Your Help Is Needed To Develop a Good Neighbor Program!

As the rural-urban interface becomes less distinct we would like to know what kind of communication tools you as agricultural producers need to educate your neighbors and the school children in your community about agricultural practices in their community. We can only do this if we know current practices. How do you communicate with your neighbors? Let us know by completing this survey that is being conducted by the University of Florida IFAS Extension in partnership with Florida Farm Bureau. Based on the survey we will be designing a Good Neighbor Program (GNP) that will help people living in urban-rural interface communities understand more about the importance of agricultural practices. We are also asking School Systems to complete a survey asking how they communicate with you. Please share your communication practices with us and we will use them as part of the new Good Neighbor Program. The survey will take 5 to 10 minutes to complete and we will only use your answers after they have been combined with other respondents' answers and will be completely confidential. Thank you for participatinng.

Email Survey Link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/5B2MPY9

If you have any questions, please call (352) 273-3971, or send an email to FOI@ufl.edu. Thank you for your participation.

Two New Biomass Crops May Be Promising

Two little known crops are making big news in the agricultural community in Florida.  Both are being recommended by farmers already producing them as crops that can be used on fallow ground or between crop plantings.

The first is Camelina, which is an oil crop in the Brassica family.  It is grown for it's oily seed, which is valuable as aviation fuel.  The seed is harvested and crushed for the oil and the seed cake can be used in animal feed.  In addition, the stubble left in the field can also be used for grazing.

The second photo is kenaf, a member of the hibiscus family, which is grown for it's fast growing biomass and used in biofuel production.  The seeds produced can be crushed for oil and the fibrous plant itself is useful as a biomass plant for ethanol or other fiber uses.

BCAP (Biomass Crop Assistance Program) will be available for several years to producers who are ready to try these new crops.  Contact your local USDA Farm Service Agency to find out more about qualifying for the BCAP!



Do We Have Fuel Feedstock Production In Our Future?

I spent three days this week at the 5th Farm to Fuel Summit in Orlando.  This is the fourth time I have attended the conference, which is sponsored by FDACS.

This year there seemed to be more biorefineries, engineers and consumers ready for feedstocks to produce either biodiesel or ethanol.  I heard about processes to produce fuel from woody biomass, energy crops, algae and much more.

This conference is important to attend because I want to be able to bring back new ideas to the farmers of Sumter County.  Right now, the farmer would be assuming the risk of trying a new crop, figuring out how much inputs are needed to get the best yield, finding harvest equipment, making a profit.  Growing feedstocks for fuel is so new in Florida we don't have many answers for producers yet.

Hopefully some answers will come soon, because one thing I heard this week over and over is that Florida is the ideal state for production of biofuels.  We are #3 in ethanol consumption in the country and also in number of vehicles.  Our climate is ideal for producing many of the crops needed and we have a good source of biomass.

Some crops to consider: both sweet and cellulosic sorghum, sunflower, switchgrass, eucalyptus, gamma grass and camelina.  Another interesting possibility is not only producing the crops for fuel but producing the much needed seed to sell to other producers. Each crop is being analyzed by the EPA to determine the comparative carbon emissions from seed to fuel, and funding to assist producers with the lowest carbon producing  crops should come from federal sources as a result. 

I didn't get the impression that farmers would get rich from producing feedstocks for fuel, but encouraged by the possibility of agriculture playing such an important role in reaching the goal of 36 billion gallons/year of biofuels produced in the US by 2022. 

Florida Small Farms Conference This Week!

94 exhibitors, 8 animal educational exhibits, 18 workshops, 1 awesome keynote speaker, 3 innovative farmer awards, 2 fabulous local foods lunches, 3 refreshment areas, 9 educational posters, 2 days of learning, networking, dreaming, eating.

Can we count on you to be one of the 800 people at the conference this year?  It starts on Saturday morning at the Osceola Heritage Park and lasts until 3:00 PM on Sunday.  This conference is a result of year round planning by UF/IFAS Extension faculty, FAMU personnel and business/industry volunteers.  The very latest in technology and innovation will be featured in the workshops and the trade show.

If you are a small farmer or interested in becoming one this is a conference that you can't afford to miss.  See you this weekend!!

Florida Conference Key Note Speaker One of Time Magazines Top 100

Urban farming is a very hot topic in the country, providing locally grown foods to areas that have little access. The Florida Small Farms and Alternative Enterprises Conference will have a nationally recognized key note speaker, Will Allen to speak about his success in this area.

Allen is the founder and CEO of Growing Power, Inc. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and is leading the "good food revolution". He was just recognized as a "hero" and one of Time Magazine's 100 World's Most Influential People for his efforts to secure healthy and affordable food for all.

