frnews v38 issue 9

VOLUME 38 NUMBER 8 • PH. 813-737-NEWS (6397) • E -MAIL: [email protected] • WWW.FARMAND R A N C H N E W S . C O M

Agriculture’s Most Trusted Source For News, Views and Advertising Since 1974

Grandfather and Grand-Daughter Meet for Unique Opportunity at

County Fair

Nineteen young ladies from throughout

H i l l s - borough County partici-pated in the annual Hillsborough County Fair’s Harvest Queen Contests on October 9 at the Fair-grounds. Remarkably, the top three winners all came from Strawberry Crest High School in Dover. Capturing the coveted Harvest Queen title was Morgan Boykin, a junior at Strawberry Crest. Morgan is an active mem-ber of the school’s FFA chapter where she has served as an officer for the past three years. She is a member of Fel-lowship of Christian Athletes, Young Sprouts 4H club, Florida Jr. Cattlemen’s Association, and the Riverside Baptist Youth.Morgan is a competitive Baton Twirler, earning the title Miss Majorette of Florida three times, and competed at the University of Notre Dame where she placed in

Shown Right: Jr. Harvest Queen Georgia Foster, Miss Congeniality Ashton Houston, and Harvest Queen Morgan Boykin, all of Strawberry Crest High School.

Strawberry Crest High School Sweeps Hillsborough County

Fair’s Harvest Queen Contests

the top five in the Miss Majorette of America competition. She also participates in fund-raising drives for the Shrine Hospital in Tampa and food drives for Metropolitan Ministries. She will start duel enroll-ment at Hillsborough Community College in the spring of 2012 and wants to gain a degree in radiol-ogy and pursue her dream of being a part of the medical staff for the Professional Bull Riders Associa-tion.First runner-up and Miss Congeni-ality in the Senior Division is Mor-gan’s best friend, Ashton Houston. She, too, is a member of the FFA. Georgia Foster, the Jr. Harvest Queen, is a freshman at Strawberry Crest, a varsity cheer-leader, member of the FFA, Fel-lowship of Christian Athletes, and the Best Buddies Program. She wants to attend college and be-come an anesthesiologist.

CaliJo Parker, the 2009 Hillsborough County Fair Harvest Queen, accepts a $1000 check from George Parker, Jr., past President/Chairman of the Board on behalf of the Hillsborough County Fair which is presented to the Sr. Har-vest Queen upon enrollment in a Flor-ida college or university. CaliJo is the daughter of Kenneth and Dee Parker of Plant City and is enrolled at

Hillsborough Community College this fall. She continues to participate in the Fair’s pageant, serving as mis-tress of ceremonies on occasion. Seen in background is Evelyn Stewart, event coordinator. The County Fair runs through Sunday, October 16. For information visit the website at www.HillsboroughCountyFair.org

Volume 38 • Number 8 • 2011 • Farm & Ranch Newspage2 www.farmandranchnews.com

Volume 38 • Number 8 • 2011 • Farm & Ranch News page3www.farmandranchnews.com


Each year the Florida Legislature meets for about 60 days begin-ning in mid February. This year, there were a number of bills passed intended to make it a little simpler for small businesses to continue in business and to serve

the public in many ways. One of the measures that passed and was signed by Governor Scott was HB 421, which originated in the Florida House, was passed through the Florida Senate, and signed into law by the Governor. This law became effective July 1, 2011. The law simply says that in order to allow farmers to prepare and farm new land and to lower the extensive cost to bring such new land under produc-tion, the permitting of such new lands would now be the responsibility of the Florida Department of Agricul-ture and Consumer Services. In theory this means that SWFWMD, EPA, DEP, Hillsborough County EPC, Hillsborough County Planning and Growth Management (Department Head is John Schreckemgost) and various other State Agen-cies might still be involved in the permitting process, but FDACS will be the ones to set the agenda on just how such permits will be processed, and just how these agencies can force farmers to spend vast sums of mon-ey performing relatively useless functions. At this time I am representing a farmer who successfully permitted a 40-acre parcel of land so that he could plant the property in blueberries. We went through all the permits and the farmer was ready to pre-pare and plant the blueberry plants when the financier of the operation developed some trouble with our govern-ment. Since it is less costly to plant strawberries than to plant blueberries, a last minute decision was made that they would plant strawberries. Two consecutive years of successful strawberry crops have been planted on the land. The SWFWMD inspectors were told that we had converted to strawberries. We were told that we had to go through a new ERP process in order to change crops from Blueberries to strawberries. I do give the SWFWMD staff credit in that they have allowed us to continue with these two years of crops, knowing that many complications prevented the farmer from spend-ing the money that it would take to do all the engineer-ing and planning over again. It seems to be a pretty simple change. The man who is now in charge of implement-ing the FDACS supervision of this new policy is Bill Bartnick. His office is in Tallahassee at the FDACS

