The Florida Cattle Enhancement Board has built strong ties between Florida’s Cattle Industry and the University of Florida. We sat down with Dr. Scott Angle, Senior Vice President For Agriculture And Natural Resources and leader of UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences to learn more.
Dr. Angle said, “I think it just goes back to relationships because there is such a close connection between the Enhancement Board here in Florida and IFAS, so me and Dusty [Holley], and I should say Wes Williamson too, and past presidents as well. We’re on a first name basis. We talk to each other regularly. It seems informal to me, although we do have a formal mechanism for making sure things don’t drop through the cracks, but frankly, we talked to each other long before we ever get to the point where there’s a problem and a solution is needed, or there’s concerns about the research that’s being conducted or not being conducted in some cases.”
“So it really goes back to those relationships that have been developed between the Cattle Enhancement Board and our faculty in particular. They work hand in glove, and the way things should work doesn’t always happen that way in other states. Most other states have a formal mechanism for interacting, but you don’t see as much of that informal interaction that frankly just makes it a whole lot easier to get things done. But I think that’s the secret sauce here is the fact that everyone here works closely together and they know each other,” said Angle.
Audio Reporting by Dale Sandlin for Southeast AgNet.