Florida Agriculture

Agriculture

Competition for land forces Florida agriculture to innovate

Mike Walcher

Use of technology and growing more on less land are major keys to survival for the Florida agriculture industry.

Jim Strickland is a cattle rancher with properties in Manatee, Sarasota and DeSoto Counties. He will be inducted into the Florida Agricultural Hall of Fame in February.

Agriculture

SWFL rancher goes into agricultural hall of fame

Mike Walcher

A Southwest Florida rancher is getting a high honor: he's going into the Florida Agricultural Hall of Fame. "When I got the call, it was extremely humbling," Jim Strickland said.

A farmer in Florida's Panhandle cleans up fallen trees and debris destroyed by Hurricane Michael in October 2018

Environment

Farmers still cleaning up from Hurricane Ian now have more time to apply to USDA for help

Tom Bayles

Farmers in much of state grants restore land before Hurricane Ian USDA extended deadline September 25 $500,000 remove debris, repair fences, regrade land torn

Florida

Florida citrus industry production numbers continue to decline

Jim Turner/News Service of Florida

Production numbers for Florida’s orange crop continue to decline as the citrus industry’s storm-battered season nears an end.The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Friday issued a forecast that said Florida growers this season are on pace to fill 15.65 million boxes of oranges, which would be the lowest total since the 1934-1935 season. The new forecast also was down from an April projection of 16.1 million boxes.

Farmworkers and their allies marched on Palm Beach. Around 500 peaceful protesters came out on the last day of the march in support of the farmworkers. With the determination to “build a new world”, where farmworkers can live free of human rights abuses and have dignified work the Farmworkers and allies marched the 45, plus, miles. On Tuesday they left the fields of Pahokee, FL, and walked to the wealthy enclave of Palm Beach. One of the biggest goals for the march was to put pressure on Wendy’s, Publix and Kroger corporations into joining the Fair Food Program. FFP was started by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.

Human Interest

They marched to end modern day slavery in the agricultural fields

Eileen Kelley and Andrea Melendez/WGCU Investigative Team

Farmworkers share stories of life in the Florida agricultural fields

Lucas Benitez, a farmworker and co-founder of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers was awarded the Wallenberg Medal by the University of Michigan for his extraordinary achievements in the field of human rights. Here is Benitez as he helped lead the march. Around 500 peaceful protesters came out on the last day of the march in support of the farmworkers. With the determination to “build a new world”, where farmworkers can live free of human rights abuses and have dignified work the Farmworkers and allies marched the 45, plus, miles. On Tuesday they left the fields of Pahokee, FL, and walked to the wealthy enclave of Palm Beach. One of the biggest goals for the march was to put pressure on Wendy’s, Publix and Kroger corporations into joining the Fair Food Program. FFP was started by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.

Human Interest

Over 100 start march across Florida to protest modern slavery in the agricultural fields

Eileen Kelley and Andrea Melendez/WGCU Investigative Team

For more than a decade the Coalition of Immokalee Workers have been trying to entice giant retailers to join the Fair Food Program. Wendy's, Publix and Kroger have been hold-outs

A vegetable plant blasted by debris and bent to the ground by Hurricane Ian. Some growers can re-plant vegetable crops, but according to the region's agricultural extension agent, some smaller growers may not be able to afford to re-plant.

Ian caused severe damage to some crops and small farmers in Southwest Florida

Mike Walcher

Hurricane Ian blew over about 4 million acres of farmland in Florida, according to the best estimates of those in agriculture. The storm uprooted citrus trees and tore away vegetable plants on its path from the Southwest Florida coast northward over the peninsula. One former extension agent said agricultural losses could approach or top Irma's roughly $2 billion.

"SWFL Fresh" brand created to increase local farm visibility

Tara Calligan

A new branding project SWFL Fresh: Choose Local, Choose Fresh" hopes to expand public knowledge and buy-in about locally grown foods to better connect Southwest Florida producers with consumers.

A common yellow swallow tail butterfly (Papilio machaon) and a bee of unknown species on yellow flowers.

ENCORE: The crucial role pollinators play in our ecosystems and our lives

Mike Kiniry

Pollinators are responsible for assisting about 80% of the world's flowering plants to reproduce, and that includes quite a few crops grown for food. We learn about the work being done by pollinators all around us, and get some tips on how to attract them to our yard, and how to keep from harming them by misusing pesticides.

ENCORE: The crucial role pollinators play in our ecosystems and our lives

Mike Kiniry

Pollinators are responsible for assisting about 80% of the world's flowering plants to reproduce, and that includes quite a few crops grown for food. We learn about the work being done by pollinators all around us, and get some tips on how to attract them to our yard, and how to keep from harming them by misusing pesticides.