New Permitting Required to Switch Crops from Blueberries to Strawberries

the davis reportBy Roy Davis- Associate Editor

main office. The CEAC committee meets on the first Mon-day of each month. This is a citizens committee of 17 Hillsborough County residents who meet monthly and discuss matters relating to EPC. We advise the EPC as to our opinions on various matters of interest to EPC. A couple of months ago I asked that this new law be placed on our agenda so that the EPC staff could tell us just how it would affect agricultural permitting in the future. The item has been on the agenda each of the last two months, but has not been brought up for discussion, for different reasons each month. I have spoken with Mr. Bartnick and requested that he send an FDACS staff person to our next CEAC meeting so that he would be available to respond to any questions that might arise as to the impact this new law might have, and just how we might expect it to be implemented. The CEAC committee meeting will be held on the first Monday in October. That is October 3rd, and the time is 3:00 PM. The meeting will be at the EPC main office building, located at the corner of Faulkenburg Road and Queen Palm Drive. The physical address is 3629 Queen Palm Drive, Tampa Florida, 33619. Our meetings are always open to the public, and we always have a time for public comment. Come join us and learn about this new approach to bringing new lands into agricultural production!

Roy Davis (The Davis Report)

Receives Accolades from Foreign Observer

Dear Editor:

IampleasedandgratifiedthatyouprintedanarticlebyRoyDavisregardingAmericanenergyissuesinvolume38num-ber5.ThismaninmyopinionhasasteelbackboneanditwouldappearthatheisastrongadvocateofwhatisrightforAmer-ica.Many journalists justsiton the fencegoingwiththeflow.IamfromEnglandandhaveresidentalienstatus,novotingrights,but thismangetsmyvote.Roy, ifyouseethis,THANKYOU.

Sincerely,

JohnDeighton.


The Greater Hillsborough County Fair rec-ognized the following individuals and businesses at the annual Harvest Awards banquet Tuesday, October 11, at the Fairgrounds. The Fair officially opened on Wednesday, October 12 at 5 p.m. The awards are to recognize those individuals and entities that have made a significant or outstanding effort or contribution to the social, cultural, educational, moral, economical, agricultural, industrial, commercial or governmental fabric of life in Hillsborough County.

The award winners are:

Farm Family of the Year: Carl and DeeDee Grooms of Plant City.Agribusiness of the Year: Rick Martinez’ Sweetwater Farm in urban Tampa.Lifetime Achievement Award: Ray Clark, retired Plant City High School Ag Instructor.Urban Agriculturalist of the Year: Tampa Heights Community GardenOutstanding Public & Community Service: Kitty Wallace of Tampa.

Hillsborough County Fair Presents Annual Harvest AwardsKitty Wallace

Carl and DeeDee Grooms Rick Martinez

Ray Clark

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www.farmandranchnews.com Volume 38 • Number 8 • 2011 • Farm & Ranch News

The Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association has introduced the first class of its new Emerging Leader De-velopment Program at its 68th Annual Convention in Palm Beach Sept. 18-21. The association established the program this year to identify and develop up-and-coming leaders in the organization. A selection committee chose 10 participants from a competitive field of applications. They are Rob Atchley of A. Duda and Sons, Andy Ballard of Hundley Farms, Heather Banky of U.S. Sugar Corp., Michael Hill of Lakeshore Growers Inc., Jen-nifer Hodges of The Andersons Inc., Elizabeth Malek of Glades Crop Care Inc., Justin Roberson of Lipman Pro-duce, April Roe Porter of Wm. G. Roe & Sons Inc., Adam Trott of Rabo Agri-Finance, and Rachel Walters of Bayer CropScience. “This is an exciting new pro-gram for us. We are significantly in-vesting in the future of FFVA and the specialty crop industry overall,” said

