Pocketbook Issues Discussed at FFBF Meeting
by Randall – October 10th, 2008
The 67th Annual Meeting of the Florida Farm Bureau Federation has been underway this week in Orlando, and FFBF’s Pat Cockrell said when it comes to policy issues, a lot of discussion has taken place concerning input costs which farmers across the state are facing.
The October forecast for the U.S. cotton crop has been released by USDA, as Shiela Corley with NASS in Washington D.C. has the numbers.
Beef checkoff dollars in Florida have really been down the past few years, as help from the Federation of State Beef Councils has kept certain programs underway in the state. But with the fact the new national budget had to be trimmed, those dollars may be harder to come by for the new fiscal year.
Good general rainfall has been seen across the Southeast the past couple of days, thus harvest has been slowed in many areas. But when it comes to peanut fields that have already been combined, Ken Barton with the Florida Peanut Producers Association says some pretty good yields have been found.
In Sarasota, Florida this week John Deere officials displayed hundreds of tractors, many of them new models to become available in 2009, many of them geared toward the ‘lifestyle’ rural crowd and folks involved in things like citrus, nursery, vineyards and other agriculture operations. According to John Deere representatives on hand for the event, the new models coupled with the more traditional larger models target today’s farm equipment consumer no matter what size of the operation. Whether it be for the very large ag operations or the very small, and all in between, John Deere seems to be making a real effort to serve all market segments when it comes to farm and lawn care equipment. 
In this post herein you can listen to interviews and view documents we received from the John Deere folks this week in Sarasota, as they hosted agriculture media along with John Deere dealer representatives from throughout North America. Just click to see the rest of this post and you’ll find links to the interviews and other materials. 
Florida Farm Bureau’s 67th Annual Meeting begins Wednesday at the Peabody in Orlando. Members and leaders from across the state will converge to set policy, elect leaders and recognize accomplishments. The meeting concludes Friday with the Commissioner of Agriculture’s environmental leadership awards breakfast. 
Brock Family Farm in Monticello - Gene Brock and his son, Kirk, farm just over a thousand acres where they grow corn, soybeans, peanuts and cotton. 
Carroll Brothers Nursery in Clearwater run by Richard and Bob Carroll. The nursery grows about 200,000 gardenia plants each year in 10 different varieties. 
Florida state conservationist Carlos Suarez with USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service is urging agricultural landowners to make sure they have a comprehensive conservation plan in place for their farm or ranch. 
We at Southeat AgNet were honored to be invited to the celebration of the partnership of the World Equestrian Games and Alltech Equine Products. I, Nicholle Saylor, participated in the event on behalf of our company. Being of the equine industry I understand the importance this partnership will bring to Florida as participants gather in our state to condition their mounts for this spectacular event. The Alltech World Eqestrian Games will be held at the Kentucky Horse Park in 2010 and will be broadcast live on the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) as well as NBC. Spectators will enjoy athletes and horses from several different disaplines ranging from dressage and eventing to reining and even Para-Equestrian. Theses events will spread over 16 days of extraordinary competiton ending in eight world championships. For details on this exciting partnership and tickets to the World Equestrian Games visit 
In the first report posted below, Lake County Extension Agent Ryan Atwood explains why fogging in groves for citrus psyllid control is not allowed, and what is being done about getting product labels changed to allow for this application method. Many believe fogging shows promise in the battle against the spread of psyllids and citrus ‘greening’ disease. In the second report, more from Atwood regarding other concerns of citrus growers his region of Florida. 
RENO, Nev., Oct. 3, 2008 - Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer today said that USDA would fully implement President George W. Bush’s directive to offer incentives to farmers and ranchers for opening up their land in the Conservation Reserve Program to the public for hunting, fishing, bird watching and other recreational activities. Schafer made the announcement at the White House Conference on North American Wildlife Policy today in Reno. 
These two reports feature Tim Gaver, who recently landed the regional citrus extension slot based out of Ft Pierce, FL. In the first report, Gaver discusses citrus greening, as one of those involved in a series of greening information meetings going on around Florida right now. In the second report, he talks about how growers in his region are dealing with the aftermath of Storm FAY, which dumped more than a foot of rainfall along the River region a few weeks back. 
In this report, how citrus growers working together can have a better chance of controlling the citrus psyllid pests that spread HLB, also known as ‘citrus greening’ disease. Southeast AgNet’s Ernie Neff recently caught up with VP of Grove Operations for Southern Gardens Citrus (in photo), to discuss the value of working closely with neighbors in the effort to best control the spread of citrus psyllids.
In this report, some brief comments about the progress being made at Florida Citrus Packers Association with regard to new varieties research. Packers’ spokesman Richard Kinney says his team is searching far and wide for varieties that will do well in Florida, and which may help growers and industry weather the ongoing storm of disease challenges facing them. 
