 people infected with the outbreak strains of Salmonella were reported from 45 states.

• Illnesses started on dates ranging from January 4-June 25, 2016.

• 138 ill people were hospitalized, and one death was reported. Salmonella infection was not considered to be a cause of death.

• 195 (32%) of ill people were children 5 years of age or younger.

Epidemiologic, traceback, and laboratory findings have linked the outbreaks to contact with live poultry such as chicks and ducklings sourced from multiple hatcheries.

Regardless of where they were purchased, all live poultry can carry Salmonella bacteria, even if they look healthy and clean.

These outbreaks are a reminder to follow steps to enjoy your backyard flock and keep your family healthy: •Always wash hands thoroughly with soap and water right after touching live poultry or anything in the area where the birds live and roam.

• Do not let live poultry inside the house.

• Do not let children younger than 5 handle or touch chicks, ducklings, or other live poultry without adult supervision.

These outbreaks are expected to continue for the next several months since flock owners might be unaware of the risk of Salmonella infection from live poultry or participate in risky behaviors that can result in infection.

For more information, visit http://bit.ly/2bLs59j and http://bit.ly/1PoKhr3.

Back to school

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chool in Florida is in full swing, having started in most counties in mid- to late August.

According to Florida Dept. of Education spokeswoman Amy McAllister, approximately 62,000 students are enrolled in ag classes statewide, and there are 442 agriculture teachers and administrators statewide.

September 2016

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The Joy of Data

A Visit with Successful Farmer Richard Wiswall October 11 Panhandle Fruit and Vegetable Conference Keynote Speaker

by Jose Perez

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ichard Wiswall has been a farmer for 35 years. He runs Cate Farm, a certified organic farm in Vermont and is author of The Organic Farmer’s Business Handbook. Richard’s experience as a farmer is sure to resonate with all farmers who strive to manage their farm profitably.

He will be the keynote speaker at the Panhandle Fruit and Vegetable Conference in Marianna on October 11 (more info below).

Richard’s 148-acre farm includes 25 different types of crops on 22 acres of cultivated land and seven 96-foot-long greenhouses. When he started, he owned only 5% of the land he

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farmed, and he decided to dive into the reality of his business.

He had to overcome the fear that many small, diversified farmers have: Is my farm profitable or am I losing money here? First, he realized he needed to collect some data from his operation to understand how profitable it was. Later, during the off season, he sat down and looked at the numbers for three days.

The hard work paid off — he realized there were some crops that were very profitable and he was losing money on others.

After this realization, he decided to reduce the number of crops from 42 to 25 the following year.

By focusing on the most profitable crops, he finally saw how his farm could be profitable and viable in the long term. This gave him the confidence to go to a bank and ask for a loan to buy the land he farmed. He has been fine-tuning his production strategy every year, and has observed consistent improvements.

In this process, Richard found that crops with high demand such as spinach, broccoli, and sweet corn were not profitable at his farm. On the other hand, there were “sleeper crops,” such as kale, that were earning more money per acre than standard vegetable crops. Richard

said this was the reality for his farm, but it would be different for other farms. “For those crops that are not profitable, you can either drop them or you can still grow them even when you are losing money, as long as you are aware of it. You can look at it as a promotional expense,” he said.

Richard realizes that looking at the business side of things is hard for many farmers who chose this profession to be outside working with nature.

He decided to write a book to share his experiences with other farmers, and that’s how The Organic Farmer’s Business Handbook came into being. Richard regularly speaks on this topic at conferences and events across the country. “It’s about shining a light on their farm business, about understanding where the money is coming and going,” he said. “After that it is up to them to make decisions. It’s better to do it with your eyes open than with your head stuck in the sand.”

Richard has seen many farmers work 80 hours a week, pay their workers little, and still not get ahead. “They will never say this is what I want to do the rest of my life. They leave farming altogether, they burn out. To be truly viable you have to have a manageable, balanced life. Ultimately a farmer’s only job is to make sure that the farm survives; if you can’t make payroll then it’s over,” he said.

Applying Richard’s methods to analyze your farm requires some dedication. As a first step, he recommends analyzing your five top crops. “I don’t like recordkeeping,” Richard says.

“I do it because it has worked. The only thing you have to do is to calculate rate checks. How much time it takes to plant a bed, weeding, and the like.” Richard recommends looking into phone apps such as BeetClock (www.beetclock.com) and use your smartphone to facilitate recordkeeping.

Besides the keynote speech, Richard will lead a two-hour workshop in the afternoon titled “Determine Your Costs of Production: Farm Budgets Made Simple” with the aim of demystifying the process. “You will learn to do this anytime you want. We’ll spend two hours simplifying this process, and the hope is that farmers will embrace and practice this in their operations,” he said.

bird registration is $40 before September 6. Registration includes lunch, refreshments, educational materials, and transportation to farm tour locations. Jose Perez is the Small Farms Extension Coordinator for UF/IFAS Extension; the team involves 140 university, state, and county faculty and extension agents throughout Florida. They work to support small- and medium-sized farms and strengthen local and regional food systems. To learn more about Richard Wiswall and Cate Farm, visit www.RichardWiswall.com and www.CateFarm.com.

The Panhandle Fruit and Vegetable Conference, to be held October 11 at the Jackson County Agricultural Complex in Marianna, will share practical farming knowledge. Visit https://pfvc.eventbrite.com. Early

September 2016

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Fall into a Garden

by Jeri Baldwin

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garden after Labor Day? Fresh tomatoes for Thanksgiving? Harvest at Halloween?

Miss your dirty fingernails dreadfully?

Could this be the year to initiate a huge advance toward better health and gain the admiration and hearty appetites of family and friends by growing a fall garden?

Probably a lazy person, or the produce manager of your local grocery store, spread the rumor that vegetables won’t grow well in the fall.

If you are tired of looking at weary, droopy, well travelled vegetables in your local supermarket, you can indeed ditch that produce section because fresh produce can be as close as your own back yard or patio.

Particularly in sub-tropical Florida, you can harvest vegetables for your fall and early winter gatherings. Consider the exciting prospect of serving fresh, nutritious vegetables from your own garden to your guests at your favorite cool-season events.

Produce from a fall garden will provide the same satisfaction, the same incredibly fresh taste, and the same possibility for

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preserving extras as your spring garden, though with different varieties of vegetables.

Consider a new slate of activities for your fall schedule.

More than raking leaves or organizing a school carnival or painting your garage or watching a football game or teeing off yet one more Saturday, tending your garden will infuse your days with new interest, vigor, and conversation. You will also treasure gardening in the cooler autumn weather.

Grow your own kale or broccoli. Make a fall soup with butternut squash and ginger.

Bite into crunchy red radishes.

Serve a pot of shiny fresh beans.

Experience the fun and satisfaction of seeing how late you can harvest tomatoes before a cold snap freezes them. Satisfying experiences await within the scope of a fall garden. Pleasing activities you may enjoy include searching seed catalogs for entirely new vegetables, grinning because you won’t have to wait until spring to plant. And, oh joy, you do not have to store your tools and gloves to wait out the long stretch between spring gardens.

Consider planting your fall garden in containers, mak-

ing it easy to move your vegetables inside should inclement weather threaten. Containers with wheels or a rolling platform make life beyond simple, as your garden stands ready for quick travel. Just as easily, it returns to the open air and sunshine when the cold has passed.

If you are the original pack rat, fall vegetables may find ideal lodging in the battered, holey, chipped pots you just could not toss. A wacky, wild fall garden can easily — and cheaply — be yours. If your art muse itches, scratch it with a paint party, transforming your vegetable containers into a garden gallery.

Vegetables and art — WOW!

The advantages are endless with a fall garden; consider the pleasure of admiring vivid, young green shoots popping from the ground when you pass with a load of wood for your fireplace. Much fun is had by sharing with friends who have stopped locking their cars at home and church because they think you don’t have a zucchini surplus anymore. At least they will find oodles of green tomatoes in their cars rather than squash.

Additional pleasure gained from a fall garden is

carrying your coffee or tea in one hand and weeding your containered vegetables with the other, stooping only to the top of the container rather than the ground. Contemplation and activity simultaneously.

A fall garden just keeps returning your investment. You grow for your family and yourself the dark green, leafy vegetables which strengthen your immune system to withstand the grey, heavy days of fall.

