The Ag Mag January 2016 online

The Ag Mag Agriculture in north central Florida

Pete Spyke on Greening- and Cold-Resistant Citrus

Melody Murphy Second Nature

January 2016

Gloria Austin on Communicating with the Driving Horse

AGRItunity Tour Will Visit the Copp Winery and Brewery

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Seeking Submissions NEWS. Are you offering a new product or service? Opening a new location? Send us your news!

FEATURE ARTICLES. Soil management.

Erosion control. You know your field (we know, that was a bad pun). Do you have an innovative method of pest control? marketing? reaching into the distribution stream? Tell us about it! The sky’s the limit when it comes to ideas and content.

INTERVIEWS. Perhaps you know an experienced farmer who can offer great advice in a particular subject area, or a broad perspective on life as a north central Florida farmer. We would love to read your conversation with that expert.

HOW-TO. Practical ways you’ve learned to address needed projects or nagging problems.

If you have a Tip or a How-To, we invite you to share your knowledge.

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LEGISLATIVE CONCERNS. If you know of a local “take action” item, please let us know.

EVENTS COVERAGE. We can’t make it to every event, although we wish we could. Send us coverage of your recent event. With your photographs, please include the name and date of the event, as well as the names of the people pictured and the names of their farms or businesses.

CALENDAR. We aim to be the most comprehensive source of information on upcoming ag events, celebrations, and opportunities in our area. Send us your Calendar listings.

FOR ALL SUBMISSIONS: Written materials should be in Word .doc format. Photographs welcome (the more the merrier; 300dpi .jpegs). Send materials to Carolyn Blakeslee, Publisher, TheAgMag@gmail.com. Questions?

Call 352-286-1779.

Happy New Year!

We are excited to bring you The Ag Mag. Here’s a little bit about who we are.

Carolyn Blakeslee, Publisher

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arolyn has been publishing magazines and books since 1986. She and her first magazine, Art Calendar, were profiled in Inc. Magazine in September 1991. The magazine’s title had to do with its extensive calendar of professional opportunities available to artists. At its zenith, Art Calendar enjoyed 20,000 subscribers and released five books about the business of being an artist. When it was sold in 2006, its title was changed to Professional Artist Magazine.

Carolyn also wrote the “Bloomin’ Right” gardening column for Salisbury, Maryland’s Daily Times from 1998-2002. She and her four children moved to Florida in 2005, and from February 2008 to September 2015, Carolyn published the area’s edition of Natural Awakenings Magazine.

Besides enjoying fresh herbs, food and flowers, she has also spent significant time with horses. Growing up in Warrenton, Virginia, Carolyn was active in Pony Club and 4-H. In Maryland and Florida, she was an award-winning Lipizzan owner and breeder.

Artistic at heart, she is a visual artist, specializing in realism (oils and soft pastels). She has also played music professionally since 1977 in venues including cabarets, theatres, and churches. This photo (head-banging!) was taken in the pit of West Port High School’s 2015 production of “Jesus Christ Superstar.” Carolyn played keyboard, and her daughter, Zoe Proeber, was cast as Mary Magdalene.

Brooke Hamlin, Director of Marketing and Advertising

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rooke has a lifetime of involvement in agriculture from being surrounded by cattle and corn fields in Illinois, to moving to Florida in 1972 and to Ocala in 1990. At that time she joined the Marion County Chamber of Commerce Agriculture Committee. This involvement led to the beginnings of The Florida Agriculture Center and Horse Park. The committee mandate was to raise interest, understanding and funds for the project, primarily by creating The Florida Horse and Agriculture Festival.

From that event, Brooke was invited to join Equitana USA, a large European equine event launching in Louisville, KY in 1996. In 2000 she accepted the position of Show Director with the North Carolina Classic Horse Festival.

Next (still in North Carolina), Brooke was asked to chair the Yadkin Valley Wine Festival celebrating the newly designated wine appellation. The district and festival have grown dramatically.

Later, Brooke returned to Illinois for family reasons. While she was there, she joined a large, suburban Chicago newspaper as Business Development Manager.

She was offered a position at the Florida Carriage Museum in Weirsdale in 2005 and was pleased to return to her adopted hometown of Ocala. She has continued to connect with ag and horse people ever since.

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The Ag Mag

Contents 7

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Letters to the Editor

8 | Optimistic about Florida Citrus:

Interview with Pete Spyke

by Carolyn Blakeslee 12

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Citrus County Extension Service

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AGRItunity 2016

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Great Florida Cattle Drive 2016

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Water News: n 4,900-Acre Silver Springs Forest Is Now Publicly Owned n Rainbow Springs Basin Management Action Plan (BMAP)

18 | Three Ways to Start Your Spring Garden Now

by David the Good 20 | Communicating with the Driving Horse

by Gloria Austin 23 | Recipe: Wild Orange Pound Cake

by Jeri Baldwin 24 | Second Nature: It’s Only Natural

by Melody Murphy 26 |

More News

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Calendar of Events

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34 | Farming Wonders of the World

by NASA

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The Ag Mag Publisher Carolyn Blakeslee TheAgMag@gmail.com Director of Marketing and Advertising Sales Brooke Hamlin 352-537-0096 TheAgMag1@gmail.com Design + Production Carolyn Blakeslee

Coming in February: Love and Money Valentine’s Day ~ love stories Some of the financing options available to farmers

~ and ~ Crop protection Amazing facts about seeds

Contact Us 352-537-0096 P.O. Box 770194 Ocala, FL 34477 TheAgMag@gmail.com Facebook Facebook.com/ TheAgricultureMagazine Special thanks to our friends who took the time to advise us and encourage us to launch: Gloria Austin Austin Carriage Collection Jeri Baldwin Crones Cradle Conserve Hugh Dailey Community Bank & Trust of FL David Goodman Best-selling author

Join us — make some hay this year!

David Holmes Marion County Extension Sam Howard Sparr Building & Farm Supply BJ Jarvis Citrus County Extension

The Ag Mag is seeking independent account managers in the north central Florida region including Alachua, Levy, Marion, and Citrus counties. Must have some knowledge of agriculture as well as advertising sales experience. Excellent customer service a must. Needs to be a self-starter to develop, grow and maintain relationships with clients. Several open territories available. Please send resume to TheAgMag@gmail.com. Questions? Call Brooke, 352-537-0096.

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Dori Morgan Hyatt Farm Credit of Florida T. Grady Roberts, Ph.D. Agricultural Education and Communication, UF Copyright ©2016 The Ag Mag, LLC All rights reserved

Letters to the Editor Heed The Seed To the Editor:

Seeds. Glorious seeds.

The ubiquitous seed assures life on every continent on the planet. Tiny or huge, colorful or drab, speedy or slow, seeds are, simultaneously, the boon and the bane of existence. A boon, of course, for seeds provide food, drink, comfort, shelter, creative supplies, and recreation potential without bias. A bane, for seeds’ walls and their germs of existence must wait for an exact quantity of an exact organism for an exact time to stretch and break the bonds of their housing, flower into being, and pursue their native bent. Even with their glorious ability to perform miracles, the seed requires an unwavering juxtaposition of an exact amount of sunlight, an exact amount of water, an exact blend of loam — soil — earth, and, for peak yield, a loving, vigilant farmer.

The conditions that enable seeds to free their life giving essence are not hard to find. Earth, sunlight, water, and care abound. Key to securing and protecting that abundance is unmitigated resolve. Resolve allows us to define our limits, then equips us to refuse any tampering with the finest soil, the most abundant sunlight, and the, mostly, precise rainfall found in the country. Of course, personal preference may intrude, but a strong case can be made for north central Florida to use its incomparable soils and waters to nurture life.

That case already exists; we have but to support and sustain the partnership. Marion County ranks high in almost every category of seed propagation in Florida. The Florida Department of Agriculture reports that Marion County lists: n 70 farms with 7,400 acres growing vegetables and melons, generating some $80 million revenue annually; n 1,600 acres in citrus, which produce 355,000 boxes of fruit yearly; n $9 million realized from fruits, nuts, and berries, including 350 acres of blueberries; n More than 3,200 acres of peanuts grown annually; n Forestry, accounting for 251,000 acres of planted trees, supplying lumber for building materials and paper products for myriad uses; and n Some 34,000 feeder calves sent to feed lots across the nation, with 47,000 additional cattle roaming pastures and woods through the county.

Marion agriculture supports 4,500 full- and part-time jobs with an estimated 238 million dollars, creating a considerable impact on the county’s economy. Seeds could not find a more perfect niche than in Marion County, Florida. We must heed the call of the seed.