Sonia Tighe, executive director of the Florida Specialty Crop Foundation. Tighe is overseeing the program. “The foundation will be ad-ministering the program on behalf of FFVA. One of the main objectives set forth in the new strategic plan for the foundation is to enhance the lives of young people pursuing careers in ag-riculture, and this program certainly supports that objective,” she added. The FFVA convention was the first stop in a yearlong program that will include meetings with legislators, seminars on current issues and vis-its to various agricultural operations. The program is designed to equip participants with a depth of knowledge of the issues facing ag-riculture and provide them with the education and tools to become effec-tive advocates for specialty crop agri-culture. The Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association is an agricultural trade or-ganization representing Florida’s pro-ducers of fruits, vegetables and other crops.

FFVA Introduces Inaugural Class of New Emerging

Leader Development Program

www.farmandranchnews.comVolume 38 • Number 8 • 2011 • Farm & Ranch News

www.farmandranchnews.com Volume 38 • Number 8 • 2011 • Farm & Ranch News

Y o u have probably heard the one about the

advertisement seen in the “Lost

and Found” section of the newspaper. “LOST – small dog, blind in one eye, lame, mangy brown coat. Can’t hear. Goes by ‘Lucky” Or perhaps you heard of the woman in Lake City who probably holds the record for the world’s shortest career in crime. She tried to rob the Howard Johnson’s motel there, armed only with an electric chainsaw -- that was not plugged in. On my recent trip to Kentucky, I met Roger Martin and his sister Evelyn. They live with three other siblings in the same house outside Park City that their father moved into when he was one year old, in 1887. Roger is retired but spent his career working for the Park City Bank and was involved in four bank rob-beries. He avoided a fifth because the FBI had wind of it and arrested the rob-bers in the bank parking lot. What kind of luck is that? In Ypsilanti, Michigan, a man walked into a Burger King restaurant

“Dumb, Dumber, . . . and Lucky?”by Myke Morris - Contributing Editor

early one morning and pulled a gun. emptied, the clerk replied he couldn’t without putting a food order into the com-puter first. The man ordered onion rings, but the clerk said they weren’t available for breakfast. In exasperation , the robber turned around and walked out. A man on trial for drug posses-sion in Pontiac, Michigan, insisted he had been searched without a warrant. The arresting officer testified the bulge in the man’s jacket could have been a gun and prosecutors argued that justified the search. The defendant stated this was ridiculous, and to prove it, said he happened to be wearing the very same jacket in court that day. When he handed it over for examination the judge found a packet of cocaine in the front pocket. No comment. I have to wonder about the fellow who went into a 7-Eleven and laid a $50 bill on the counter requesting change. When the clerk opened the drawer, he pulled a gun and demanded all the mon-ey in the cash drawer. I guess he got in too big a hurry because he forgot to pick up his $50 when he fled with the whole contents of the register - $47.00 A woman in San Antonio, Texas, apparently not mechanically inclined,

was arrested when a me-chanic found 18 packages of marijuana stashed in the engine compartment of her car. She told police she didn’t realize the mechan-ic would have to raise the hood in order to change the oil. Uh-huh. This is another of those facts that is too good for a

a story teller to check. It is often repeat-ed that Napoleon had a very high regard for luck. In one version, an advisor is extolling the good qualities of an up and coming young officer when the General interrupts, “Yes, but is he lucky?” Is luck ever “dumb?” You may be surprised to hear that Warren Buf-fett told CNBC in 2010 that the dumb-est stock he ever bought was Berkshire Hathaway. Berkshire Hathaway is his flagship, his company of companies. And he makes it sound like, even dumb-er than buying it, the dumbest thing he ever did was to keep it. In early 1962, Berkshire Hatha-way was a textile company that was on its way down. Textile manufacturing was moving overseas fast, but this stock seemed cheap and management had a habit of closing a mill and then buying in their stock. So Buffett thought he could make a little money buying up some stock and then tendering it back. By 1964 he had a good number of shares so he went to see the manage-ment. He was told that they had just closed some mills, they had a good bit of cash, and they intended to buy in more of their stock. Buffett was asked, “at what price will you sell your shares?” and he told them $11.50. Back in Omaha a few weeks later he opened the mail and there was a tender offer from Berkshire Hath-away - at $11 and 3/8. Management had chiseled him for 121/2 cents. That made him mad so he went out buying Berkshire Hathaway stock until he had control of the company and fired the old management. But now he had a money losing company in a money losing industry. So he made it a holding