You are quite in tune with the universe, growing the right vegetables exactly when your body needs them for stamina and nutritional requirements. As well, you save the cost of a gym and get the body shape — plus garden — you wish for.

A fall garden and spring garden will double your contribution to your soil and your planet as you carefully protect your land against debilitating treatment, keeping it available as ideal soil for growing plants naturally, storing carbon, and percolating water into your aquifer.

If you buy seeds or seedlings locally, your fall garden will help strengthen your local economy by dropping your food money in local pockets where it can spread like honey on biscuits, instead of pouring your food money into a tube which siphons it to a bottomless hole far away.

With both a fall and spring garden, the reward for taking responsibility for your own food is doubled. That satisfaction makes the addition of a fall garden an easy decision.

As Thomas Edison said, “The doctor of the future will

no longer treat the human frame with drugs, but rather will cure and prevent disease with nutrition.”

likely on the same wavelength about gardening; probably good information exchange; maybe a new friend or two.

Go further:

Jeri Baldwin is a writer, historian, farmer, and co-founder of Crones Cradle Conserve Foundation, the 756-acre ecological preserve and education center in Citra. She is Director of Programs and Events for The Ag Mag. Photos by Jeri Baldwin.

n Read Your Florida Garden, John Watkins and Herbert S. Wolfe. n Read How To Eat From Your Garden Year Round In South Florida, M. Christou. n Read any Rodale organic gardening book. n Search seed catalogs; these are virtual gold mines to discover new, hardy, heat tolerant vegetables for growing in a different season. n Sign up for the weekly Crones Cradle “Farm Flash” listing available seedlings along with garden tips (e-mail “Farm Flash” at catcrone@aol.com). n Consult your friendly gardener at CCCF in Citra, or any local organic gardener. n Visit a farm supply store — introduce yourself to anyone you see buying seeds, seedlings, or garden supplies; they are

September 2016

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Invasives Burmese Pythons

and the Judas Events

by Brad Buck

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hen invasive Burmese pythons are breeding, radio-tracking one python can help find and capture more, a University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researcher says.

“This is one more tool we can add to our tool box to help us combat this invasive species,” said Brian Smith, a graduate student in the UF/IFAS wildlife ecology and conservation department and lead author of a new study documenting the radio-tagging experiment. “It is also complementary to our current removal tool, in which we drive on roads and levees to capture moving pythons. It’s complementary because it’s effective at a time of year when we do not catch pythons on the road, and also because it provides more opportunities to catch the really big, breeding females.”

For the new study, UF/IFAS and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) researchers tracked 25 pythons from 2007 to 2012. Some of the pythons were used in more than one year, so their research covered 33 tracking periods. In those periods, researchers encountered eight of what they call “betrayal events.” At that point, scientists call them “Judas pythons” because they betray their own kind. Those “Judas pythons” led scientists to 14 new pythons, said Smith. In all, scientists captured 14 new pythons during 33 tracking periods, said Smith, who conducts research under the supervision of assistant professor Christina Romagosa, a faculty member in wildlife ecology and conservation. Smith is also advised by professor Frank Mazzotti, a faculty member at the UF/IFAS Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center.

While scientists have a complementary tool to

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remove Burmese pythons, the downside to the radio telemetry technique is that it costs $11,000 per python caught, compared to $6,500 per python caught while cruising around in trucks along Everglades roads. The upside is that snakes help them find Burmese pythons when road surveys aren’t effective.

“Using ‘Judas’ pythons might seem like a wild idea to some, but, despite the cost, it has been the best method to help us find more, large, reproductive individuals during the breeding season,” said Kristen Hart, a USGS research ecologist, study co-author, and a graduate advisor to Smith.

“Removal of these large breeders is essential if we are ever to make a dent in the python population.”

Burmese pythons live a normally solitary life, but from December through April in southern Florida, they gather in groups of up to eight.

Pythons arrived in South Florida via the pet trade. They then either escaped or were intentionally released into the wild, where they’ve been thriving since at least the mid-1990s. The Burmese python is a nonvenomous constrictor, but it can overpower a human. Pythons suffocate their prey before swallowing it.

The new study is published online in the journal Biological Invasions at http://bit. ly/2bBQ91v.

Go further: n Consult the Everglades CISMA for information on “the dirty dozen” invasive species in Florida at http://bit.ly/2bnZ3iE. Brad Buck is a science writer in the UF/IFAS Communications office. He can be reached at bradbuck@ufl.edu.

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“If I had had this book 10 years ago, I'd have saved a lot of frustration and wasted energy.”

“If you've had trouble growing anything edible in Florida, or if you are new to Florida gardening, this is a must read.”

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Now Available: Mailed Subscriptions to The Ag Mag. $24/year.

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Wholesale Pricing Available to Stores and Practitioners

Bulk classroom subscriptions also available. Info: TheAgMag@gmail.com

September 2016

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Second Nature

by Melody Murphy

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Southern Septembers Sycamores, Sasanquas, and Scuppernongs

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very year — at least for me — the first sign that summer is waning and fall is coming is the same: The sycamore trees at Ocala’s old Forest High School start to turn.

I have used these trees as a barometer of seasonal change since I went there in the early ‘90s.

Since then, often traveling Fort King Street, I keep an eye on them in August. The first sight of fall color pleases me almost as much as the first cool breeze or the first day I notice that the late-afternoon sunlight has mellowed into autumnal gold.

Sycamores in Florida are among the earliest to change color, keeping to the typical fall foliage schedule of regions farther north. Most of our deciduous trees wait until well into the winter months to flame out into full fall color, so that January in the Florida woods often looks more like October anywhere else.

But the sycamores are true to tradition.

The peridot is the birthstone of August, and early in the month, sycamore leaves shift to that precise yellow-green. As the weeks go by, the color deepens to a golden bronze. We used to start school later than the students do now — not until the week before Labor Day — and by the first day of school, the tall old sycamores had already donned their own back-to-school clothes, appropriately in FHS green and gold. Somehow that made it a little easier to go back to school. At least it looked like fall.

Pink isn’t usually a color people associate with fall, but in Florida at least, we should. The raintrees, brilliant golden-yellow in September, turn pink in October. The golden late-afternoon sunlight of September becomes the lovely rose-

childhood.

When I was growing up, one grandmother’s neighbor had an arbor thick with scuppernong vines. I used to play under its shade as a little girl and was allowed to pick a handful of its grapes to enjoy. The other grandmother’s friend Dewey still has an impressive grape arbor in his back yard, bearing both scuppernongs and muscadines.

When I stop by to visit him this time of year, he lets me pick a sack to take. I love standing in the sun-dappled light under a grape arbor, leafy shadows pierced through with shafts of lateafternoon autumnal gold. You have to be careful to avoid the wasps, but as they’re already halfdrunk on the sweet juices, they’re too soused to care.

I’ve had scuppernong wine in Alabama and scuppernong cider in Georgia. Both were absolutely delicious. But neither quite compares to the simple joy of sitting under an arbor on a September afternoon, contentedly chewing on a sun-warm scuppernong right off the vine and seeing how far you can spit the seeds.

And if that scuppernong arbor were between a sycamore tree and a sasanqua bush, well ... that would be a pretty perfect place.

Melody Murphy is going to keep on looking for that perfect place until she finds it.

Photographs by Melody Murphy

gold haze of October twilights — very much like that month’s birthstone, the opal. And then there are the sasanquas ... if you’re lucky enough to find them.

For years, I thought camellias bloomed only in the winter. But when I moved into my old house in the fall, I discovered a beautifully blooming bush of pink flowers in the back yard.

A friend told me it was a sasanqua. I looked it up and discovered that it’s a variety of camellia, also known as the Christmas camellia — a slight misnomer, I thought after a few years.

My sasanqua bloomed as early as late August through as late as mid-November, but nowhere near Christmas. It graciously traded off blooming rights with the contrary camellia by the front steps, which bloomed as early as Thanksgiving (when it took a notion).

The sasanqua is an old-fashioned flower. Southern Living’s Steve Bender refers to it as “Cleopatra’s sister” and laments how it has long lived in the shadow of its larger, flashier relative. You’ll often find it in the yards of older Southern homes, but rarely in new ones — which is a mystery and a shame. Like other camellias, it lacks fragrance, but its ruffly, vibrant-hued blossoms are a welcome spot of cheery color as days grow shorter and most other flowers cease to bloom.