We are so fortunate to have this opportunity to hear Will Allen right here in Florida at the annual conference! The conference will be held July 31 and August 1 at the Osceola Heritage Park in Kissimmee. Registration is open now at http://smallfarms.ifas.ufl.edu

Another Disease Attacks Florida Citrus

This week the USDA announced the discovery of Citrus Black Spot, the latest major disease to become a destructive pest to the citrus crop of Florida. Major diseases currently present are tristeza, blight, greasy spot, Alternaria brown spot, Phytophthora- induced diseases, melanose, scab, postbloom fruit drop, citrus canker and Huanglongbing (citrus greening).

A commercial grove in Collier County was the location of the recent discovery of Citrus Black Spot, a fungal disease that causes dark speckled spots or blotches on the rinds of fruit. Valencia orange and lemon are the most susceptible varieties of citrus for this fungus.

Before coming to Florida this disease has been a significant production problem in Southeast Asia, Africa, South America and Australia. It is spread in nursery stock and in dead leaves in the groves, and can be controlled by using protective fungicide treatments and inspecting nursery stock.

For more information see the University of Florida EDIS publication #PP213.

Things To Do This Saturday - Learn to Make Biofuel!

This is the biofuel that I helped process at a Piedmont Biofuels workshop in North Carolina last fall. Piedmont Biofuels is a company committed to teaching about biofuel production and they are bringing their state-of-the-art trailer to the Wildwood Growers' Market this Saturday, February 20. There will be a 3 hour workshop for farmers or producers who are interested in learning how to produce their own fuel. The trailer will also be there to demonstrate to people attending the market between 9 and noon.

Many people are interested in learning the process of turning oil, either waste vegetable oil or oil crushed from seeds, into fuel. This fuel can then be used in any diesel engine without any changes to the engine. Many types of seeds contain oil and can be crushed to make fuel, and most of them also produce a meal byproduct that can also be used as animal feed. To attend the producer's workshop please reserve a space by calling (352) 793-2728.

Utilizing the Internet to Promote Your Farm

If you have property in the country or a farm, you have something that is very attractive to visitors from urban areas. As people become farther removed from living on the farm, agriculture has become a mystery to most people. If you don't believe me, just bring up a common agricultural practice in your next cocktail party or other gathering!

What do we have that people want to see? If you have a U-Pick operation, a farm stand, riding stable or petting zoo you probably already have people finding your farm. There are places that offer farm vacations for people to experience the farm, everything from chores to hay rides. Many people are happy to spend the day in the country, experiencing agriculture for the day in any way they can.

You should consider utilizing the internet to help drive these people to your enterprise. Start with a good website, keep it updated and interesting. Consider using a website that advertises your farm for you. A couple of great ones that are free for a basic membership are www.ruralbounty.com (new free membership), www.localharvest.org and Floridafarmlink.org. There are many more and you should do your own surfing of the net to see what websites would be best for your posting. Finally, blogs are easy to do and you can really develop a following of your farm through them. For a great example of a farm blog you can see my brother John's Michigan farm at www.PortageRiverFarm.com.

Thanks to all who helped with AGRItunity!

AGRItunity 2010 was held last weekend and was a great success! It was wonderful to see so many people interested in agriculture attend both the conference and the farm tour.

Thanks to the 46 vendors and sponsors who supported the conference - it was a dynamic trade show! The trade show was a great mix of suppliers and resources for farmers.

We could not have AGRItunity without the year long commitment from our faculty and staff in four counties. And the volunteers! We had 70 volunteers for the day and they were terrific.

An early glance at the evaluations shows that the speakers were also really providing the information that the participants came here to find. Sessions were very well attended and I have heard many comments about being inspired, and learning so much from them.

We will soon start planning to do it all again - look for the conference to be even bigger and better in 2011!

(Farm) Girls Night Out - Annie's Project Coming to Sumter and Lake

Annie's Project is a 6 week course for women involved in agriculture and the Florida pilot of this program includes Sumter and Lake counties. The program originated in honor of Annie Fleck, a woman that lived in a small town in Illinois. She spent her lifetime learning how to become a better business partner with her husband.

This program will help any woman who has their own agribusiness, is thinking of starting one, or like Annie, is interested in becoming more involved in the family farm business. The format of the program is to meet once a week for six weeks, from 5:30 to 8:30 at the Bushnell Community Center. The dates are Feb. 9 - March 16 and the last session will be held in Tavares at the Lake County Ag Center. Topics include human resources, business plans, alternative enterprises, social style, farm succession, retirement and estate planning, insurance, financial records and much more. Speakers will be from the local community and also UF specialists and a light supper will be served each night.

Cost for the program is $25 and there are a few opening left for this session. Contact Susan Kelly at (352) 793-2728 for more information.