To provide bellwether duty should we stray from our resolve to enable the blessed seed to produce in Marion County, two determined agrarians, Carolyn Blakeslee and Brooke Hamlin, long-time lovers of land and creatures, propose one path by which to heed the seed. Their genius child, The Ag Mag, which debuts with this issue, brings agricultural news, views, and proposals to the citizens and land lovers of our area, reminding us to nurture the seed and enable its implicit guarantee to bear fruit.

Thank you for your bellwether duty, Ms. Blakeslee and Ms. Hamlin.

Florida agricultural statistics are from 2012 and were provided by Mr. David Holmes, UF/IFAS Marion County Extension.

— Jeri Baldwin, Citra Please send your Letters to The Editor to The Ag Mag, P.O. Box 770194, Ocala, FL 34477, TheAgMag@gmail.com.

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Optimistic about Florida Citrus Interview with Pete Spyke

by Carolyn Blakeslee

Family farms in the citrus heyday

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ete Spyke pointed to an old machine in the packing room of his Orange Shop facility in Citra.

A conveyer belt on the machine, attended by two women, was spewing cleaned, dry oranges into a shopping cart.

“That is an FMC Junior,” he said, “made by the Food Machinery Corporation in the 1930s. It’s still working like a champ today.”

Back in the 1930s and ’40s, Pete told us, a family farmer could lease an FMC Junior at low cost and make a good living from their citrus grove by shipping their fruit north via railways. Hundreds of families did just that throughout the state of Florida, as far north as Melrose. Citra was one of the centers of the citrus business during that boom time.

During the next few decades, the orange industry changed. Catastrophic freezes every few years forced growers to give up or move south; family farms were sold to larger growers when children and grandchildren

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lost interest in farming; citrus became a standardized commodity.

The state of the citrus industry now

Today, 80% of Florida’s citrus are oranges are grown for their juice.

In the commercial market, every bottle of juice must be pasteurized and must taste exactly the same. Two varieties that mature at different times, essentially yielding juice throughout the 7 month citrus season — Hamlin and Valencia — are grown.

The trouble is, these two varieties are susceptible to both cold and to citrus greening, and citrus farming has been severely damaged as a result. However, Pete Spyke believes the industry can come back fairly quickly.

First, Spyke said, for commodity growers to continue to successfully produce juice, they are going to have to replant their diseased groves. Even if they don’t do it all at once, they are going to have to embrace new trees that are resistant to citrus greening.

“Virtually all citrus trees have citrus greening,” he said, the same way the human body harbors bacteria but, in a healthy state of immunity, doesn’t succumb to illness as a result.

“The key is to plant trees that will grow anyway.

“Growers are hanging on to doing one thing: Trying to keep the old trees going. But they can do two things at once. They can keep the old trees going, and replant part of their groves with new varieties and rootstocks.

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Oranges sometimes develop brown spots.

That’s the fruit’s natural response to fungus; it’s like a callus, or the peel developing an especially protective shield in a particular area. Sometimes people mistakenly think that’s where a pest has entered, when it’s the other way around — it’s the fruit’s way of keeping something out.

— Pete Spyke

Maybe 10% or 20% one year, and another part the next year with an even better rootstock that has been released,” along with better ways of helping the new trees resist their challenges.

Second, there is now even more room for small family growers again. “The little guys around the edges can do okay,” he said. “A family can again make a good living growing greening resistant varieties,” even in northernmost Marion and surrounding counties if they are cold resistant too.

He said a 40-acre farm would be sufficient. “It’s more of a sure thing to do that than to start 10,000 acres of Hamlin or Valencia. The opportunities for small farmers,” he said, “are better than in 20-30 years because of the greening resistant varieties they can grow.”

The other upside to the “other varieties” is that the fruit grown in Lake and Marion Counties tends to be tastier

and offer enough differences in aroma, appearance, taste, acidity, sweetness, texture, mouthfeel, body, and finish to interest and satisfy even a wine blogger like me.

Cold-hardy citrus

Spyke is successfully growing fruit that is both cold resistant and citrus greening resistant. “Navels love cold weather. However, the trees don’t tolerate temperatures lower than 22°F and the fruit won’t survive 28°F.

“So the secret is to grow on the southeast side of a lake.”

The Orange Shop, with its grove, is located a few hundred yards southeast of Lake Orange in Citra. “Lake Kerr, Weir, Lochloosa, even up in Melrose.”

He said UF has weather stations on the north side and southeast side of Lake Orange, and typically the stations report an 8° difference. If the north side reports 20° and the southeast side reports 28° that is a huge difference, it’s like moving to Kissimmee — and we will be okay.”

He said mandarins and navels are the best. He also successfully grows Page, Honeybell, Temple, Satsuma, and other varieties. “Fruits from the northern edge of the growing region are the tastiest,” he said.

Researchers are working on cold resistant trees now, he said.

“UF is growing some varieties in Gainesville, in unprotected areas not near a lake — and they are doing well.”

The potential is there for a relatively small percentage of the Florida industry to be devoted to these easy peeling, seedless tangerines and other fruits that are greening resistant.

Drinking this juice isn’t a morning habit, it’s an experience. The big juice growers are not interested in that. They’re interested in producing more boxes of fruit per acre. Theirs is a commodity business.

— Pete Spyke

Techniques supporting the future of citrus

Drip irrigation with prescribed nutrients. Spyke uses a form of drip irrigation, inspired by hydroponic growing, that delivers a specific amount of water and fertilizer to each tree each day, just as a healthy person might take a prescribed amount of vitamins and minerals each day.

Cooperative test growing.

Along with many other growers, Spyke is cooperating with UF/ IFAS, UC, and USDA to grow new varieties that are genetically very similar to the Hamlin and Valencia varieties so that the commercial orange juice industry can continue. Some of the promising rootstocks are new hybrids, too. Spyke grows test stock in two locations: Citra and Indian River. He said the test growers get together occasionally to discuss the results of their various rootstocks.

Genetic modification.

Scientists Jude Grosser and Manjul Dutt developed UF/IFAS’ well publicized new rootstock that was announced in November 2015. Spyke said, “They could have gone to Asia,” where the citrus-greening bacterium came from, “and take the time to hunt for plants that are resistant to it, and isolate the gene that causes it to be resistant, and then conventionally breed that gene to insert into the DNA of today’s orange trees to create new, resistant stock — or they can go straight to another plant, in this case Arabidopsis, in which they already know what the gene is.” Arabidopsis was the first plant to be completely sequenced, in 2000; thus, it is a trusted source of known genetic material. Spyke continued, “They will eventually find the gene in oranges that is HLB resistant, but they already know which gene in the Arabidopsis works, and also know that there will be no effect on the basic nature of the citrus variety.

Speeding up the growth of trees. Spyke said that growing a productive tree, which used to take 7-8 years, can now be done in 3-4 years. “In a tissue culture lab, using a robotic machine from Japan, they can crank out a tree in a year” when that process normally takes two years. Then, using the drip irrigation method described above, the rest of the process can happen in just 2-3 years.

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ete Spyke is truly optimistic about the future of both greening resistant and cold resistant citrus in Florida.

For large growers, his advice is to replant groves with new stock and to adopt the new growing methods to support their growth and immune function. He suggests planting a mixture of known legacy varieties and rootstocks along with new introductions, such as Cuties, to broaden the window of opportunity, particularly as Cuties are ready to pick earlier here than in California.

For small growers, his advice is to explore the riches of resistant varieties that already exist, and to take advantage of the Internet. He said, “The Internet has made it possible to reach millions of people we couldn’t reach before.” He believes there is a large market for tasty and even unusual fruits, and the time is ripe for introducing new fruits to new markets.

Carolyn Blakeslee is the publisher of The Ag Mag. For more information about Pete Spyke, visit www.

ArapahoCitrus.com or www.

FloridaOrangeShop.com. A 1939 picture and description of the FMC Junior machine is online at http://ufdc.ufl.edu/ UF00086640/00016/9j.

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Citrus County Extension Service

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County agents meeting at the Experiment Station dairy barn in Alachua County, 1919. Source: http://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/

Club boys arriving at a county camp. Source: State Archives of Florida, www.FloridaMemory.com

Newly appointed home demonstration agents. Source: State Archives of Florida, www.FloridaMemory.com

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he Citrus County Extension Service is more than 100 years old and provides relevant information to the public as a core mission of the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFIA).

Extension outreach has evolved into a large, effective, friendly network that now serves every county in the state, catering to the unique goals and challenges of each community.

“Our mission is to improve the lives and businesses of this county by serving as a connection to the latest research breakthroughs,” said BJ Jarvis, director of UF/IFIA’s Citrus County Extension and urban horticulture agent. “Achieving a financially secure home or business, helping entrepreneurs create a new business or expand an existing one, and assisting farmers in feeding and clothing our society are just some of the ways extension can help.