company in 1967 and B e r k s h i r e stock is worth some-thing like $100,000 per share as of late September, 2011. And that is down about 20% from two months earlier! But Buffett figures that getting even cost about $200 billion – that’s right, with a “b” – because if he had tak-en the money he had put in the textile business and just put it into the insur-ance company he bought into in 1967, he would have been at least that much ahead of where he is. So, is making it a matter of be-ing dumb, dumber, or just lucky?

Ecclesiastes 5:13-16 (NET)

Here is a misfortune on earth that I have seen: Wealth hoarded by its owner to his own misery. Then that wealth was lost through bad luck; although he fathered a son, he has nothing left to give him. Just as he came forth from his mother’s womb, naked will he re-turn as he came, and he will take nothing in his hand that he may carry away from his toil. This is another misfortune: Just as he came, so will he go. What did he gain from toiling for the wind?

www.farmandranchnews.comVolume 38 • Number 8 • 2011 • Farm & Ranch News


Wishnatzki Farms Announces Company Name Change to Wish Farms Wishnatzki Farms, a Plant City, Florida-based grower-shipper, has an-nounced its new company name, Wish Farms. After 90 years and three genera-tions of carrying on the family name, the company is officially changing from Wishnatzki Farms to Wish Farms to further develop its focus on consumer branding. In January 2010, Wishnatzki Farms debuted “Wish Farms,” the new brand for its fresh produce products. The consumer label, featuring Misty the Wish Farms Garden Pixie, replaced the “Wishnatzki Farms” label helping to position the company for continued growth. “Building brand recognition amongst consumers is a top priority. In-troducing the new label last year was the first step in transitioning from the Wish-natzki name to Wish Farms. It’s time to make it official,” said President Gary Wishnatzki. “I’m proud of the organi-zation my grandfather, uncle and father built. We will continue to uphold the tra-ditions, values and quality service that we are known for.” Though the name has been of-

ficially transferred, changes will occur gradually over the next 2-4 months. Mar-keting materials, including product labels, purchase orders and order confirmations, will be replaced during that time. A letter of notification is being sent directly to the company’s custom-ers, vendors and suppliers. There has been no change in the company’s man-agement or ownership. Wish Farms (Wishnatzki Farms), the largest strawberry shipper/grower in Florida for over 50 years, is recognized nationally for quality and innovation. It represents more than 2,000 acres, and ships approximately 3.5 million flats of strawberries, 6 million pounds of blue-berries and 1 million packages of veg-etables a year. The company markets produce under the Wish Farms, Strawberry Joe and other labels. Wish Farms utilizes FreshQC® to ensure quality by tying consumer feedback to the harvest time, place and picker. Wish Farms is proud to continue its tradition of providing high quality produce since 1922. For more in-formation please visit www.wishfarms.com.


Growers-edge.com now Provides Free Daily Weather Reports Helpsfarmersmanagerain,windandhailpinpointedtotheirfieldlocation

Growers Edge™ (www.growers-edge.com) has introduced My Weather Report, a new free weather service designed to help farmers by providing pinpoint-ed weather information specific to their field locations. My Weather Report provides the farmer with daily and monthly rainfall amounts, growing degree days, as well as the hour-by-hour daily forecast of rain, wind, temperature and cloud cover. In addition, an in-novative hail tracking feature notifies the farmer if a hail storm occurred near their pinpointed field loca-tions, indicating the probability of a hail event and the average size of the hail. “Farmers asked us to develop a service that would help them better manage weather uncertainty that is specific to their field locations,” said Craig Mouch-ka, president of Growers Edge. “Our proven technol-ogy provides farmers with a better way to ac-curately measure rainfall, track growing degree days and access hourly precipitation and wind forecast by field loca-tion. This means farmers always have access to their site-specific rainfall data without the need to maintain and monitor rain gauges or keep manual records

Farmers can capture this weather information from any field location they choose. Utilizing technolo-gy that includes NationalOceanicandAtmosphericAd-ministration and National Weather Service data, along with the farmer’s field latitude and longitude coordi-nates, My Weather Report collects the precise amount of rainfall as well as other weather related information for a given location. The weather data from each of the-selected field locations is sent to the farmer’s email ad-dress every morning.

