Jaya Nepal has completed a Ph.D. in Soil, Water, and Ecosystem Sciences with UF/IFAS at the Indian River Research and Education Center (IRREC) in Fort Pierce, Florida. This area of Florida has very sandy soils that are known to not hold nutrients and make it difficult to grow some crops. Using nanoparticle nutrients such as nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus can reduce leaching of these nutrients into waterways.
Wilton Simpson, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture, has announced that farmers can now apply for the Florida Farm Tax Exempt Agricultural Materials (TEAM) card. This wallet-sized plastic card can be used when purchasing agricultural materials and these farmers will receive tax exemption.
Farmers have been using plastic mulch, but paper mulch provides protection against some of the pesky weeds that farmers struggle with, such as nutsedge. “Nutsedge will not come through the paper that we’re using with WestRock. The only place where nutsedge can come through is in the hole where we plant the watermelon transplant. That’s an incredible advancement, because we do not have really good control measures chemically for nutsedge in...
Whole milk, or red topped milk, will be back into schools very soon. Dr. John Joyce says, " “Individuals who consume more than two dairy products each day have a lower risk of cardiovascular disease. There are lower morbidity associated with those who have whole milk and whole milk products in their diet.” This bill passed on a 330-99 margin on Wednesday, December 13th, 2023.
A new social media campaign is being launched by the Wheat Foods Council (WFC) to educate fitness professionals and trainers on the health benefits of including wheat in a healthy diet. “By harnessing the power of social media, the campaign creates a dialogue, encourages knowledge sharing, and inspires a shift in how the fitness industry views wheat foods in a healthy lifestyle,” says WFC President Tim O’Connor.
Cal-Maine Food and Rose Acre Farms along with United Egg Producers and United States Egg Marketers were all found guilty of conspiring to increase the price of eggs and egg products back in 2011. These companies exported eggs from the country to limit the supply available to Americans and limited the number of chickens that were available for laying eggs.
The 2018 Farm Bill has been extended one more year to September 2024. Zippy Duval, American Farm Bureau Federation President, says "“We are grateful Congress passed a farm bill extension to avoid serious program disruptions and we encourage President Biden to sign it. However, we urge both the House and Senate to stay focused on a new, modernized farm bill that recognizes the many changes and challenges of the past five years."
2022 showed a record high for the cost of a Thanksgiving dinner, but this year the price has gone down. The one ticket item on the table that helped this overall price go down, was the price of a turkey. The average price for a 16-pound turkey has gone down 5.6% from last year's numbers with the price being $27.35. “Traditionally, the turkey is the most expensive item on the Thanksgiving dinner table,” said AFBF Senior Economist Veronica...
The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) is hosting its annual convention in Salt Lake City, Utah on January 19-24th. Some select educators have been selected to get free registration to AFBF's Annual Convention and receive some exclusive experiences that they can bring back to their classrooms and students. “We’re proud to support teachers from all across the country in several ways,” says Daniel Meloy, executive director of the AFBF...
This week starts the 96th National FFA Convention and Expo held in Indianapolis, Indiana, with over 65,000 FFA members from the U.S. Virgin Islands to Puerto Rico in attendance. Good luck to the Florida FFA members competing in National FFA contests this week! For those of you not competing in a contest, use this time to attend workshops or listen to speakers. Also, please take a lap around the Expo and network with some influential companies in...