Extension shares information on a wide array of topics, including effective parenting, disaster preparedness, care-giving, gardening, positive youth development through 4-H clubs, and conservation. With no particular product to sell, extension information is unbiased and backed up with good science.

“At the time extension was created, the U.S. was largely agricultural and the population was growing,” said Jarvis. “Back then,

questions were mostly homebased questions such as healthy canning, and raising chickens and hogs efficiently. Proper canning techniques were shared with youth who took these safer practices home to Mom who preserved vegetable and fruit harvests for safer eating later. Today, it requires less than 2% of the population to feed and clothe our society.”

The first agent in Citrus County was Miss Nellie McQuarrie. Starting in 1915, this home economist reached clients via horses and trains. At that time, less than 8% of rural Florida had electricity, and extension agents didn’t drive work cars.

As the world and communities’ informational needs changed over time, extension expertise changed. As the population became more urbanized, early concerns remained important but added economic development, water concerns, and positive youth development.

Today’s 4-H club and school youth learn in a hands-on way with science, engineering, math and art subjects. Every year, each extension expert analyzes the most important issues in order to develop outreach addressing these needs.

For more information, call 352-527-5700 or visit the Extension Office at the Citrus County Government Center, 3650 W. Sovereign Path, Lecanto.

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n exciting ag-venture coming up is being offered jointly by extension offices in four west-central Florida counties. Called AGRItunity, this agri-business conference, trade show, and field tour is celebrating 10 years of “growing your chances for agricultural success.” Extension experts from UF, Citrus, Sumter, Hernando and Pasco County Extension offices, and industry experts will be on hand to share information on improving profitability in raising animals, along with various plant production and financial topics.

The AGRItunity conference and trade show will be held on Saturday, January 23 from 8 am to 3:30 pm. Early bird registration will be offered through January 10th with a registration fee of $30 for adults and $15 for youth. After that date, event registration will be $40 for adults and $20 for youth.

A behind-the-scenes field tour of local innovative agricultural operations is planned for Friday, January 22. This farm tour will stop at a hydroponic vegetable production farm (Arbor Trails Nursery, Inverness); a microbrewery (Copp Winery and Brewery, Crystal River); and a state-of-theart dairy (M&B Dairy, Lecanto).

Admission is $48 for the field tour, open to all. Not in the agribusiness field but interested in buying local? Concerned about eating better? Tour participants may talk to our local producers about where our food comes from, how it is produced, and how it gets to us.

The AGRItunity conference brings experts in many cutting edge agricultural fields to share their research with local farmers and ranchers. For example, new developments in crops, such as new grapes adapted to Florida’s climate and pests and hops for the growing brewery industry, will be covered. Pastures are the foundation of every animal-based business, with pasture management, equine forage and nutrition discussions at this year’s one-day conference.

Agriculture is a highly specialized business. Today’s farmers use computers, models for forecasting, and other technology to assure an extremely highquality product at the best possible price.

Financial, legal and other profitability speakers will be sharing their expertise at AGRItunity as well.

A chance to talk with various exhibitors is included in the trade show component of the conference. Fertilizer, equipment, weather forecasting, and animal exhibitors will be on hand.

For more information, call 352-5275700 or drop in at the Citrus County Government Center, 3650 W. Sovereign Path, Lecanto.

Photos, top to bottom: Arbor Trails Nursery, Copp Winery and Brewery, and M&B Dairy.

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Great Florida Cattle Drive ’16

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n 1995, to celebrate 150 years of statehood, a group of 600 adventurers drove 1,000 head of native cracker cattle across the state. Those who participated call it “the experience of a lifetime.”

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Well, it’s happening twice in a lifetime. On January 23-30, the Great Florida Cattle Drive of ’16 will begin at the Whaley Ranch on Canoe Creek Road south of St. Cloud, and end

at the Silver Spurs Arena in Kenansville.

The cattle business, and American cowboys, originated in Florida. To celebrate the previous drive and to again salute the importance of Florida’s cattle culture, organizers are creating another back-to-the-past event.

Participants will ride the trail, drive cattle, and sleep under the stars.

Each night, entertainment and activities will feature an important era in Florida’s history — Timucuan, Spanish Colonial, Civil War, Seminole, etc. — making the event a ride through Florida’s past as well as its countryside. All meals will be provided and served daily on-site.

Beverages and water will be included as well.

On Saturday, January 30, participants will finish their epic week with a celebration at trail’s end. The Frolic, which begins at 10 am, is open to the public ($10/person admission) and will include authors, singers, poets, storytellers, historians, and an art auction featuring Cowboy Artists Association of

Florida work. Proceeds will benefit the Florida Agricultural Museum in Flagler County and the Florida Cow Culture Preservation Committee.

An ancillary event, a month-long exhibit featuring contemporary Cracker art, will take place at the Brick City Center for the Arts in Ocala.

For more information, call Doyle Conner, Jr., at 850-410-0956, or visit www. GreatFloridaCattleDrive16.org.

Photographs printed here are from the 1995 drive and are courtesy of the Cattle Drive’s web site.

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s we pulled into a wooded area, all we could hear was the sound of trailer gates opening and hooves hitting the wood floors as the horses backed out.

It was late afternoon and we had to quickly settle and picket the horses and head to the Seminole Feed truck to get feed and hay for the night and morning. Then we had to find a place for our tents and meet our neighbors with whom we would be spending the next 6 nights.

For the month prior, the organizers had been gathering a herd of Cracker Cattle by inviting a certain number along with a few honored Cow Hunters from each county. It was quite a feat to settle the herd as quickly as they did. When those cattle and men gathered together it was an amazing picture.

The first day was the longest, 21 miles as I remember. This

was the big push because all the animals and people were as fresh as we were going to be. In the remaining days, we became those riders of the 1890 drive we were reenacting.

Sleeping in a pup tent was interesting and I was grateful for good weather. On the last night, in the middle of the night, I awoke to the sound of chomping on the bale of hay at the head of my tent.

Assuming the horses were loose, I stuck my head out to find a pair of huge horns. I just waved and told him to go away and, as ordered he

wandered back to the herd.

The last day when crossing the little ribbon of highway 192 into the Silver Spurs Arena, it was like being slapped back to reality.

We were no longer in the 1890s.

The drive brought understanding of how much has changed in 100 years, though I believe the human spirit has not.

If you have the chance to join the Great Cattle Drive ‘16, do it! It could have a profound effect on you; it certainly did for me. It’s a memory of a lifetime.

— Brooke Hamlin

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Water News 4,900-acre Silver Springs Forest Is Now Publicly Owned

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n December 16, 2015 in Palatka, dozens of people from state and local government, the forestry industry, and the environmental community celebrated the purchase of Silver Springs Forest, which places the 4,900-acre tract north of Silver Springs into public ownership and will protect the Silver Springs headwaters and the Silver and Ocklawaha rivers.

“Today’s celebration gave us a glimpse of the exciting restoration and enhancement opportunities to come,” said St. Johns River Water Management District Executive Director Ann Shortelle. “Thanks to the creative partnership and vision of many people, public ownership of Silver Springs Forest creates excellent potential for water storage projects, as well as allowing for

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restoration that will improve water quality in waters flowing to one of Florida’s most iconic spring systems.”

The district, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Conservation Trust for Florida (CTF) partnered on the $11.5 million purchase from Rayonier, Inc. On Dec. 10, the district took ownership of the property, which was purchased with $2 million in funding from DEP and $488,000 from CTF.

“This 4,900-acre acquisition is one of many projects made possible due to the record funding for springs restoration provided by Governor Scott and the Florida Legislature this year. It is a clear demonstration of the state’s ongoing commitment to protecting our important water resources,” said DEP Secretary Jon Steverson.

“Springs are among the state’s highest environmental priorities, and Silver Springs is one of Florida’s most precious natural resources,” said Sen. Charlie Dean. “Purchasing the forestland just north of the spring will protect Outstanding Florida Waters that flow into the Silver

and Ocklawaha rivers and provide significant opportunities for aquifer recharge. I am proud to have been part of this event to commemorate this very successful public-private partnership.”

“We are proud to partner with the district, the state, U.S. Forest Legacy, and CTF to preserve this important piece of forest,” said David L. Nunes, president and CEO of Rayonier. “Large, contiguous forested landscapes, such as this one, filter rainwater, remove pollutants, and protect fish and wildlife habitat.

This innovative public-private partnership will assure that these public benefits are provided in perpetuity thanks to the hard work by all the stakeholders involved.”