Another welcome old-school visitor this season is the scuppernong, a hardy Southern grape from which the first wine in America was made. (How old-school? Scuppernong wine was Thomas Jefferson’s favorite, and rightly so.)

The scuppernong is a variety of muscadine grape. Muscadines are a deep purple, while scuppernongs are the same bronzy green-gold as sycamore leaves in early September. Both have a thick, leathery skin that takes a good bit of chewing, with a wonderfully sweet-tart taste that squinches under the tongue just so. They also have seeds which are great fun to spit. And they both make a great jam, which, happily, my cousin enjoys making.

Both scuppernongs and muscadines taste nostalgic to me. Muscadines conjure up childhood visits to Callaway Gardens in Georgia, while scuppernongs — well, they simply taste like

September 2016

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Dare to Garden.

What's the worst thing that can happen?

Nothing!

by David The Good

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ave you ever read through a gardening book and did what it said, only to have everything fall apart? Maybe your raised beds are too dry, your carefully transplanted tomatoes are devoured by insects, and your cucumbers are freakish little yellow things with bumpy green nipples.

That’s the way it goes in the real world, isn’t it? I’m

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almost convinced that the pictures in gardening books are completely created pixel by pixel by crack teams of graphic designers, just to mess with us.

If you press on despite your failures, however, and keep gardening from year to year, learning as you go — things will change. I’ve shared my thoughts here before on the value of experimentation, but I’m doing it again!

I started gardening when I was six and killed most of what I planted. By the time I was a teenager, I knew pretty well what I could and couldn’t grow.

By the time I was in my thirties, I felt the time had come to start writing gardening books and sharing what I had learned.

Hardly a year has passed in my life where I didn’t have at least one garden. Even in college I was teased by my friends for bringing homegrown icicle radishes to class.

Although I’m a good gardener now, I still have failures in every year’s garden. Not only do I expect them — I actively encourage them! No, I’m not pouring rock salt into my beds or trying to grow alpine species in a tropical climate (yet), but I do plant new things all the time just to see what happens. I also plant reliable crops in new ways to see if it will help or hinder their growth.

One year I buried slaughter wastes and raw manure into pits and planted squashes on top of them.

(Success: the vines grew like crazy and needed no additional

fertilizing.) Another year I tried grafting fig scions onto my mulberry tree. (Fail: though the species are related, they didn’t take.) At another point, I decided to mix raw manure, compost and weeds together in a barrel of water to rot for a few months, and then use that anaerobic “tea” to water my greenhouse plants. (Success: nothing was burned and their growth was rich and green.)

These experiments lead to other experiments and sometimes some amazing successes. I’ve managed to grow Key limes, coffee, and black pepper vines outdoors in north Florida on the south-facing wall of my house. I’ve also successfully grafted peaches, Japanese plums, and nectarines onto wild Florida Chickasaw plums and gotten great fruit.

On the other hand, I killed a few almond and sweet cherry trees I was trying to grow in the Ocala area. I burned my kale badly by side-dressing with hot chicken manure. And my attempt to grow dent corn in the front lawn without fertilizer? Nope!

The best way to become a better gardener is, simply, to garden. Garden with exuberance, not fear. Know that God designed nature as a complex machine and we can only steer it a little bit. The sun, the rain (or lack thereof), the insects, the weeds — many of these are outside our control.

Yet if we learn a little more each year, we’ll get better and our “luck” will improve. Some plants just aren’t suited to Florida and take a lot of work (hello, beefsteaks!). Others grow like weeds, such as the amazing “yard-long bean” from Southeast Asia.

If you try planting pumpkins one year and they don’t work out, don’t give up. There’s always a new variety or species you can try. You might have planted them too early or too late. The soil might have been too sandy or filled with nematodes.

Maybe that year was a bad one for bugs.

What I do is plant a bunch of different things and then see what does well. If a plant fails the first year, I don’t necessarily give up on it. I might try again. If it fails the next year as well, I’m putting it aside for a while. If a plant does great the first year, I’ll definitely plant it again.

And I also look for relatives that might do well.

If you’re having good luck with kohlrabi, why not try some cabbages too? If you get great cherry tomatoes, plant some peppers the same way!

Experiment. Watch. Learn. Try again.

You can have a green thumb. It might take killing a lot of plants first, but you’ll get there.

Eventually you’ll be harvesting plenty for the table — and people will be asking you what to grow.

Don’t give up. If you need encouragement, stop by my website or look up “David The Good” to see my entertaining gardening videos on YouTube. I share my successes and my failures almost every day. If I can go from killing almost everything to being a garden author, you can certainly beat the odds and feed your family good produce from a backyard plot.

Fall is on the way — get that garden growing!

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 his new bestseller Grow or Die: The Good Guide to Survival Gardening.

Find tons of horticultural inspiration at his popular gardening website www.TheSurvivalGardener.com.

September 2016

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Bison

Florida’s First Prime Rib Returns

by Jan Cross Cubbage

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F

lorida Atlantic University archaeologists have been busy at a Vero Beach excavation site for the better part of a year. The site has made news largely because of recovered human artifacts dated 15,000-18,000 years ago. In early May of this year, while excavating strata 10 feet below the turf, the FAU archeology team uncovered the fossilized bones of a 13,000- to 14,000-yearold extinct ancestor of modern bison. The extinct bison or buffalo, called Bison Antiquus, was a brute of a beast weighing in at about 3,500 lbs., standing eight feet at the shoulder and 15 feet in length. The horn spread was possibly a whopping eight feet. There is little doubt that the earliest human inhabitants

of Vero Beach were hunting this extinct bison, for during the last Ice Age (Pleistoscene period) Bison Antiquus were the most prevalent of large herbivores in North America.

The huge body of this ancient bison became a detriment when food and water became scarce as the Florida peninsula climate became warm and dry around 10,000 years ago. Like all the other large fauna of the era, they too became extinct as water sources became concentrated in the same areas where bands of humans had learned to be successful hunters of big game mammals.

It is believed that relatively modern, smaller bison were still roaming the plains and woods of Georgia and the Florida panhandle in the early 1600s. Native Americans and

white pioneers hunted bison without regard for preservation.

There has also been speculation that the cattle and hogs brought to America from Europe carried with them a fatal disease called brucellosis. The early colonists let their livestock roam and graze free-range, and inevitably brucellosis spread to bison.

Bison underwent the ultimate slaughter that brought their number to near extinction as homesteaders migrated westward across the continent after the Civil War. Sharp shooters’ repeating rifles were a prime tool in killing millions of them. The meat of bison fed settlers and railroad workers, and the U.S. Army purposely killed bison to eliminate the Indians’ primary source of food and cultural wares. The builders of transcontinental railroads hired sharp shooters to slay entire herds of bison that had the potential to disturb railroad beds. Three million bison were slaughtered in the two-year period of 1872 to 1874.

From a population of at least 30 million bison in 1840, bison were slaughtered at an average rate of 10,000 a day. A ceasefire was finally called by President Theodore Roosevelt. In 1903, 700 buffalo remained alive and a noted conservationist, William Hornaday, joined Teddy Roosevelt to form the American Bison Society (www. ambisonsociety.org). Wild bison that remained alive were captured and sent to eastern zoos to multiply.

From a population of a few hundred penned-

up American bison, buffalo repopulated to the point that they were ultimately shipped back west to national parks and private ranches. Today, 400,000 bison graze in the U.S. Most are at private ranches in the west. Ted Turner, owner of the 113,000-acre Flying D Ranch in Montana and several other ranches in seven states, owns more than 55,000 bison.

Turner’s 64 western-themed Ted’s Montana Grill restaurants (www.tedsmontanagrill.com) serve grass-fed bison meat to customers daily.

The Intertribal Buffalo Council (www.itbcbuffalo. com) is lobbying to move herds of bison from state parks to more than one million acres of western lands held by Indian tribes. The bison was the mainstay meat of western native Americans for thousands of years — but at another cultural level, the buffalo is still a sacred animal to American tribal people. In their efforts to maintain their cultural identity, native American groups strongly desire to bring bison back into their lifestyle and religious practices by having herds under their direct management.

