Telling the Farm Story – LOCALLY! Marion County FL Farm Bureau

Gary Cooper Florida, General

It’s an annual event for Marion County Farm Bureau to host local legislators, city and county leaders and their staff members for a farm tour of area agriculture. Farm tour group briefed while resting on hay bales at Seminole Feeds facility in Ocala Marion County is a good example of Florida’s agricultural diversity, with everything from citrus, vegetables and specialty crops, to nursery, cattle, horses and forestry just to name a few. This week’s farm tour included a stop at Seminole Feed in Ocala, a locally owned business that has expanded and soon will serve livestock feeding customers in the entire U S region east of the Mississippi. Other stops were the Gooski Forest Tract, and G & G Blueberries, both just outside of Ocala, FL. Farms in Florida contribute to water recharge, offer cover to wildlife, contribute significantly to the economy and offer green space for temperature moderation and oxygen production. Can you imagine the power of the message if tours like these took place in every county in the nation once each year?! AgNet hats are off to our local Farm Bureau here in Marion County, Florida for telling the farm story effectively, one-on-one at the local level!