“I’d like to thank Dr. Ann Shortelle, the district’s executive director, for her commitment to the Silver Springs Forest project and the district’s Governing Board for unanimously approving to purchase and manage the property,” said Susan Carr, CTF president. “We are thrilled to report that CTF helped affect this acquisition by negotiating the purchase contract and raising needed funding. We could not

have done it without substantial donations from the Felburn Foundation, the Rick and Nancy Moskovitz Foundation, Matt and Ellen Dube in memory of Bill and Bonnie Huntley, Dr. Robert Norman and others.”

“As both a district Governing Board member and a resident of Marion County, the purchase of Silver Springs Forest is a very special opportunity,” said district Board Vice Chairman Fred Roberts of Ocala. “Through this acquisition, we are able to conserve and expand the natural, cultural and recreational resources of Marion County. Linking these thousands of acres of public lands [Indian Lake State Forest, Silver Springs State Park, the Cross Florida Greenway and district-managed lands in the Ocala National Forest] creates a 20-mile ecological greenway that will increase public recreational opportunities and enhance the area’s wildlife habitat.”

The acquisition will protect the headwaters of Halfmile Creek and an unnamed tributary, both of which flow into the Silver and Ocklawaha rivers. It will contribute to an eight-mile buffer zone where forests receive rainwater to recharge the aquifer and augment the springs’ flow.

Pictured, left to right: Conservation Trust for Florida board member, Lisa Gearen; St. Johns River Water Management District executive director, Ann Shortelle; and CTF board president, Susan Carr.

For more information, contact the Conservation Trust for Florida, 1731 NW 6th Street, Suite F, Gainesville, 352-376-4770, www.ConserveFlorida.org.

Rainbow Springs Basin Management Action Plan (BMAP)

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he Department of Environmental Protection has announced that pursuant to Section 403.067, F.S., a Final Order was entered on December 1, 2015 adopting the Rainbow Springs Group and Rainbow Springs Group Run Basin Management Action Plan (BMAP). The Rainbow Springs Group and Rainbow Springs Group Run BMAP identifies the projects and management actions necessary to achieve the nutrient (nitrogen) Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for these water bodies.

The BMAP was developed as part of the Department’s TMDL Program, as authorized under the Florida Watershed Restoration Act (Section 403.067, Florida Statutes). The Final Order has been assigned OGC Case No. 15-1618. The final BMAP was developed through collaboration with the Rainbow

Springs Basin Management Action Plan stakeholders group, with participation from local, regional, and state governmental interests; elected officials and citizens; and private interests. A copy of the BMAP is available at the Levy County Public Works Department in Bronson (contact Ms. Shenley Neely, Planning Director, Levy County Planning Department, 352-486-5405) and the Marion County Public Library, Dunnellon Branch. It can also be viewed online at http://bit.ly/1NPq9a5.

The action plan for the implementation of total maximum daily loads can be read online at http://bit. ly/1TDgbxh.

If you have questions about the BMAP, contact Terry Hansen at Terry.Hansen@dep. state.fl.us, or at 850-245-8561.

For questions about the Final Order, contact Kenny Hayman at Kenneth.Hayman@dep.state. fl.us, or at 850-245-5672.

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Three Ways to Start Your Spring Garden Now

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anuary might seem like a grim time of year to launch a new gardening column, so today I’m going to give you some hope for spring with three gardening projects that will illuminate your horticultural path as we wait together for warmer days.

Before I get started, I’d like to first thank my friend Carolyn Blakeslee, the co-creator of The Ag Mag, for inviting me to join her in this new venture as a regular columnist.

She gave me my first shot at a column years before I became a best-selling gardening author and I’m very happy to be working with her again.

So what can you do right now that will make your spring gardens spectacular? Here are three tasks I’d jump on right now.

Asian snake beans, a.k.a. yard-long beans

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1. Start Composting

Through the winter here in Florida, there’s always an abundance of falling leaves. Because it isn’t icy cold in our blessed latitude, we can compost year-round — so why not use the abundance of falling leaves to build some soil fertility?

If you’ve read my book Compost Everything: The Good Guide to Extreme Composting, you know that I don’t

The Ag Mag

by David The Good

worry too much about building nice piles or getting the perfect carbon/nitrogen ratio. I’d rather just pile up compostable materials directly around my fruit trees or on my garden beds, or tuck them into corners of the yard to rot down into crumbly humus.

Have lots of leaves? Don’t burn them or send them to the street.

They’re filled with goodness that your garden needs. Pile them right up where you hope to plant in the spring, then soak them with the hose so they don’t blow all over the yard again. Later, you can pull away the leaves, plant, then pull them back again as mulch around your transplants.

2. Start Seed Shopping

As any gardener knows, one of the most pleasant ways to spend an hour or so is flipping through a seed catalog on a chilly evening with a cup of hot tea. Bonus points if you’ve got your girl or your children by your side. The temptation is to buy way too many seeds — but fortunately, seeds are cheap, so you’re unlikely to break the bank. It’s a lot safer than flipping through an L. L. Bean catalog, that’s for sure.

One of the ways I improve my gardens annually is by testing a variety of new crops every year. My wife and I have discovered that Asian “snake beans,” also known as “yard-long beans,” will outproduce any other type of bean that we grow; plus, they taste great — particularly the green types (as opposed to the “red” or “purple” cultivars). If we hadn’t given them a try one year, we’d still be stuck growing more common bush bean varieties. We still grow some bush beans for fun, but the yard-long beans now have a favored spot in our garden plans.

If you have varieties you love and that you’ve found to be productive, keep on growing them — but be sure to pick out a few new things here and there and enjoy seeing what does well. You may discover a new favorite.

variety of seeds, and get some new beds dug now — and you’ll be celebrating your success all the way through 2016.

David The Good is a Florida native, a gardening expert, and the author of four books available 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 new horticultural inspiration every weekday at his popular gardening website www.TheSurvivalGardener.com.

Pictured below: A cover seed mix.

3. Start Digging

The cool weather makes working outdoors an enjoyable prospect. It’s more fun preparing new beds when you’re not drenched in sweat and slaving away beneath the flaming orb of a relentless sun.

One of my favorite ways to prepare a new bed is through double-digging. With a spade and a spading fork, you can create beds that are deeply loosened and perfect for popping in your spring crops. If you’re afraid of cool-season weeds taking over before you get going in the spring, you can cover your newly dug beds with landscape fabric, plastic, or a layer of mulch. There’s a woven plastic nursery fabric I like that allows water through to the soil and can also be used for a decade before it breaks down. Weeds beneath don’t have a chance and when you pull it off in the spring, you have nice, soft soil all ready for planting.

Even if you don’t bother covering the soil in newly cleared beds, weeds are still pretty easy to rake out with a hard-tined rake before you start planting in February and March. Look up doubledigging — it takes some work, but it’s truly worth it for annual gardens.

Conclusion

If you don’t wait until the last minute to start your gardens, you’ll be ahead of the game and can spend more time on the fun part of your spring gardening: popping seeds and transplants in the ground and seeing new life reach for the sky. Hang on to everything you can compost, pick out a good

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January 2016

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Communicating with the Driving Horse

by Gloria Austin Pictured with Dr. Gene Serra

C

ommunication is a two-way street, as most of us know, but the horse is basically a silent animal.

So how do we get feedback? And without a spoken language, how do we send messages to the horse? Other factors become apparent in dialogue with this animal that is bigger and stronger and cannot be forced to do what we want.

To begin with, one must understand that throughout the evolutionary history of the horse, it has been an animal of prey, and its speed and quick response has allowed it to survive. That is why the horse sleeps standing up — it can make a quick escape. As a

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browsing or grazing animal, flight has been its primary means of survival. Much of what we do with horses today is to help them not fear things they perceive as scary.

Working in our favor is the horse’s sociability. It loves being with other horses; horses have survived in herds for millennia.

They are gregarious and have a pecking order, so in the process of training and communicating, we take advantage of these attributes. We want to be their herd leader and high on the pecking order so we can direct its behavior through communication.

Horses have developed eyes on the sides of their heads to see impending danger even when grazing. They have both monocular and binocular vision and are wellsuited to see at night. They also have keen senses of touch, smell, and hearing — all of which we must understand.

Horses in the wild communicate with one another mostly through body language since noise-making would reveal their position to the enemy. So how does one develop the bond and communicate with the driving horse?

We establish bonding and communicate through touch, vision, and hearing to

Gloria Austin, driving through the busy streets of Seville and in the outdoor cones arena, at the El Salon Internacional del Caballo (SICAB), Seville, Spain, November 2015. This is a pair of Pura Raza Española (PRE, Andalusian) horses.

produce a partnership of mutual cooperation. Natural Horsemanship trainers use body language in a round pen as a means to communicate before even touching the horse.

This is much the way the mare communicates with her foal.

The start of the driver’s training is to become a keen observer of the body language since the horse cannot speak and tell us what it in thinking. The best of Natural Horsemanship trainers throughout history have been gifted in “reading the horse.”

