Mandatory Dicamba Training Addresses 2019 Regulatory Changes On March 20, from 9 – 11 a.m. CST (10-12 EST), a mandatory Dicamba Stewardship Training session will web broadcast to participating Extension Offices across Florida. New for 2019, all applicators using dicamba over-the-top in herbicide-tolerant crops (cotton and soybean) will be required to have a restricted use [...]
Advocating at the Capitol Every year, our members have the opportunity to travel to the state Capitol to tell their stories directly to their elected officials. Stories about the many challenges facing the farming community or stories about how they personally invest in the protection and improvement of natural resources. Members also have the ability [...]
Bee Technology Pilots in Florida Bee Vectoring Technologies, International Inc., (BVT) has developed bee vectoring technology designed to use bees to naturally deliver plant health products directly to targeted areas of a plant. The primary target crops for the BVT system are strawberries and blueberries. The system is being piloted to a select group of [...]
Biosolids Committee Makes Recommendations to Protect Water Resources Florida Farm Bureau represented agriculture in a seven-member Biosolids Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) formed by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection in August 2018. The TAC also included stakeholders representing environmental groups, large and small utilities, waste haulers, university researchers and consultants. The TAC convened five times [...]
Floridians Urged to Support New Clean Water Rule Charles Shinn, Director of Government & Community Affairs The newly revised Waters of the U.S. (Clean Water) Rule is something that Florida agriculture needs to support actively with public comment. Be a voice is stopping the regulations. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently rolled out an updated [...]
Committees Set as Legislature Prepares for Start of 2019 Legislative Session Committee assignments in the Florida House of Representatives were just announced last month, as lawmakers continue to make early preparations for the 2019 legislative session which is scheduled to begin Tuesday, March 5. The House Agriculture and Natural Resources Subcommittee will be led by [...]
2018-19 Florida Agri-Women Officers Announced American Agri-Women Past President Marcie Williams, Croton, Ohio recently installed the 2018-19 Officers of the Florida Agri-Women in Port Charlotte. New officers included President Ruth Jensen, Port Charlotte; Vice President Sonia Tighe, Tampa; Secretary-Treasurer Andrea Stanford, Bradenton; and Immediate Past President Deborah Brady, Dunnellon. Florida Agri-Women, a non-profit affiliate of [...]
Following Elections, Farm Bureau Focuses on 2019 Legislative Session Republicans Win 4 of 5 Statewide Races After the dust settled on multiple recounts in a number of statewide and legislative races, Republicans emerged victorious in four of the five statewide races. The only statewide elected Democrat in Florida will be Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried, [...]
Lame-Duck Congress Must Deliver As we approach a close to 2018, there are multiple priorities that have bottlenecked during this lame-duck session of Congress. A 2018 Farm Bill awaits urgent action before program funding expiration in December. The federal government as a whole has a crucial appropriations deadline of Dec. 7. Our careworn producers in [...]
Florida Company is Semi-Finalist in National Ag Challenge Elite OviGen, Inc., a sheep breeding software solutions company, is one of 10 semi-finalists in the 2019 Farm Bureau Ag Innovation Challenge. The Beverly-Hills based entrepreneur will receive $10,000 to help them take their business to the next level. “Being a top-10 semifinalist is invaluable. It [...]