A museum (http:// storyofthebison.com) in Deadwood, South Dakota is dedicated to the bison as the primary link to the survival of western Indians. Founded by Kevin Costner, lead character and director of Dances With Wolves, the museum, called Tatanka (Sioux for “buffalo”), emphasizes the gifts of the

Buffalo steak. Photo courtesy Three Suns Ranch, Florida

Minnie Mittelmayer riding a bull bison, Silver Springs Park, 1952.

From the Postcard Collection, FloridaMemory.com.

Paynes Prairie State Park, Micanopy, 1976. From the Dept. of Commerce Collection, FloridaMemory.com.

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Great Creator to Indian peoples who utilized a killed buffalo for meat, hides for clothing and tepees, bones for tools, and dried dung for fires. Pemmican was made from dried bison meat, berries, and buffalo fat.

Stored in baskets and clay pots, pemmican was the mainstay of the Indian diet during the frigid, deep snow winters of the plains.

On May 9 of this year, the American Bison Legacy Act was passed. Keith Aune, of the Wildlife Conservation Society (www. wcs.org), said the bill “signals the beginning of a grand American adventure to carry out ecological, economical and cultural restoration of American bison into the future.” The Act establishes the bison as the official mammal of the U.S., just as the bald eagle is the official bird.

The raising and consumption of bison meat in Florida, absent for nearly 500 years, is making a comeback. The 5,700acre Three Suns Ranch (http:// threesunsranch.com) near Punta Gorda harbors 1,500 grazing bison. The farm also raises grass-fed beef and offers pork. (“All of our pork is Florida wild hog. Trapped right here on Three Suns Ranch or brought to us from local trappers. As you might know, wild hog damage to pastures and landscaping can be a problem here in Florida, so using this population as our source helps control the wild hog population. U.S.D.A. inspected.”) People may visit the ranch on weekends for a one-hour-and-45-minute educational journey around the ranch (online reservations only). The

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Three Suns Ranch has a USDA certified mobile meat processing unit utilized for onsite slaughter and carcass processing. The ranch markets bison meat from their on-site market and sells wholesale to several high-end restaurants in southeast Florida.

Business is reported to be “better than brisk.” Sirloin sells for $16/pound, New York Strip at $21/pound. The ranch also sells by mail order.

According to the National Bison Association (www.bisoncentral.com), sales of bison meat in retail stores and restaurants have grown by 22.3 percent during the last two years. The demand for bison meat is now limited only by the supply of bison ready for slaughter. Total sales of U.S. bison meat reached $340 million last year. It is apparent that affluent consumers are growing savvy to the benefits of grass-fed meat that is lean, high in Omega 3 fats, and tastes delicious. The National Bison Association is the place to go for information on purchasing, raising, and marketing bison meat. The NBA has developed new educational materials, and is conducting a series of free Bison Advantage workshops to encourage new entrants into the bison ranching and marketing business.

The potential for Florida ranchers, large and small, is just waiting to happen as the demand for grass-fed meat is on the rise here in the Sunshine State and nationwide.

And how much is that little bison in the pen? At the May, 2016 Missouri Bison Association

Show and Sale, heifer calves averaged $1,480, bull calves averaged $1,575, yearling heifers averaged $1,560, and mature bulls brought the hammer down at an average of $2,500. The little bison haul well in horse trailers. Bison calves are weaned when they are about six months old; females weigh about 350 pounds and males weigh around 425. When they mature, a cow will weigh about 1,100 and a bull can weigh nearly twice as much. Their life cycle is 20-25 years, and a cow can have a calf every year under the right conditions starting when she is bred at age two, giving birth at three.

Fifty head of bison roam freely on the 6,000 acres of Paynes Prairie State Park, located a few miles south of Gainesville on Highway 441. The handful of frolicking red furred calves, and one-ton, round-barreled, brawny bulls and cows are proof that bison are at home on the range here in Florida.

Jan Cross Cubbage, a blood stock agent and Thoroughbred farm manager, is a retired high school teacher of history and science, and former certified workshop facilitator for Florida Fish and Wildlife; she has received four grants for educational programs from Southwest Florida Water Management District; she wrote the equine lesson plans for Florida Agriculture in the Classroom (FAITC); and she is the author of Screaming Ponies, a book about American wild horses. She is also a former licensed Thoroughbred trainer in six states.

Florida Prison Farms Marion County’s Pioneering Program

by Laura McCormick

A

ccording to the Florida Department of Corrections website (www. dc.state.fl.us), 100,873 inmates were in 56 state prisons with 142,159 active offenders on community supervision at the end of 2014. And, in Florida, the recidivism rate is 26.3 percent, which means that one of four inmates will return to the system within three years.

In some of Florida’s counties, though, life is a little different for a special group of inmates who have the chance to work on

their correctional facility’s work camp or their prison’s farm. Take Marion County, for example.

Back in 2000, the Marion Correctional Institute solidified an arrangement with the Florida Greenway to use 60 acres of land located at 4410 SE 58th Ave. in Ocala. On that land, workers have built a fully functional farm that saves the prison an average of $1.2 million a year. And, for 30 inmates at a time, the farm provides even more.

The prison farm is home to approximately 5,000 chickens,

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45 hogs, several replacement heifers, and row after row of vegetables — all cared for and maintained by the inmates themselves. They are responsible for everything. They feed and clean, build and repair, oversee breeding operations and medication schedules. They till the ground and plant seeds. They harvest their crops and “cook garbage” to feed to their hogs. They laugh and they cry — and above all else, they learn. They learn to work with their hands, they learn a set of skills they didn’t have before, and they learn how to work together and how to be responsible. They learn to take pride in their accomplishments and in their crops and livestock.

And between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., they learn to rebuild their emotional and spiritual confidence and overall well-being through farming and animal care therapy.

These workers are objectively selected through an application and computer classification process. Upon entry, inmates complete a questionnaire that includes previous work experience and interests. Their past criminal history and current charges are evaluated, and if selected to work in the program, they must be medically cleared.

In a low-risk, low-security system, it is imperative that workers follow rules, regulations and protocol. This selection process helps to ensure that the selected workers are people who really want to be there. In fact, in the 16 years the farm has been in operation, only two inmates have ever walked off, only to be caught the following day. Workers who participate in this program receive nominal compensation in

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the form of reduced sentencing.

Besides earning the minimum one day off their total sentence, for each month of good behavior, farm workers are eligible for an additional five days off for each month of work completed.

The Marion County Prison Farm also offers a “Work in Lieu of Arrest” program. This is designed for first-time offenders to avoid charges on their record by working a total of 20 hours (four hours for five Saturdays) to receive a completion certificate.

They perform any and all farm duties alongside prison workers and under the supervision of officers. This helps to reduce the number of incarcerations for minor, first-time offenders while providing them opportunity for growth and development.

Nothing Goes To Waste

At the prison farm, the inmates grow a variety of seasonal vegetables. From sweet corn to potatoes and blueberries to squash, whatever is harvested goes directly to the prison to feed the other inmates. Scraps are then “cooked” regularly, at 212 degrees for at least 30 minutes, to feed the hogs. This not only saves money but also provides a nutrient-rich additive to the hogs’ diet.

All swine breeding is done right on the farm. The inmates handle all the reproduction tasks and wean the babies at six weeks, raising them until they are ready for processing. When the hogs reach 300-350 pounds, they are sent to the Manatee County processing plant, where all the pork is used strictly for sausage. This same processing plant handles the cattle that are raised at the IFAS farm as well.

The Marion County Prison

Farm and IFAS have had a 10year relationship that allows the prison farm to raise cattle on IFAS land. IFAS is also host to three orange groves that provide fruit for the prisoners. “Fruit is actually the most expensive food to put on a plate,” according to Sergeant Mike Joyner, who oversees the work farm program.

“The relationship we have with IFAS saves us a lot of money every year,” he explained, “because of the orange groves and the land we use to grow our cattle.” When cows are ready to be processed, they are also sent to Manatee County and all beef is ground for hamburger. By doing this, they ensure as much of the cow as possible is used and processing costs remain low.

Of the 5,000 chickens they have on the farm, inmates collect 1,800-2,000 eggs each day, all of which are used for prison meals.