Riding and driving have great differences in communication techniques.

The horse can feel and see the rider, whereas the driving horse cannot see nor feel the driver except through the reins and

whip. Because we lack contact with the legs and seat, we have to use other aids. The aids in riding are reins, legs, and seat.

The aids in driving are reins, voice, and whip. The voice and whip basically replace the seat and legs. Even though both riding and driving use reins to communicate, the bits and bridles are very different. We often drive more than one horse or pony simultaneously, so the control through the bit and bridle become even more important.

One of the biggest differences is that the driving horse is outfitted with a bridle with blinkers in order to take much of the horse’s vision away.

We do this to prevent the horse from seeing the whip as it taps the horse’s sides. The winkers also help the driving horse to

focus on his feet and less on the scary things coming up on its sides, particularly when driving on a roadway.

To produce a happy horse that understands its handler, the driver has to be consistent in the application of the communication aids. A good relationship requires daily human interaction and daily routine work. The equine’s behavior is also influenced by the personality and emotional state of the handler.

Bonding and good communication depend on time, consistency, repetition, and a calm, even demeanor. The brain chemistry of both the horse and human are altered through proximity and touching. This is just another reason why the grooming and ground care of the horse is important.

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David E. Saunders, Gloria Austin’s coachman, drove the two horses pictured on the previous page plus two others in the “Gloria’s Diamond” turnout in Ring Two of SICAB in Spain in November. Gloria said, “We are the first to present horses in this fashion: one horse in the wheel position to a single-horse carriage; a pair in the swing position; and a single horse in the lead. This configuration was done

We carriage drivers think even “nagging” is a good thing. To learn about how to be a good nagger and how to use the voice, the whip (or tickle stick as I call it), and reinsmanship, see Communicating with the Driving Horse. For the person already driving, the book will also show you bending, flexion, and lateral movements that will help with your driven dressage, marathon, and cones scores.

Gloria Austin is a Master Evaluator and Instructor for the Carriage Association of America (CAA) and President of Equine Heritage Institute, Inc. (EHI). The founder of the worldrenowned Austin Carriage Collection, she has written several books that are available on Amazon including A Drive Through Time: Carriages, Horses and History; A Glossary of Harness Parts and Related Terms; The Horse, History and Human Culture; and Horse Basics 101, her newest book. For more information, visit www.GloriaAustin.com.

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as a challenge to me by a Dutchman to do something unusual with horses. As the diamond pattern turnout had not been done before, it was named for me, ‘Gloria’s Diamond.’”

Wild Orange Pound Cake Recipe by Jeri Baldwin 4 sticks of butter (1 pound).

NOTE: Remove sticks of butter from refrigerator the night before and allow to soften.

3 cups all-purpose flour 3 cups sugar 1 cup buttermilk ¼ teaspoon baking soda 5 tablespoons wild orange juice 3 tablespoons grated orange peel 8 eggs (free range are best)

Above: Cake about to come out of the oven. Below: Cooled cake on cake plate.

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. In a medium-sized bowl, mix

baking soda and buttermilk; let stand.

3. Measure sugar into a separate, large mixing bowl.

A pastry blender works best for all mixing. Using pastry blender, add 1 stick of butter at a time into the sugar until they are completely blended.

Add 1 egg at a time to butter/ sugar mixture; mix completely until all eggs are added. Add flour, ½ cup at a time, mixing completely until all flour is added. Add buttermilk/ soda mix to cake batter; mix thoroughly. Add wild orange juice, mix. Add wild orange grated peel, mix.

4. Lightly grease a 10-inch bundt pan just before adding batter. Add cake batter to bundt pan; DO NOT shake or strike pan, as the cake will fall. Bake for 90 minutes. Carefully open the oven door, gently insert toothpick into cake; if pick comes out clean, cake is done. Gently place cake on cooling rack until it begins to pull from edges of pan; tap pan until cake loosens totally from edges. Turn cake onto cooling rack and continue to cool. When cake is completely cool to touch, place it on cake plate, cover.

5. Wild orange pound cake can be enhanced with an orange/honey glaze, drizzled with elderberry syrup, wild grape syrup, or wild plum syrup, or simply toasted with butter.

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Second Nature

by Melody Murphy

It’s Only Natural

F

ull disclosure: I’ll tell you right up front that I don’t work in agriculture. But I am descended from many a farmer.

One great-grandfather was a Florida Cracker cowboy, riding his horse around his fields of strawberries and peas with a shotgun to scare off bobcats or blow away the huge rattlesnakes that frequently appeared. He also had a rawhide whip to crack sharply for that purpose, which is where “Crackers” get their name.

Another great-grandfather was a livestock trader in Georgia whose business card read simply “Real Estate, Cows, Hogs, Horses & Mules” under his name. It listed the road he lived on, but not his house number, because that wasn’t necessary: Everyone in town knew where “Uncle Sam” lived and that he conducted business from his front porch. My dream is to work from my porch.

One grandfather came from a family of sharecroppers in Alabama, and cotton-picking is the setting of many stories. In the most Southern still life there ever was, I have cotton bolls in my greatgrandmother’s Rhett Butler mug on my mantel. This is because when I was up there last fall, I regretted not stopping to pick a boll to bring home, and one of my cousins went out and picked a whole box of cotton to mail to me. One of the best gifts ever.

The other grandfather came from sawmilling and coal-mining in Virginia, and one greatgrandfather worked in an Alabama iron foundry,

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where he made many of the cast-iron skillets in which I cook my cornbread and stew my squash to this day. I will never be anemic because I have soaked up so much iron through a lifetime of castiron cooking. So any way you look at it, I come from many generations of people working with and living off the land.

As for me, I am an appreciator of nature and agriculture, in favor of conservation whenever possible. Fear grabs my insides when I hear or read the word “development.” I’d rather see woods than a shopping center any day, and I’d rather everyone had to brew their own coffee and make their own sandwiches than to see land cleared for yet another

fast food or overpriced beverage establishment.

Nothing makes me sadder than to stand where there used to be a sweeping view of orange groves and now see nothing but cookie-cutter stucco houses built too close together.

I wish Florida were still primarily a rural, agricultural state. I like the point in history when air-conditioning was introduced and made widely available, but some point between then and when the masses descended is when I’d like to have frozen time. I’m never more delighted than when I glimpse a bit of old Florida: a Cracker farmhouse, a mule, a flock of wild turkeys, a tiny clapboard church, an old man in overalls selling produce out of a pickup truck, a barbecue joint that looks like a hard wind might take it down. My heart leaps up when I behold an untouched field of live oaks festooned with Spanish moss. I am never more contented than when driving through cow pastures as far as the eye can see.

I take joy in pecan groves, winding creeks, cypress swamps, hay bales, a chorus of owls under a full moon, phlox along a country lane, blackberry brambles, a bright red fox in the autumn twilight, shooting stars, a black bear ambling across the road in the forest, deer in the distance through the morning mist, otters floating down a river, mullets leaping in a marsh, magnolias in bloom, cardinals outside my window, the heavenly fragrance of orange blossoms.

I chase sunsets and host harvest moon parties.

I’ve been to the beach to watch the sunrise. I’ve cried over trees being cut down. I gather wild mint for my iced tea and speak nicely to blacksnakes, as they are useful. I commune with raccoons and let pretty little green lizards live in my house as free pest control. (No joke. There’s one now keeping me company six feet away.)

Nothing pleases me more than picking scuppernongs in September or when I find an oldfashioned watermelon with seeds I can spit. I keep gardenias in a jelly jar on my nightstand in the spring, and I inspect acorns in the fall to see what kind of winter we’re going to have. I can smell a storm coming and keep an eye out for rainbow weather. I love rainy days, I like to walk barefoot in red clay whenever possible, and I think there isn’t much that fresh air won’t cure.

So although I write about the land rather than work it, I still say I live off it — as none of us could live without it, and why would we want to? Nature is second nature to me, and I’d like to keep it that way.

Southern for many generations of her heritage, Melody Murphy is a local writer, occasional actress, enthusiastic cook, and, as one of the last few natives inhabiting the Sunshine State who has never lived anywhere else, a proud Florida Cracker. Her blood is equal parts saltwater and fresh-squeezed orange juice, with a generous dash of hot sauce. Author’s photograph by Gina England Photography. The other photos are by Melody Murphy.

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Arabian Horse Study to Combat Obesity and Laminitis in Horses

T

he University of Florida Department of Animal Science and College of Veterinary Medicine, with the UF Genetics Institute, is preparing to conduct a study examining substances generated in the blood from obese horses that might have equine metabolic syndrome.

