On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture informed Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried it has granted a Secretarial disaster declaration for several key counties impacted by Tropical Storm Eta, rain, flooding, and wind that occurred from Nov. 7 through Nov. 10. The storm was projected to cause at least $85 million in crop losses, especially in seasonal produce. Those counties include Collier, Hendry, Lee, and Miami-Dade …
Crop Insurance Town Hall Held by Commissioner Nikki Fried and USDA
(FDACS) — Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried held a town hall meeting on crop insurance issues at Chipola College in Marianna, Florida. Fried was joined via Zoom by Acting Administrator Richard Flournoy of the USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) and other RMA senior and regional leaders to answer questions from agriculture producers on crop insurance and risk management. Photos/Video: A video recording and high-res …
Beef Industry Receives Lots of Exposure at Daytona
The “Beef It’s What’s For Dinner 300” NASCAR race took place this past Saturday at the Daytona International Speedway. While beef industry personnel from across the country were on hand for the big event, the Florida Beef Council (FBC) helped to spearhead a majority of the big Beef Checkoff promotional effort. Over the past few weeks, we’ve talked with FBC …
Florida Senate Sets Schedule for the First Week of Session
(NSF) — The Florida House and Senate will meet in a joint session at 11 a.m. on March 2 for the traditional start of the annual legislative session. The Senate has posted a schedule online for the first week of the 60-day legislative session, showing they will convene at 9:30 a.m. on March 2 before the joint session, which is expected …
Vote on Florida Lawsuit Limitation Bill Delayed
A scheduled committee vote on a bill that many agricultural businesses in Florida are watching was delayed Monday after the measure’s primary sponsor, Senator Jeff Brandes of St. Petersburg, was delayed in another meeting. The lawsuit-limitation bill (SB 72) would protect businesses from coronavirus-related lawsuits. Senate Commerce and Tourism Chairman Sen. Ed Hooper from Clearwater told The News Service of …
Weekly Livestock Market Report Week Ending 2-12-2021
Here are the weekly livestock market reports for Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, for the week ended February 12, 2021, compiled by the Livestock Market News Service for all three states. AL Livestock Market Report: At Alabama Livestock Auctions for the week ended-February 12, 2021, receipts at 21 markets totaled an estimated 10,700 head compared to 9,196 last week and 7,909 …
Fried on International Trade Commission Vote on Imported Blueberries
(FDACS) — The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled that blueberries were not being imported into the United States in such quantities as to harm the domestic blueberry industry nationwide. Earlier this month, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried testified before the ITC that Mexico’s market share for blueberries had skyrocketed 2,100 percent since 2009, while Florida’s market share decreased 38 percent since 2015, indicating …
Survey Indicates 11.5 Million U.S. Cotton Acres to Be Planted
According to the National Cotton Council’s 40th annual Early Season Planting Intentions Survey, U.S. cotton producers intend to plant 11.5 million cotton acres in 2021, down 5.2% from 2020. Upland cotton intentions are 11.3 million acres, down 4.9% from 2020, while extra-long staple (ELS) intentions of 161,000 acres represent a 20.7% decline. The NCC questionnaire was mailed in December to …
Florida Forever Funding Defended by Environmental Chief
(NSF) — State Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Noah Valenstein on Wednesday defended Gov. Ron DeSantis for not asking to issue bonds for the Florida Forever Land Conservation Program, as the financing method has been proposed to cover Everglade’s work and a new program to fight rising sea levels. Valenstein told members of the House Agriculture & Natural Resources Appropriations …
Florida NRCS to Hold State Technical Committee Meeting
USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Florida will conduct a State Technical Committee meeting on March 3 by web conference. Chair of the event, Florida State Conservationist Juan Hernandez, says the meeting will have two distinctive portions. The committee is composed of individuals and groups from a variety of agricultural and natural resource interests, as well as farmers. And while the …