When it’s time for the layers to be processed, prison farm workers handle it on-site and the meat is sent straight to the kitchen.

When visiting the Marion County Prison Farm, it is obvious that the inmates there are happy to be farming and they take immense pride in the value of what they’re producing. Not only does the farm provide them the opportunity to learn new skills to be used upon re-entry, and to help them obtain employment, it also delivers healthy and nutritious food to the entire prison and saves Marion County taxpayers $1.2 million every year.

While Marion County’s prison farm was a pioneering project, the trend is growing statewide. According to the Florida Dept. of Corrections, “Inmates grow crops every year and are growing even more of their

own food. Inmates are cultivating approximately 892 acres at 39 parent institution (53 locations) farms and gardens and six [IFAS] facilities. The farm program delivered over 11.1 million pounds of produce including broccoli, cabbage, cantaloupe, greens, peas, watermelon, and 25 other fruits and vegetables from July 2013 to June 2014, compared to 10.4 million pounds during the same time the previous year.

This year’s production resulted in $5.4 million in savings. These crops, which include donations and IFAS-produced crops, are used to supplement inmate meals, help inmates learn a skill and reduce inmate idleness.”

Putnam County’s correctional facility has a 15-acre farm (http:// bit.ly/2b3iPAR), and the Lancaster facility in Trenton also has a farm (http://bit.ly/2bCTXNh).

There are prison farm programs in Jay, Hardee, DeSoto, and Fort Myers.

On the FDoC wish list is “sufficient land to grow enough crops to feed all of the inmates each year.” In the meantime, the state is also offering beekeeping programs for inmates (Jefferson, Lancaster, Lowell, and Big Pine Key); a horse program (Second Chance Farm, Lowell); and a dog obedience training/ adoption program in 18 counties (http://bit.ly/2bHNpQi). There is even an exotic animal zoo in Key West’s facility (http://bit. ly/2b4cXs6).

Laura McCormick owns Rose Blossom Farm in Citra and operates the Florida Grub Hub with business partner Audrey Hamberger at 304 S Magnolia Ave., Ocala, http:// floridagrubhub.com/. Photos by Jeri Baldwin.

Sumter County’s Prison Training Program: Horticulture and Culinary Arts

by Beverly James

M

ore Florida inmates will have an opportunity to leave prison with real job skills and likely reduce their chances of being re-incarcerated, thanks to a contract between the Federal Bureau of Prisons and UF/ IFAS. Lloyd Singleton, an extension agent with the Sumter County Extension, was recently awarded a $2.67 million contract to expand a vocational training program. He leads a program to teach horticulture and culinary arts at the Federal Correctional Center in Coleman, Florida.

The five-year contract will help organizers expand a current program that offers horticulture training, Singleton said.

For five years he has headed the program, which offered horticulture training to approximately 80 inmates a year. Now, the new contract will include culinary arts and will allow for the training of more inmates.

“In the past five years, we have trained 415 inmates, 195 of whom have been released. Only seven of those released have been re-incarcerated,” Singleton said. “The recidivism rate of four percent is substantially lower than the national average, which shows that giving inmates training before they leave prison helps them to become productive citizens.”

According to the National Institute of Justice, within three years of release, about twothirds (67.8 percent) of released prisoners were rearrested. Also,

Florida pays approximately $30,000 a year to house and feed a prisoner, Singleton explained.

“The training we offer is a huge economic benefit to the state, because we are helping inmates to leave with real skills,” he said.

Inmates studying horticulture prepare for two types of certification: Green Industries Best Management Practices (GI-BMP); and Florida Nursery, Growers and Landscape Association – Certified Horticulture Professional (FNGLA FCHP).

For each type of certification, prisoners learn hydroponics and seed germination, planting, maintaining, seeking and harvesting vegetables in raised beds, and planting the landscape areas in the compound, including maintenance and scouting for problems.

Inmates who get either certification can look forward to careers in landscaping services, nursery and greenhouse production, small or large farm work, and irrigation design, installation and maintenance, Singleton said.

Singleton will work with Chef David Bearl to teach culinary arts. Bearl trains program assistants in the UF/IFAS Family Nutrition Program, who then train Florida families on healthy cooking techniques. Also, he is a chef for the Farm to School and Farm to Table programs.

Beverly James is a writer in the UF/IFAS Communications office.

She can be reached at beverlymjames@ufl.edu. Chef David Bearl will be contributing local, seasonal recipes to The Ag Mag starting with this issue. Please turn to p.34 for his first installment.

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Florida Farming Food production is a national security issue

by William K. Crispin, Attorney At Law

W

e are entering the final leg of our national political campaigns and assessing the candidates’ policies on issues important to us voters is everyone’s mission. A priority issue, underscored in past columns, is our need to regard domestic food production as a national security issue.

In “Florida Agriculture: Still in the Crosshairs,” an article for the March 2011 Florida Bar Journal, I, along with Professor Mike Olexa, Director of the University of Florida’s Agriculture Law Center and Benjamin Lingle, now an attorney in Savannah, Georgia, discussed a look back and comparison between the status of Florida’s agriculture industry in 2011 and the prior decade. It was November 1995 when I authored “Florida Agriculture: In the Crosshairs,” also for the FBJ. Both articles noted the strong production numbers ranking the state’s ag industry just behind tourism as the state’s economic leader. Nationally, Florida ranked tenth overall in cash crop receipts, adding $6.59 billion in sales and comprising 3.6 percent of the national total.

However, a closer look at

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the numbers showed why the title had the state’s agriculture “Still in the Crosshairs.” As stated in 2011:

Notwithstanding these impressive statistics, Florida’s overall ranking in net cash income from the sale of agricultural commodities has dropped in recent years.

As referenced above, the USDA’s most recent rankings put Florida at 17th in net farm income. In 1995, Florida ranked seventh. This indicates that although Florida agriculture continues to increase its cash receipts and still holds a formidable market share for many commodities, the state is losing ground in how it matches up against other states’ production. To reverse this trend, Florida needs to heed the directives of F.S. §604.001 while simultaneously maintaining and pursuing the water management districts’ CWA and FWRA goals.

This is not an easy task considering an ever-growing number of new Floridians are only remotely familiar with the realities of agricultural production.

With a focus on its attributes that raise agriculture’s national contribution to a security level, the following excerpt from the article remains applicable today:

Bolstering and securing agriculture’s role in Florida is about more than economic self-interest; it’s about food safety and national security. Domestic food production is essential to our national well being. America’s farmlands are able to produce enough food to both feed Americans and to support a robust export market. Many other nations do not have this luxury. One needs look no further than the never-ending debacle of our fossil fuel affairs to see the results of heavy reliance on imports for a vital need. If that state of affairs is not to be a harbinger of the nation’s future food production affairs, America needs to protect and promote its agricultural resources. Like oil, food is a national security issue.

Reliance on other nations for a food supply would produce consequences beyond those produced by our fossil fuel reliance. Headlines in recent years on tainted food imports from China demonstrate the dangers America could face if forced to import large percentages of our food. Many nations do not have the infrastructure or quality of regulatory oversight that America enjoys.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Food and

Drug Administration (FDA), and various other federal and state authorities have given the nation standards to keep our food safe. When imported food fails to live up to these standards, federal agencies can block the specific imports until the situation is remedied. This would not be as easy to do if the tainted import made up an indispensable share of the national food supply. Agricultural self-reliance prevents this scenario.

Agricultural self-reliance also contributes to the goal of further energy self-reliance.

Agricultural biofuel production as a renewable energy source holds promise for the future.

One such example is ethanol derived from cellulosic biomass

crops such as switchgrass and sugarcane.

There is also an increasing interest in getting methane derived energy from an anaerobic digester. An anaerobic digester uses anaerobic bacteria to decompose manure, leaving a waste product of biogas. Sixty to 70 percent of the waste biogas is methane, which is a constituent part to the natural gas many Americans use to heat their homes.

Yet another example is biodiesel, most of which is derived from soybean oil. A 2007 congressional research service report found that “farm-based energy production is unlikely to substantially reduce the nation’s dependence on petroleum imports unless there is a signifi-

cant decline in energy consumption.” Although by no means a panacea, agriculturally derived energy sources are contributing to domestic energy production.

This is yet another factor demonstrating the importance of agriculture to both the economy and national security.