Equine metabolic syndrome is a disease similar to human Type II Diabetes, in which conditions of obesity are linked to abnormal responses of insulin, the hormone that controls sugar levels in the blood.

A combination of abnormal response to insulin, poor diet, lack of exercise, and genetics are hallmarks of this syndrome in people and there is evidence that horses are affected similarly.

Unfortunately, this disease is often hard to confirm by endocrine testing and once a horse is clinically affected, the obesity is difficult to control. One result can be the painful or fatal condition of the hooves, laminitis or founder.

The goal of this study is to measure chemical signatures in the blood that will help researchers learn why horses develop this disease. Many of these substances have yet to be implicated in this disease, so metabolomic analysis will generate new targets for early diagnosis and treatment. These substances will be analyzed against each horse’s diet, exercise, and overall health

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history in order to account for these important factors.

Inclusion Criteria: If you own an Arabian horse that is older than 10 years of age, you are invited to contact the researchers for possible enrollment of your horse. They are seeking both normal, healthy horses as well as horses with weight control problems — body condition of 7 or more. If you are a veterinarian, please pass on study information to any of your clients who might be interested in participating.

Treatment: Researchers will make a farm call free of charge to collect several tubes of blood from each enrolled horse at your farm or stable. The horse will undergo a brief physical examination and have its picture taken. The horse must not be fed after midnight the night before the blood draw, as food can impact insulin measurements.

Cost: There is no cost for your participation. UF will provide to you, or your veterinarian, the results of the insulin/ACTH testing, though this might take several months to process.

Contact: Dr. Martha Mallicote, 352-392-2229, or Dr. Samantha Brooks, 352-273-8080.

Other Studies: Brazilian Gaited Horses are also sought for a study on identification of genetic components of gait type.

Visit www.neighdna.com/.

Coming Soon to Florida: Medical Marijuana

I

n late November, the Florida Department of Health announced that five nurseries in Florida had been approved to grow, process, and distribute medical marijuana. In 2014, a bill was signed into law that set up a system to allow low-THC, or “non-euphoric,” marijuana.

The approved nurseries, out of 28 that applied, include Chestnut Hill Tree Farm in Alachua. Nurseries in other areas of the state are Alpha Foliage, Costa Nursery Farms, Hackney Nursery Co., and Knox Nursery.

Each nursery had to meet significant requirements including being in business for at least 30 years, paying a $60,063 application fee, having an inventory of at least 400,000 plants, and posting a $5 million performance bond.

The nurseries will grow the marijuana and create an infused oil for oral ingestion, to be distributed to physicians and others who are approved and added to the Compassionate Use Registry.

For more information, consult Chapter 64-4 (“Compassionate Use”) of the Florida Code at http://bit. ly/21IdjVN.

Calendar of Events Hawkins, jhawkins@fb.org. NOTE: 4-H and FFA Student Experience is being held January 11-14; free admission for FFA and 4-H students; one free chaperone and one free advisor per chapter. http://annualconvention.fb.org/4h-ffastudent-experience/.

Courses, Fairs, Conferences, Meetings, etc.

January 5

Master Gardener Satellite Plant Clinic. Have your gardening questions answered by a Marion County Master Gardener. 10-1, Dunnellon Public Library, 20351 Robinson Road, Dunnellon, FL. Information: 352-671-8400, www. marioncountyfl.org/departments-agencies/departments-a-n/extension-service.

January 5

Pasture and Paddock Management Workshops intended primarily for gentleman farms, ranchettes and hobby farms. Establishment, renovation, and care of pastures for horses and cattle.

Grasses that do well for small pastures and paddocks; stocking/grazing management; how to fertilize properly (when, and with what); weed control. 6 pm. UF/ IFAS Extension Levy County, 625 N. Hathaway Ave., Bronson, FL. Information: Sharon, 352-486-5131, shardison@ ufl.edu, http://levy.ifas.ufl.edu/.

January 6

Extension Florida Tobacco Growers’ meeting and working luncheon, 102, District Community Center, Branford.

Specialists: Dr. J. Michael Moore, U of GA, Extension Tobacco Specialist; Dr.

Paul Bertrand, U of GA, Extension Plant Pathologist; Dr. Don Dickson, UF Extension Nematologist. Topics: Varieties, fertility, insect control updates, nematode resistance, disease control update, curing efficiency technology. Possible CEUs from FDACS towards renewal of Private Pesticide Applicator’s License.

Information: 386-294-1279.

January 7 The UF IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center will host a field tour of the St. Helena and Wheeler greening-resistant rootstock trials. At the St. Helena site, Dr. Jude Grosser will be presenting the latest information on the trial. Attendees are asked to meet at the St. Helena site at 10 am to begin the tour, which includes a box lunch. The event is free. Register at http://www.eventbrite. com/e/polk-county-oj-break-field-daytickets-18908073557.

January 8-13

American Farm Bureau Annual Convention and IDEAg Trade Show (January 10-11), Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, www. floridafarmbureau.org/american-farmbureau-annual-convention/. Information: Michael.Rogalsky@ffbf.org, John

January 9

Florida AGstravaganza, Sumter County Fairgrounds. The program includes all-day FDACS CEUs for pesticide licenses as well as Beef Quality Assurance program. $10/person. UF/IFAS Extension Sumter County, Bushnell.

352-569-6862, http://sumter.ifas.ufl.edu/, https://floridaagstravaganza.eventbrite. com/.

January 11

Agriculture Focus Group on sustainable production. Open to food producers in north central Florida. $100 paid to participants. 2-4 pm, UF campus, Gainesville. Register at http:// bit.ly/1kmfAnK. Information: Heather Keown, 352-273-2095, hrkeown@ufl. edu. Another Focus Group will occur in Jacksonville on January 25.

January 11-14

4-H and FFA Student Experience / 2016 American Farm Bureau Federation Convention. See the January 8-13 listing, above.

January 12

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,

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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. This class will be repeated October 6.

January 12

Marion County Soil and Water Conservation District Board meeting, 9 am, USDA Ocala Service Center, 2441 NE Third St., Suite 204-2, Ocala, Information: Ann Bishop, 352-622-3971, x.112. Subsequent meetings: 2/11, 3/10, 4/14, 5/12, 6/9, 7/14, 8/11, 9/8, 10/13, 11/10, 12/8.

January 12

St. Johns River Water Management District Governing Board meeting, 10 am, District headquarters, 4049 Reid St., Palatka. Information: Missy McDermont, 386-329-4214. Subsequent meetings: 1/13, 2/10, 3/10, 4/14, 5/12, 6/9, 7/14, 8/11, 9/8, 9/22 (final budget meeting to be held at 5 pm), 10/13, 11/10, 12/8.

“Like” our Natural Awakenings Facebook page for breaking news about ag news, events, cool pictures, and humor.

www.facebook.com/ TheAgricultureMagazine Facebook is a registered trademark of Facebook, Inc.

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January 14

Arbor Day at the Appleton. In celebration of Arbor Day, docents will be stationed in the galleries to meet with visitors and discuss the importance and symbolism of trees, flowers, and other botanicals in the museum’s collection.

12-3 pm. Appleton Museum, 4333 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala, FL 34470.

January 20

Withlacoochee Regional Water Supply Authority meeting, 3:30 pm, Lecanto Government Building, 3600 W. Sovereign Path, Room 166, Lecanto. Information: Nancy Smith, 352-527-5795, www.wrwsa.org. Subsequent meetings: 1/21, 2/18, 3/18, 4/15, 5/20, 6/17, 7/15, 8/19, 9/16.

January 14

Florida Cattlemen’s Institute and Allied Trade Show. Statewide event brings together nationwide cattle experts. Free; lunch provided (pre-registration requested so they don’t run out).

9-3, Turner Agri-Center, 2250 NE Roan St., Arcadia, FL. Information: Megan Mann, 352-343-4101, horsygrl@ufl.edu, http://bit.ly/1TDCKSf.

January 21

Easy As PIE Webinar: The Florida Wildlife Corridor Project. 2-3 pm.

Speaker: Mallory Dimmitt, Florida Wildlife Corridor Executive Director.

The Florida Wildlife Corridor project combines conservation science with compelling imagery and rich storytelling to heighten the visibility of the Corridor and inspire its protection. In this webinar, Ms. Dimmitt will discuss various projects under her direction which combine agriculture, natural resources, conservation, and the arts. To join the webinar, register in advance at http://bit. ly/1NlvnNU. Information: Becky Raulerson, beckyraulerson@ufl.edu, 352273-2751.

January 15

Green Industries: Best Management Practices (GI-BMP). This is an educational program for people working in lawn care and landscape maintenance.