Growers-edge.com provides farmers a one-stop resource for their business and marketing needs for free. To date, more than 11,000 farmers are using growers-edge.com to help enhance their profits. For more information, and to sign up for the My Weather Report and other free features from Growers Edge, go to www.growers-edge.com. Established in 2007, Growers Edge is a tech-nology driven media company in the agricultural sec-tor. The company provides an unbiased and indepen-dent approach to help farmers make business decisions by using advanced technology. Growers Edge is inde-pendently owned and currently employs more than 50 professionals in Des Moines, Iowa.


Recently Rep. Allen West re-cently addressed a group of supporters during a fundraising event for his run for Congress at the Florida Strawberry Fes-tival grounds. Over 350 people listened intently. Here are excerpts: He started his speech by pulling out a pocket sized copy of the Consti-tution and interestingly enough several others in the crowd were carrying copies too! He said, “I believe the light is start-ing to dim in America. In 2007 our Na-tional debt was 8.6 trillion today in 2011 it is $14.5 trillion! That is 70% of our GDP (Gross Domestic Product).” “Economists say that if we reach

“Allen West for Congress” Event at the Florida Strawberry Festival Grounds

By Stephanie Farmer-Associate Publisher

80 to 85% our economy will flat line. I believe in putting a cap on spending, so that our revenues are in line with our expenses. No business nor family can run itself like the Federal Government does. Our deficit has gone from $400 billion during Bush to $1.24 trillion with Obama. In 2009 it would have cost ev-ery man, woman and child in America $34,000 to pay off our National debt. To-day that number is $46,000.” “There is a need to broaden our tax base. In fact, 47% of wage earning households don’t pay income tax! That means that 53% are “pulling the wagon” plus the top 25% wage earners pay 86% of the taxes. .41 cents of every dollar in America is borrowed.” “Unemployment is a real prob-lem. Miami Dade County has an unem-ployment rate of 14% and 16% for those in the inner city. The unemployment rate for our veterans coming back from over-seas is 13%. In fact food stamp filings are up 41%!”

“Many say we are headed to-wards Socialism, but don’t know the definition of that word. Here are the four tenants of Socialism:

Nationalize production- so let’s look 1. at where our healthcare, finance and take note that what happened with the automakers and almost happened with energy. Creation and expansion of welfare 2. state- our Country now says it’s not your fault. We have become a coun-try of whocanIsue.com. We are los-ing the essence of who we are and creating victims. The government as an entity has to take care of a grow-ing entitlement class when it says free health care. Create a social utopia- a belief in eco-3. nomic and social justice. Americans are taught you can achieve anything you want. That’s why people come here. What drives our country is the entrepreneurial spirit. Unfortu-

nately, in our country 70% of small businesses are not looking to hire

4. Try to create a secular state and re-place God in government- some are calling for a separation from our Ju-deo Christian heritage.”

“We need to instill confidence in the American people. Reform the tax code, implement a flat tax, eliminate loop holes and subsidies. Drop the rate from 35% to 22% tax on corporations. We need to quit penalizing businesses for trying to grow. There are too many burdens on small businesses.’ ‘The Republican Party needs to regain its credibility. That means stand-ing on conservative values, promote in-dividual responsibility, and show leader-ship. There is nothing wrong with saying I want to protect the life of an unborn child. We must become a party of Amer-ican ideals that stand for something, because man will either stand for some-thing or fall for anything,’ said West.