Of course one vital aspect of our state’s agriculture is the unique year-round climate as noted in this excerpt:

Florida’s warm climate and fertile soils put it in a particularly enviable position for agriculture, allowing the state to play a substantial role in maintaining the nation’s food security. Recognition of this position must remain in the forefront of discussions on how to allocate the state’s resources. As described above, water resources are

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allocated and overseen by the water management districts. An equally important resource to Florida agriculture is Florida’s land itself.

Since 1995, Florida has lost almost one and a half million acres of farmland. Nationwide, the American Farmland Trust reports that 78 percent of vegetables and melons and 67 percent of dairy products are grown on farms threatened by development. Additionally, 54 percent of the nation’s poultry products and 91 percent of the nation’s fruit, tree nut, and berry farms are reportedly in the same predicament.

These figures stem from the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service’s numbers on “urban influenced counties.” Though extrapolating “threatened by development” from “urban influenced” may push these figures higher than they perhaps should be, the statistics certainly show that a large percentage of farmland is in the path of urban sprawl.

These national issues are no doubt prevalent in Florida.

When the boom times of development return, Florida agriculture will again have to contend with increasing pressure to convert vital farmland into residential and commercial development. Little understood is the importance of agricultural lands as urban buffers in the preservation of wildlife habitat and ground and surface water recharge and retention.

As pressures for development inevitably build, the state will risk losing these services, while the agricultural industry will be forced to develop innovative ways to maintain requisite production on fewer acres. These pressures on agriculture will continue to raise tough ques-

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tions on water, nutrients, and pesticides with agriculture and the public each demanding concessions of the other. It is critically important to strike the right balance. To maintain its contribution to U.S. food security and preservation of Florida’s economic and natural resource bases, agriculture’s contribution must be clearly understood by the Florida public.

Of the major issues impacting north central Florida’s farmers such as development pressures (north-south highway corridors come to mind) and resource allocation, immigration policy may be the one of most concern to the immediate needs of our producers. It is a simple truth that Florida’s significant fruit and vegetable crop production is dependent and has a long history with immigrant labor.

How to address this issue has become a political football. As addressed in “Still in the Crosshairs”:

Recent years have exposed increasingly mounting tensions in the debate over immigration policy.

The debate is of particular importance to the farming community, as foreign labor plays a large role in domestic agriculture production. A projected result of cutting off foreign labor would be the outsourcing of food production. One farming interest group president commented that “[c]onsumers have to understand we must either out-source our labor or out-source our food. If we want to keep an American way of life, we’d better have a domestic food supply.” This issue affects all Americans.

William K. Crispin Afarmersfriend.com Publisher’s Note: According to USDA’s Economic Research Service, Florida has crept up slightly to 16th place in Net Farm Income as of 2014. 2015’s statistics will be released on August 30th; visit http://bit.ly/2aZYeNX.

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Calendar of Events EVENTS: WORKSHOPS, MEETINGS, CLASSES, CONFERENCES, ETC. Tuesday, September 6

1. Levy Soil and Water Conservation District meeting. 6:30pm, 625 N. Hathaway Ave., Bronson, http://myswcd.org/. Upcoming meetings (first Tuesday): 10/4, 11/1, 12/6.

2. Springs Academy. 12-1, $5. Springs advocacy: local, state, national. North Florida Springs Environmental Center, 99 NW 1st Ave., High Springs.

3. Worker Protection Standards Updates, for commercial horticulture programs. Four CEUs will be available. $12 in advance, $15 at the door. Alachua Extension, 2800 NE 29th Ave., Gainesville, http:// tinyurl.com/j6gpv7b.

Wednesday, September 7

Ag conservation workgroup in Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties.

3pm, Florida Strawberry Grower Assn., 13138 Lewis Gallagher Rd., Dover, 813-752-1474, x.3.

Saturday, September 10

Vegetable Garden Expo. Seminars, supplies, vegetable and herb garden tours. Free, 9-1, UF/IFAS Marion Extension, 2232 NE Jacksonville Rd., Ocala, 352-671-8400.

September 8-10

Florida Local Food Summit, East End Market, 3201 Corrinne Dr., Orlando. Farm tours Sept. 8; workshops, panels, meals, cooking demonstrations, Sept. 9; market and more workshops, Sept. 10. Some events are free and open to the pub-

lic, some have an admission fee.

Info: www.floridafoodsummit.com.

3201 Corrinne Dr., Orlando. $25 includes lunch and membership.

Sunday, September 11

Florida Food Policy Council meeting, 12-5, East End Market,

September 12-16

Florida Gardening 101. Monday: Soil, composting. Tuesday:

Archer 352-495-9090

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Ocala 352-351-8008

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Micro-irrigation, Florida Friendly Landscaping. Wednesday: Garden tour, propagation, native plants.

Thursday: Lawns, trees. Friday: Vegetable gardening, pests. $30/person or $50/couple, includes materials and snacks. 6-8:30 each evening, UF/IFAS Marion Extension, 2232 NE Jacksonville Rd., Ocala, 352-6718400, https://goo.gl/TPWsRE. Tuesday, September 13

1. Citrus Grower OJ Break.

10am-lunch, Stuart Conference Center, 1710 U.S. Hwy. 17 S., Bartow.

2. Dixie Soil and Water Conservation District Board meeting.

6:30-7:30, Cypress Inn Restaurant, Cross City. Upcoming meetings (second Tuesday): 10/11, 11/18, 12/13.

3. Marion County Soil and Water Conservation District Board meeting, 9am, USDA Ocala Service Center, 2441 NE Third St., Suite 204-2, Ocala, Information: Ann Bishop, 352622-3971, x.112. Upcoming meetings (second Tuesday): 10/11, 11/8, 12/13.

4. St. Johns River Water Man-

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agement District Governing Board meeting, 11am, District headquarters, 4049 Reid St., Palatka. Information: Missy McDermont, 386-3294214. Upcoming meetings (second Tuesday): 9/27 (final budget meeting to be held at 5 pm), 10/11, 11/8, 12/13.

Wednesday, September 14 (date change, listed last month as 9/15)

Mind Your Business: Hydroponics for Profit workshop. Planning, start-up, financing the business; marketing, budgets, crops. $50-75, lunch and refreshments provided. 8:30-3:30, Suwannee Valley Ag Extension, 7580 County Rd. 136, Live Oak, http://bit.ly/2bbybBi. Thursday, September 15

1. 2016 Florida Equine Institute Allied Trade Show. Theme: Enhancing Core Competencies. $20-75, 8-4, Southeastern Livestock Pavilion, 2232 NE Jacksonville Rd., Ocala, http://bit.ly/2ajPM9v.

2. Feeding the Equine Athlete.

Anatomy-based feeding strategy that is “better for your horse and easier on your wallet.” $10, 6-8pm, UF/ IFAS Lake County Extension, 1951 Woodlea Road, Tavares, http://bit. ly/2ahCNIt.

3. Florida Cattle Ranching.

The history and culture of the nation’s oldest cattle-ranching state.

Free, 2pm, presentation by Bob Stone. Lady Lake Historical Society, at the Lady Lake Library, 2nd floor, 225 W. Guava St., Lady Lake. Reservations required: 352-259-4359.

4. Invasive Exotic Species and Control Workshop. $10/includes lunch and materials. CEUs available.

9-3, Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve, 108 Island Dr., Eastpoint.

Saturday, September 17

Beekeeping 101: Getting Started with Your First Bee Hive. No experience necessary. $210 includes a 10-frame 2-story hive, smoker, hive tool, veil; $55/no equipment.

Lunch provided. 9-5, Collier Extension, 14700 Immokalee Rd., Naples. http://bit.ly/2bcs1kV. Monday, September 19

Sustainable Agriculture Network meeting. Farm tour, dinner, conversation about developing a vibrant, useful network for farming in the region. Free. Farm tour 3:30, Frog Song Organics, 4317 NE U.S. Hwy. 301, Hawthorne; meeting and dinner 5:30 at Hawthorne Market, 7040 U.W. Hwy. 301, Hawthorne. Information: 352-474-2328.

Registration (required): http://bit. ly/2bDsCND. Wednesday, September 21

Withlacoochee Regional Water Supply Authority meeting, 3:30, Lecanto Government Bldg., Room 166, 3600 W. Sovereign Path, Lecanto. Next meeting: Sept. 21.