The GI-BMP program teaches environmentally safe landscaping practices that help conserve and protect Florida’s ground and surface waters. Florida Statute 482.1562 requires all commercial fertilizer applicators to have a license from the FL Dept. of Agriculture and Consumer Services. To get this license, each Green Industry worker must be trained in the GI-BMP and receive a certificate of completion from UF/IFAS and FDEP. $25, 8:15-3:30, lunch is included.

Terry Holt, UF/IFAS Extension Marion County, 2232 NE Jacksonville Rd., Ocala, FL, 352-671-8400. This course is repeated April 26, July 12, and October 18.

January 16

Living Whole. This event will explore healing and vitality in living through natural foods, physical activity, and emotional stimulation. Dr. Wayne Garland and Chef Alfie Cresentini, who are developing food for curing cancers, will be present. Vendors with health and wholeness products or services are invited to apply for booth space for the event. Crones Cradle Conserve, Citra, 352-595-3377, catcrone@aol.com.

January 22-23

AGRItunity, sponsored by the Ag Alliance of Citrus County. UF/IFAS Extension Citrus County, Citrus.IFAS.UFL. edu, 352-527-5700. See ad, back cover.

January 23

Swine on the Suwannee Jackpot Swine Show. $25/entry, $10/showmanship if entries received by January 12; $10/late registration, $25/day of show late fee. Show held at Suwannee River Fairgrounds, 17851 NW 90th Ave., Fanning Springs, FL. Information: Kelly Varnes, 352-231-1968, kovarnes@yahoo.com, www.RuddsShowSupply.com.

January 23-30

The Great Florida Cattle Drive of 2016. In 1995, to celebrate 150 years of

ment. Information: Kimberly Moore Wilmoth, 352-294-3302, www.fred. ifas.ufl.edu/FlAgPolicyOutlookConference/.

January 29

“For Hire” workshop for charter captains and fishing guides. $25 (preregistration required) includes materials, lunch, refreshments. To be held at the Marine Science Station, 12646 W. Fort Island Trail, Crystal River, FL 34429.

Information: Sarah Ellis or Stephanie Clamer, Citrus County Extension Service, 352-527-5700.

statehood, a group of 600 cattle men and women, historians, horse lovers, artists, walkers, wagon drivers, media people, and other adventurers drove 1,000 head of native cracker cattle along the same route as the 1890s drive. The event is being repeated. Information: Doyle Conner, Jr., Division of Animal Industry, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Doyle.Conner@ FreshFromFlorida.com, 850-410-0956, www.GreatFloridaCattleDrive16.org.

Outlook Conference. 10-4, UF’s MidFlorida Research and Education Center, Apopka. $50 includes a catered lunch.

This event will be the kickoff for a new agribusiness policy center in the Food and Resource Economics Depart-

February 1-5

Florida Gardening 101. For those new to gardening or just new to gardening in central Florida, this 5-evening class will teach the basics to help you be successful at growing just about every kind of plant. Subjects will include building soil, composting, mulching, garden pests, vegetable gardening, plant propagation. $30/person or $50/

January 26

Introduction to Pasture Management. UF/IFAS Lake County Livestock and Pasture Agent, Megan Mann, will give a talk on pasture management. Topics will include nutrient management, soil testing, grazing concepts, weed control. $5 includes printed material.

6-8 pm, UF/IFAS Lake County Extension Classroom. Pre-register at https:// lakepastureclass.eventbrite.com. Information: Megan Mann, 352-343-4101, horsygrl@ufl.edu.

January 27-28

2016 Florida Citrus Show. Growers may attend free; registration includes the educational program about citrus greening, trade show, and 1/27 lunch.

Held at the Havert L. Fenn Center, Ft. Pierce. CitrusShow.com.

January 28

Florida Agricultural Policy

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couple, includes printed materials and light snacks. Monday-Friday, 6-8:30 pm.

Terry Holt, UF/IFAS Extension Marion County, 2232 NE Jacksonville Rd., Ocala, FL, 352-671-8400. This class will be repeated September 12-16.

February 2-3

Florida Farm Bureau’s annual Legislative Days, Tallahassee. Legislative briefing dinner, Tuesday evening, 5:30 pm, at Tallahassee Automobile Museum; RSVP by email to Christine.

Scovotto@ffbf.org. Taste of Florida Agriculture reception, Capitol Courtyard on Wednesday, 5 pm. Information: www.

FloridaFarmBureau.org.

February 3

4-H Day at the Capitol in Tallahassee. Contact your representative to set up meetings. $15-28 registration for tee shirts, lunch, interaction with the legislature, tours. http://florida4h.org/ programsandevents_/capitolday/.

February 4-15

Florida State Fair. For entry deadlines, call 813-627-4229 or visit www. floridastatefairag.com/ February 5

Small Scale Mushroom Production. Cost is $80-135 depending on level of participation and date of registration

(Early Bird registrations close January 10). Primary Participant receives mushroom toolkit, two inoculated natural logs, two inoculated synthetic logs, a notebook, lunch, and refreshments. Held 8:30-4:30 at Suwannee Valley Agricultural Extension Center, 8202 CR 417, Live Oak, FL 32060. Information: Dilcia Toro, dtoro@ufl.edu, 386-362-1725, x.102. Register online at http://smallfarmsacademy.eventbrite.com. UF/IFAS Small Farms Academy, http://svaec.ifas. ufl.edu/sfa.

February 6

Cast Iron Cook-Off Contest. This event will feature prized cast iron cooking recipes in several categories. Vendors are invited to apply for booth space for the event. Crones Cradle Conserve, Citra, 352-595-3377, catcrone@aol.com.

February 11

Teacher Workshop and Farm Tour, Broward County. Open to all educators, formal and not, working with pre-K through 12th. $10 registration fee includes tour, lunch, 8 professional development points, lesson plans and activities. Florida Agriculture in the Classroom, www.faitc.org/teacher-workshopand-farm-tour-registration-available.

February 16-17

5th UF Water Institute Sym-

posium. Trends, cycles, and extreme events pose challenges to management of water resources. Coastal flooding brings intrusion of salt water into municipal and agricultural water supplies.

Seasonal and long-term climate cycles challenge us. Floods and droughts, along with chronic nutrient loading, trigger harmful algal blooms in estuaries and inland waters. Such trends, cycles, and extreme events present complex physical and social challenges that require improved scientific understanding and innovative engineering and management solutions. The symposium will bring together individuals from a variety of institutions, disciplines and perspectives.

Presentations, poster sessions and panel discussions will focus on new science, technology, and policy that address drivers of/interactions among trends, cycles, and extreme events; impacts to coastal, surface water, and aquifer systems; and solutions that integrate science, technology, policy, and management. Early registration deadline January 19th. J. Wayne Reitz Union, University of Florida Campus, Gainesville, FL. Information: Lisette M. Staal, 352-392-5893, x.114 or lstaal@ufl.edu.

February 24-28

Live Oak International. Combined Driving and Show Jumping event. Sunday the 28th, 2016 inaugural Live Oak International 5K. 2215 SW 110th Ave., Ocala, 352-873-9407, www.LiveOakInternational.com.

March 3-13

Florida Strawberry Festival, Plant City. www.flstrawberryfestival.com/ March 14-15 or 18-19

Starting a Successful Hydroponic Business. This program will feature hands-on activities inside three greenhouses, a shade house, and an outdoor production area at the facility for two days and will also provide an optional grower tour on March 15 or March 19 for each class. Topics to be covered include: planning the business and developing a marketing strategy, growing transplants, selecting hydroponic systems, soilless media choices, irrigation and fertilizer, managing pests, and

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the production of several crops from microgreens to herbs to cut flowers to tomatoes. The short course is being offered in response to the tremendous increase in demand for information on using hydroponics and controlled growing systems to provide high quality locally grown products for local markets.

The short course is perfect for those considering the venture or who have recently started a hydroponic business.

The facility is one of the best in the southeast for teaching hydroponic growing in an actual operating greenhouse setting. Attendees will learn firsthand by doing it themselves. The optional tour will be an exclusive visit inside one of the most successful and modern greenhouse hydroponic operations in Florida. This workshop is for the small farmer wanting to start a business using controlled growing systems to provide high quality locally grown products for local markets, as well as families looking for an interesting hobby that will provide fresh flowers, vegetables, and herbs. The cost is $210-325 depending on level of participation and date of registration (discount before February 25); $30 optional tour, 4:30-6:30 pm day 2. All day both days; held at Suwannee Valley Agricultural Extension Center, 8202 CR 417, Live Oak, FL 32060. Information: Dilcia Toro, dtoro@ufl.edu, 386-362-1725, x.102. Register online at http://smallfarmsacademy.eventbrite. com. Registration deadline is March 8th.

UF/IFAS Small Farms Academy, http:// svaec.ifas.ufl.edu/sfa.

brary. 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.

