Florida Farmers and Ranchers Praise UF/IFAS Research

Thanks to Florida Farm Bureau (FFB) for allowing us to post this timely article about the importance of UF/IFAS research efforts for one of Florida’s most important industries – agriculture. The article is by FFB’s G.B. Crawford, (photo right)…
According to various research reports issued by the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS), production agriculture in the Sunshine State generates an annual economic impact of more than $100 billion. Recent declines in other economic sectors have highlighted the stability of the industry’s contribution to Florida’s material life.
A fundamental reason for production agriculture’s ability to maintain its viability here has been the application of innovative and vital research conducted by UF/IFAS scientists.
Farmers and ranchers are quick to applaud the accomplishments of researchers stationed at various UF/IFAS facilities as fundamental for their own success. Long-term investigations of improved varieties, cultivation methodologies, pest and disease control, animal breeds, natural resource management and marketing plans, among other matters, have been lifelines for producers throughout the state.
(Photo Left: Fritz Roka, left, and Paul Meador, owner of a harvesting firm, assess mechanical citrus harvesting equipment. Roka, a UF/IFAS researcher, and his colleagues provide vital support for the state’s second largest industry, agriculture.)

Paul DiMare, president of a family tomato enterprise that operates in Homestead, Immokalee and other locations in the state, pointed out that UF/IFAS research has helped to sustain his business. “The production side with the fumigants, the varieties and the techniques of growing have increased our volume per acre tremendously,” DiMare said.
“We had to do this because our costs have gone up so high,” he continued. “If we had not been able to get some gain on the production side, we would have been out of business long ago.”
At the moment, DiMare said, “We are faced with the loss of what I think has been the most valuable support for agriculture – the loss of funds for University of Florida’s agricultural research. The only way we can compete with these Third World nations is to have high technology. That is only going to come out of land grant colleges like the University of Florida. Without the funds to do that, I would say agriculture is on its last legs.”
Ben Hill Griffin III, president of Ben Hill Griffin, Inc., a citrus and beef cattle business based in Frostproof, explained that “for my family’s operation and for the agriculture we are mainly involved in, which is cattle and citrus, UF/IFAS has been the difference between being a success and not being a success.”
Griffin said the research provided by the university has created “the tools we could utilize to bring forth the citrus, as well as the cattle industries to the level they are in today.”
He also pointed out that the school’s research personnel have responded to the key needs of production agriculture. “They have always inquired throughout the years: ‘What else can we do for you?’” Griffin said. “They have wanted to be pointed in the direction where the greatest need was so they could put their forces in that direction.”
Drew Duda, CEO of Duda Ranches, was previously located at the Duda vegetable and sugar properties near Belle Glade. “For the last 25 years I spent most of my time in south Florida – in the Everglades Agricultural Area,” Duda said. “The Everglades Research and Education Center was a vital part of our vegetable and sugar operations.
“I would say that, by and large, a lot of our success in the past is based upon what they have done for us and it will be the same continuing on into the future,” Duda explained.
He pointed out that UF/IFAS has been able to provide more than generic research. “In the last 15 to 20 years we have been able to specifically fine-tune research projects collaboratively for a smaller industry and for unique individual operations,” Duda said. “That has been very important to us.”
Tony DiMare, Paul’s son and vice-president of the family business, stated the issue bluntly: “Without the help of UF/IFAS, we really don’t stand a chance for this industry to survive.
“We will stay competitive with research and development in the UF/IFAS programs.”