Deadline September 22

Southeastern Hay Competition. https://sehaycontest.wordpress. com/ September 23-24

Florida Wildflower Symposium. Workshops, walks, field trips, educational presentations on planting and growing native wildflowers, creating habitat for pollinators, etc.

Silver Springs State Park, Ocala, http://bit.ly/2aqioAw. Saturday, September 24

3rd Annual Color Me Green 5K Fun Run/Walk, fundraiser for Marion County 4-H, Jervey Gantt Park, Ocala. Information: Kim Condurso, 352-671-8404, Kimberly.condurso@marioncountyfl.org.

September 28-30

Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association Convention. Ritz-Carlton, Naples, ffva.com/FFVA2016.

Enrollment ends Sept. 30

2017 coverage, Margin Protection Program for Dairy. Voluntary

program provides financial assistance to participating dairy producers when the margin (the difference between the price of milk and feed costs) falls below the coverage level selected by the producer. $100 minimum administrative fee/year. www.fsa.usda.gov/dairy.

September 30-October 1

Florida Ranch Rodeo and Cowboy Heritage Festival, Silver Spurs Arena, Osceola Heritage Park. Get a Groupon deal at http://gr.pn/2b7aDfQ. September 30-October 2

1. 2016 Florida Springs Restoration Summit. Presentations, panel discussions, banquet dinner and keynote address Saturday, field trip to Silver Springs. Harvey R. Klein Conference Center, College of Central Florida, 3001 SW College Road, Ocala. www.springsrestorationsummit.org/

2. Butterfly Fest. Plant sale all three days, Butterfly Fest October 1st. $11/adults, $6/younger than 18. Florida Museum of Natural History, 3215 Hull Road, Gainesville, 352-846-2000, www.flmnh.ufl.edu/butterflyfest.

Saturday, October 1

Art and Garden Fall Family Festival. Plant sale, trolley tour of deciduous fruit and nut crops, walking tour of NFREC gardens, entertainment, kids’ zone. 850875-7101. 9-2, free admission, seeking vendors ($2035). UF/IFAS North Florida Research and Education Center, Quincy.

Pineywoods Automotive, Inc.

- Your Neighborhood Garage MV11887

Maintenance - Service - Repair Foreign & Domestic Trailer Repair & Service Oil Change Available for most vehicles including tractors 352-629-6727 Fax: 352-351-2946 5800 N US Hwy 27, Ocala, FL 34482

Please Make Appointment

Thursday, October 6

General Standards Pesticide Class. This class prepares participants to take the Limited Commercial Landscape Management Exam or the Ornamental and Turf Exam. The session offers 6 CEUs in several licensed categories: 2 CEUs toward General Standards (CORE), and 4 CEUs toward Private Applicator Ag, Ornamental and Turf, Limited Lawn and Ornamental, Limited Landscape Maintenance, or Commercial Lawn and Ornamental. $20, 8-3, lunch is included. Terry Holt, UF/IFAS Extension Marion County, 2232 NE Jacksonville Rd., Ocala, FL, 352-671-8400.

Sunday, October 9

5th Anniversary Party, Farm Tour, and Tasting. Free admission, 4-8pm. Food and beverages for sale. Frog Song Organics, 4317 NE U.S. Hwy. 301, Hawthorne.

Tuesday, October 11

1. Citrus Nutrition Day, UF/IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center, Lake Alfred. 863-519-1052.

2. Panhandle Fruit and Vegetable Conference.

Seminars, workshops, farm tours, trade show. Keynote speaker: Richard Wiswall, farmer/author. Early bird regis-

September 2016

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iques and the early t the item remember

13th Annual

Orange-A-Fair

Saturday, October 29, 2016 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. at the

Citra Community Center

ng your eative fts to re with stival rs. Items st be de of tural ources. plastic or allowed. ndmade ms must original. u must be sent with r work. ists Artists A-Fair art ale. Note: ular. Set ography, t be the and sell.

(SR 318 one block east of US Highway 301)

in Citra, Florida

Celebrating Agriculture

tration is $40 before September 6. Registration includes lunch, refreshments, educational materials, and transportation to farm tour locations. 8-4:30, Jackson County Agricultural Complex, Marianna, https://pfvc.eventbrite. com. SEE the article, pp. 8-9.

October 14-16

1. Hernando Southern Heritage Festival and Cracker Cattle Drive. http://CitrusCountyHistoricalSociety.org/.

2. Mushroom Cultivation Course. Join author/ co-founder of Radical Mycology, Peter McCoy, for this weekend (starts Friday at 6pm) workshop. Designed for beginners to experienced growers. How to fruit mushrooms, grow mycelium, integrate into lifestyle for food, medicine, and soil health. Held at Hawthorne Community Market, 7040 SE Hwy. 301, Hawthorne. Information: bit.ly/rmfl2016.

Saturday, October 15

1. Backyard Biodiversity Day. About plant, animal, reptile, and insect diversity in yards and farms. Educational presentations, native plants for sale, more. Free, 9am, Mead Botanical Garden, 1300 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park. Tarflower.fnpschapters.org.

2. Organic Vegetable Garden Class. Free, 10am.

Superior Landscape and Garden Center, 5300 N. U.S. Hwy. 27, Ocala, 352-368-6619, www.SuperiorLandscape.net.

October 15-16

Annual Plant Swap and Sale. Saturday, gates open at noon; $5 donation at the gate. Bring plants to give away, trade, sell. Speakers on gardening/permaculture.

Garden tours. Sunday, 4-hour workshop on 75 clumping bamboos (edible shoots, construction, windbreaks, more), $20, 12-4. 2460 SW Mixon St., Arcadia, https:// www.facebook.com/events/930583343674152/.

October 17-20

BioCycle Refor16, renewable energy from recycling conference. Hands-on info and tools in anaerobic digestion, power production, fuel and soil amendments, food waste management, composting. Caribe Royale Hotel, Orlando, http://www.biocyclerefor.com/.

5.00

Tuesday, October 18

Gilchrist Soil and Water Conservation District meeting. 6:30pm, Akins BBQ, Bell. Upcoming meetings (third Tuesday every other month): 12/20.

pplication. on please our work.

Please Support the Citra Historical Restoration Fund

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October 20-22

Florida State Beekeepers Annual Conference. Hilton UF Conference Center, 1714 SW 34th St., Gainesville. http://bit.ly/2bL3HGd.

Saturday, October 22

1. 2016 Citrus Classic Poultry Show. 9-5, Citrus County Auditorium, 3610 S. Florida Ave., Inverness, 321-236-1080, www.cflpoultrybreeders.org.

2. Fall Planter Class: Make It and Take It. 10am.

Superior Landscape and Garden Center, 5300 N. U.S. Hwy. 27, Ocala, 352-368-6619, www.SuperiorLandscape.net.

November 1-2

Regional Small Farms and Alternative Enterprises Conference, Indian River Research and Education Center, 2199 South Rock Rd., Ft. Pierce, http://bit. ly/2a8NwCM. Wednesday, November 2

Florida Ag Expo. Free. UF/IFAS Gulf Coast Research and Education Center, Balm. www.FloridaAgExpo.com.

Central Ridge Library. Second Friday, 1:30pm, Coastal Region Library. Third Wednesday, 1pm, Citrus Springs Library. Fourth Monday, 2pm, Sugarmill Woods Library.

Now through September

Hunter safety courses. Anyone born on or after 6/1/75 must pass an approved hunter safety course and have a license to hunt alone. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission satisfies hunter safety training requirements for all other states and Canadian provinces. Free; firearms, ammunition, materials provided free. Students should bring a pen and paper; an adult

Holy Moses Water Treatment, Bryant’s Pump Service and Well Drilling 24-Hour Emergency Service

November 3-13

75th Annual North Florida Fair, Tallahassee.

Pumps, Wells, Softening, Purification and More ­— All makes and sizes!

Friday, November 4

Canning under the Cottage Law. 9-1, Bartow, http://bit.ly/2a43daO.