Positions Open Available Now

The Ag Mag is seeking independent account managers in the North Central Florida Region including Alachua, Levy, Marion, & Citrus counties. Must have some knowledge of agriculture as well as advertising sales experience. Excellent customer service a must. Needs to be a self-starter to develop, grow and maintain relationships with clients.

Several open territories available. Questions? Call Brooke, 352-537-0096.

Please send resumes to TheAgMag@ gmail.com.

Deadlines Vary

Florida Sea Grant. If you are interested in marine and coastal work, check in with the Florida Sea Grant program, as new positions are posted frequently. www.flseagrant.org/about/jobs/ Deadlines Vary

Internships in the beef industry.

Many opportunities; some include hous-

ing. www.floridacattlemen.org/internship-opportunities/ Deadlines Vary

UF/IFAS. Extension agents, dairy cattle assistants, water resources agents, horticulture agents, veterinary support, professors, teaching assistants, much more. Check out the list at http://explore. jobs.ufl.edu/cw/en-us/listing/.

Scholarships, Grants, Other Funding Deadline January 3

Farm Credit VIP Scholarship Program. Up to 20 scholarships of $2,000 each; $1,000 goes to MANRRS Career Fair and Training Conference in Jacksonville, March 30; and $1,000 goes to college tuition, room and board. Open to undergrad. and grad. students, seeking to pursue an ag career, with a GPA of 3.0 or higher. http://bit.ly/1IKHsxk.

Deadline January 8

Southeastern Youth Fair 2016 Scholarship. Open to Marion County residents with cattle experience. The following must be included with your

March 28-April 2

Citrus County Fair. www.citruscountyfair.com/fair.html.

April 7-16

Lake County Fair. www.lakecofair. com/.

Dates Vary

Citrus County Extension Svc. Remote Plant Clinic Dates and Locations.

Fourth Monday: 2 pm, Sugarmill Woods Library. 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 Li-

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application: 3 letters of recommendation, one of which must be by a leader or advisor (no family members); high school transcript to include discipline records; scholarship application form; essay of 500-1,000 words describing how the Southeastern Youth Fair has benefited you. Submit 5 copies of the application packet to Southeastern Youth Fair, P.O. Box 404, Ocala, FL 34478. Information: 352-629-1255, seyfair@gmail. com, http://seyfair.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/2016SCHOLARSHIP-APPLICATION.pdf.

Deadline January 21

Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP). The BFRDP is an education, training, technical assistance, and outreach program designed to help farmers and ranchers who are aiming to start farming or have been farming less than 10 years. http://1.usa.gov/1NYngbH. Deadline January 22

NOAA Coastal Management Fellowship. This twoyear fellowship is intended to provide on-the-job education and training opportunities in coastal resource management and policy for postgraduate students and to provide project assistance to state coastal zone management programs. The program matches postgraduate students with state coastal zone programs to work on two-year projects proposed by the state and selected by the fellowship sponsor, the NOAA Coastal Services Center. Any student who will complete a master’s, doctoral, or professional degree program in natural resource management or environmental-related studies at an accredited U.S. university between January 1, 2015, and July 31, 2016, is eligible. Students from a broad range of environmental

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programs are encouraged to apply. This opportunity offers a competitive salary, medical benefits, and travel and relocation expense reimbursement. Information: www.flseagrant.org/students/scholarships/coastal-management/.

Deadline January 29

A total of $4 million in state funding is available for water conservation projects in the Central Florida Water Initiative region and the North Florida Regional Water Supply Partnership region. Open to public entities that help create sustainable water resources, enhance conservation efforts and improve efficiency of use. Projects are generally eligible for a maximum cost-share of 50 percent of the implementation costs for selected water conservation projects and a maximum of $1 million for a single project. Rural Economic Development Initiative (REDI) communities are encouraged to apply for funding; full funding is available for these economically disadvantaged communities. Informational meetings Jan. 6-7. Information: http://goo.gl/OUQShz. Deadline February 1

The Farmer Veteran Fellowship Fund. Provides direct assistance to veterans in their beginning years of farming or ranching. The Fund does not give money directly to the veteran, but rather to a third-party vendor for any items that make a critical difference in the launch of a young farm business. $300,000 will be awarded in 2016. Applicants must have served in the U.S. Armed Forces, currently be on active duty, or serving in the military reserve/National Guard; must be members of the Farmer Veteran Coalition (farmvetco.org, no membership fee); must have an honorable discharge (other characters of discharge may be accepted on a case-by-case basis) or a command support letter; must have an agricultural business in operation, and submit a business plan; and be willing to fully participate in the Fellowship Program, which includes reporting progress, mentoring aspiring veteran farmers, etc. http://www.farmvetco.org/about-us/our-programs/farmingfellowship/ Deadline February 1

The Florida Sea Grant Scholars Program. Provides financial support to high-achieving graduate or undergraduate students who are enrolled full-time at Florida universities, in order to support timely and innovative ocean and coastalrelated research. Five $2,000 scholarships will be awarded.

Selected projects must align with one or more of the goals identified in the 2014-2017 Strategic Plan (www.flseagrant. org/about/strategicplan/). Students are eligible to receive the award just one time, as the aim is to support a diversity of projects and establish a cadre of scholars over the lifetime of this award. Scholars will participate in a Sea Grant event in 2016 or 2017 and will spend a day shadowing a Sea Grant extension agent, in addition to using their funds to support their research program (attending extension retreat or the next coastal science symposium). Information: Dr. Karl Havens, 352-392-5870, www.flseagrant.org/students/scholarships/seagrant/.

Deadline February 12

John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship. Provides a unique educational experience to graduate students who have an interest in ocean or coastal resources and in the national policy decisions affecting those resources. The program matches highly qualified graduate students with hosts in the legislative and executive branch of federal government in the Washington, D.C. area, for a one-year paid fellowship. The amount of this award, contingent on federal funding, is $56,500 to each fellow for stipend, living expense and travel. Information: Dr. Karl Havens, 352-392-5870, http://seagrant.noaa.gov/fundingfellowships/knaussfellowship.aspx Deadline March 10

Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Programs. $17.6 million to support research and outreach activities that will help growers, producers, and processors find innovative ways to improve organic agriculture. http://1.usa. gov/1NRY5Tz Deadlines Vary

Alachua County Farm Bureau. Scholarships, mini-grants for Ag Literacy Day Pizza Parties, speech contest, Teacher Ag Mini Grants, Agri Science Awards, grants for Youth Fair transportation, Youth Fair and Livestock Show achievement awards. Information: www.alachuacountyfarmbureau.com/programs-2/youth/.

Deadlines Vary or Ongoing

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

Holy Moses Water Treatment, Bryant’s Pump Service and Well Drilling 24-Hour Emergency Service Pumps, Wells, Softening, Purification and More ­— All makes and sizes!

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

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Farming Wonders of the World

T

he dark squares that make up the checkerboard pattern in this image are fields of a sort — fields of seaweed.

Along the south coast of South Korea, seaweed is often grown on ropes, which are held near the surface with buoys. This technique ensures that the seaweed stays close enough to the surface to get enough light during high tide but doesn’t scrape against the bottom during low tide.

The Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8 acquired this image of seaweed cultivation in the shallow waters around Sisan Island on January 31, 2014. Home to a thriving aquaculture industry, the south coast of South Korea produces about 90 percent of the country’s seaweed crop. The waters around Sisan are not the only place where aquaculture is common. View the large image to see how ubiquitous seaweed aquaculture is along the coast in Jeollanam-do, the southernmost province on the Korean peninsula.

Two main types of seaweed are cultivated in South Korea: Undaria (known as miyeok in Korean, wakame in Japanese) and Pyropia (gim in Korean, nori in Japanese). Both types are used generously in traditional Korean, Japanese, and Chinese food.

Since 1970, farmed seaweed production has increased by approximately 8 percent per year. Today, about 90 percent of all the seaweed that humans consume globally is farmed. That may be good for the environment. In comparison to other types of food production, seaweed farming has a light environmental footprint because it does not require fresh water or fertilizer.

NASA Earth Observatory image by Jesse Allen, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Caption by Adam Voiland.

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10 YEARS OF GROWING YOUR CHANCES FOR AGRICULTURAL SUCCESS JANUARY 22 -23

Friday January 22

Behind the scenes tour of local innovative operations Microbrewery Hydroponic nursery Dairy

2016

Saturday January 23

Conference / Tradeshow Talk to the Experts!

Equine FL Grapes Chickens Legal issues Mushrooms Hops Methods to increase your profitability

For more information contact UF/IFAS EXTENSION CITRUS COUNTY CITRUS.IFAS.UFL.EDU 352-527-5700

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Sponsored by the Ag Alliance of Citrus County