352-629-3769 P Ocala, FL 386-755-3358 P Lake City, FL 229-559-8272 P Lake Park, GA Holym@bellsouth.net

Dates Vary

Citrus County Extension Svc. Remote Plant Clinic Dates and Locations. Every Tuesday, 1 pm: Lakes Region Library. First Wednesday, 2 pm: Floral City Library. Second Wednesday, 1:30 pm: Central Ridge Library. Third Wednesday, 1 pm: Citrus Springs Library. Second Friday: 1:30 pm, 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.

is the place with all the best brands!

Every Wednesday

Farm baskets of vegetables, jams, jellies, etc., are delivered to the Ocala Public Library every Wednesday at 2:15pm. $25-50. Reserve in advance. Crones Cradle Conserve, 6411 NE 217th Pl., Citra, 352-595-3377, www.CronesCradleConserve.org.

Every Saturday

Farmstead Saturdays. 9am to 3pm. Free admission.

Lunch and pastries available. Crones Cradle Conserve, 6411 NE 217 Pl., Citra, 352-595-3377, www.CronesCradleConserve.org.

Varies

Citrus County Master Gardener Plant Clinics. Every Tuesday, 1pm, Lakes Region Library. First Wednesday, 2pm, Floral City Library. Second Wednesday, 1:30pm,

Proprietor: Ruth Anne Rackley

In Hernando Visit: 2585 N Florida Ave, Hernando, FL 34442 352-726-1481

In Inverness Visit: 465 E Highland Blvd Inverness, FL 34452 352-726-8811

September 2016

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must accompany children younger than 16. Dates and locations: http:// bit.ly/2ajgEGP. Many dates

ServSafe® Food Safety and Quality Program. Class and Exam, $110; $55 more for textbook. COCOA: Mon., Sept. 12 and Mon., Nov. 14. GAINESVILLE: Mon., Oct. 10; Tues., Dec. 6. LARGO: Mon., Oct. 10. LECANTO: Thurs., Oct. 13.

LIVE OAK: Mon., Nov. 7. OCALA: Tues., Oct. 4. ORLANDO: Mon., Sept. 19. PANAMA CITY: Wed., Sept. 28; Thurs., Nov. 17. STARKE: Wed., Nov. 9. YULEE: Thurs., Aug. 25 and Sun., Nov. 27. http://tinyurl. com/nmdc3sc.

EXHIBITS Now through January 15, 2017

Wicked Plants exhibit featuring more than 100 of the world’s most diabolical botanicals, 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. Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesvile, www. flmnh.ufl.edu.

Now through March 18

Water Ways, presented by the Smithsonian’s Traveling Exhibition Service. Images, videos, information, interactive elements. Curtiss Mansion Museum, Miami Springs, Sept.

3-Oct. 22; Ding Darling Wildlife Society, Oct. 29-Dec. 10, Sanibel; Historic Courthouse, Okeechobee, Dec. 17-Jan. 28; Sulphur Springs Museum, Tampa, Feb. 4-Mar. 18.

FREE ONLINE CLASSES Tuesday, September 13

Soil Health Impacts on Pest

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Management. 2pm. http://bit. ly/2bMiPCe. Wednesday, September 14

Crop Insurance to Help Organic and Diversified Farmers Manage Risk. 3pm. http://bit. ly/2bCTEU3.

Recordings available

1. Cover Crop Options for Hot and High Humidity Areas, http://bit. ly/2ahkP61.

2. Organic Seed Production webinar series. http://bit.ly/21b1y7Y.

3. Promoting Specialty Crops as Local. Communicating with consumers. http://www.piecenter.com/ training/local/

4. Sustainable Agricultural Research & Education (SARE) offers classes on sustainable agriculture, strategic farm planning and marketing, and more. http://bit. ly/28KVYUH

5. 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 Deadline September 9

1. AFA Future of America: AFA Leaders Conference sponsorships.

Awards include registration, hotel and meals at AFA Leaders Conference in Kansas City, MO, Nov. 3-16. http://bit.ly/2amms1T.

2. St. Johns River Water Management District is accepting applications from farmers interested in participating in cost-share funding for agricultural projects that promote water conservation and improve water quality in area waterways. Up to 75% funding. Eligible projects may include irrigation retrofits, tailwater

recovery and reuse, rainwater harvesting, soil mapping with variable rate fertilizer application, soil moisture and climate sensor telemetry, sub-irrigation drain tile, and more. www.sjrwmd.com/agriculture/costshare.html.

Deadline October 1

The Donald Samull Classroom Herb Garden Grant. Open to teachers of grades 3-6 with at least 15 students. 10 grants, $200 each, available for indoor or outdoor herb gardens for supplies such as soil, plant trays, containers, etc. http:// herbsociety.org/resources/samullgrant.html.

Deadline October 21

NRCS Environmental Quality Incentives Program for 2017 funding. Farmers may receive financial and technical assistance to improve soil, water, air, plants, animals, and related resources. Eligible land includes cropland, range and pastureland, private non-industrial forests, other farm or ranch lands. http://bit. ly/2bfKsaQ. 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 more. http://bit. ly/28Vv3Gm.

2. Fresh Access Bucks is seeking applications to add more farmers and markets to their network. This is to encourage SNAP recipients to redeem their benefits at farmers’ markets and at farms that sell direct to consumers. Matching funds. 352377-6355, x.125, www.FreshAccessBucks.com.

Deadlines vary

1. Florida Agricultural Scholarships Online. Check this web site

PROOF often for announcements of new awards. www.FloridaAgricultureScholarships.com.

2. USDA grants, loans, and other support. Many programs are open to individual and family 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.

APPROVED AS

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, vet-

APPROVED WI CHANGES

erinary support, professors, teaching assistants, much more. Check out the list at http://explore.jobs.ufl.edu/ Signature cw/en-us/listing/.

Send your agriculture- and gardening-related Calendar listings to TheAgMag@gmail.com.

JUNE 2016

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.

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Late Summer Recipes

by Chef David Bearl

Nine-Day Cole Slaw (6 servings) Slaw Ingredients: 1 head fresh cabbage, shredded 2 stalks celery, diced ½ cup diced onions 1 each green pepper, red pepper; diced ¼ cup sugar

Slaw Directions: Combine all of the above ingredients in a stainless bowl, set aside.

Hot Dressing Ingredients: ½ cup salad oil ½ cup cider vinegar 1 tsp salt 1 tbsp sugar

Hot Dressing Directions: 1. Bring the oil, vinegar, salt, and sugar to a boil.

2. Pour the hot mixture over the slaw.

3. Cover and refrigerate the salad for one day prior to serving.

This is called Nine Day Slaw because it should last nine days in the refrigerator. (The recipe is from the 1991 Hastings Potato and Cabbage Festival; no name was given for credit.)

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The Ag Mag

Baked Yellow Squash (6 servings) Ingredients: 3 fresh yellow squash (about 8 oz. each) ½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated 2 green onions 1 bunch fresh parsley

Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 400F. 2. Slice the yellow squash in half lengthwise. Place each half, skin-side down, on a sheet pan.

3. Mince the green onions and parsley and toss them together with the Parmesan cheese.

4. Cover the top of each squash with the cheese mixture.

5. Bake for 5-10 minutes or until the cheese has browned to your satisfaction.

Okra and Corn (6 servings) Ingredients: 1 lb.

2 1 1 1 tbsp 2 tbsp

fresh okra, cut into ¾ -inch pieces ears fresh corn (kernels only) onion, diced small red bell pepper, diced small vegetable oil fresh parsley, minced pepper to taste

Directions: 1. Remove kernels from corn; prepare the other vegetables as directed above.

2. In a kettle or tilt skillet, sauté the vegetables in the oil until tender.

3. Fold in the fresh parsley, season with pepper, and serve hot.

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

September 2016

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LET US HELP YOU PRODUCE YOUR NEXT BUMPER CROP

Community Bank & Trust of Florida is familiar with hard work. We roll up our sleeves to help our neighbors get things done – like financing the equipment and resources you need to maximize profits harvest after harvest. It’s what we do.

Drop by one of our branch offices to say “hello” and learn how we can help your farm business prosper.

Where Banking is Personal® cbtfl.com

11 CONVENIENT BRANCH LOCATIONS 36

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ALACHUA COUNTY: MARION COUNTY: The Ag Mag COUNTY: SUMTER

352-33 1 -1063 352-369-1000 352-259-3070