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Here’s an interesting side bar. After the Japanese decimated our fleet in Pearl Harbor Dec 7, 1941, they could have sent their troop ships and carriers directly to California to finish what they started. The prediction from our Chief of Staff was we would not be able to stop a massive invasion until they reached the Mississippi River. Remember, we had a 2 million man army and war ships...all fighting the Germans. So, why did they not invade? After the war, the remaining Jap-anese generals and admirals were asked that question. Their answer...they knew that almost every home had guns and the Americans knew how to use them. The world’s largest army... America’s hunt-ers! An Internet blogger added up the deer license sales in just a handful of states and arrived at a striking conclu-sion: There were over 600,000 hunt-ers this season in the state of Wisconsin. Wisconsin’s hunters became the eighth largest army in the world. More men

True Story and Most People will Never Know it

under arms than in Iran. More than in France and Germany combined. These men de-ployed to the woods of a single American state to hunt with firearms, and no one was killed. That number pales in com-parison to the 750,000 who hunted the woods of Pennsylvania and Michigan ‘s 700,000 hunters, all of whom returned home safely. Toss in a quarter million hunters in West Virginia and it literally establish-es the fact that the hunters of those four states alone would comprise the largest army in the world. The point? America will forever be safe from foreign invasion with that kind of home-grown firepower. Hunting -- it’s not just a way to fill the freezer. It’s a matter of national security. That’s why all enemies, foreign and domestic, want to see us disarmed. Food for thought when next we consider more gun control!


Iraqi 4-H Leaders Visit the U. S. With a Goal of Helping Their Iraqi Youth- “The Future of Iraq” By Stephanie Farmer-Associate Publisher

Iraqi 4-H leaders with Florida 4-H leaders, Collegiate 4-Hers, Extension and UF staff.

Florida 4-H President Jared Padgett explains how 4-H develops youth skills and mentions the 4-H International Exchange Program.

When the idea of judging and ribbons was given for a photo contest, the Iraqi’s expressed displeasure. They said what you see as ugly might be beautiful to someone else. They pre-fer to teach their youth to look for beauty and not to judge. Remember, these are youth that have grown up in a world of wars and fight-ing they are hoping to change, as they say, that “psychology”.

4-H agent Jean Hink shows State Fair Skila-thon activity for teaching youth about vaccina-tions

Lisa Gaskalla with Ag in the Classroom really perked their interest with her gardening cur-riculum. They even had her bring over extra materials to take back and teach their youth.

4-H in Iraq you might ask? Yes! Remember 4-H is a worldwide organi-zation with over 6.5 million members in over 80 countries with Iraq being one of the “newest” countries to incorporate 4-H. In the two years since 4-H started in Iraq there are now over 1,100 members in 42 clubs! 4-H in Iraq started as a result of the due diligence of Mary Kerstetter with the USDA. According to the USDA, Mary lent “ her skills as a district con-servationist with USDA’s Natural Re-sources Conservation Service (NRCS) to help the Iraqi people improve their agricultural sector. Shortly after her arrival in Iraq’s Anbar province in April 2009, Kerstetter found herself going back to many of the skills and training she’d acquired while in 4-H club as a child. This led to the idea that if she could help establish a 4-H program in Iraq, it would give Iraqi chil-dren similar opportunities to learn new skills, which could ultimately help them, achieve a brighter future. Kerstetter initiated Iraq’s 4-H program in the Anbar province after ap-plying for and receiving two State De-partment Quick Response grants total-ing almost $50,000. Since Iraq has more sheep than any other kind of livestock, the first 4-H clubs centered on teaching youth how to properly tend to sheep. She used the funds to purchase necessities to get the program off the ground, includ-ing translated versions of 4-H teaching material, grain, shears, sheep and more. With the help of local project leaders in Anbar, Kerstetter launched Iraq’s first two 4-H sheep clubs, each comprised of boys and girls between the ages of 12 and 14, more than 60 percent of whom were orphans.” In an effort to continue to im-prove their 4-H program Mohammed Al-Gezani, Chairman of Iraqi National Cen-ter for Youth Clubs 4-H and several 4-H leaders and came to the U.S. for 10 days to witness 4-H in action. They saw sights such as a State Fair out west to sheep shearing in Florida. They observed 4-H meetings with a trip to the University of Florida during 4-H Congress as their last stop before going home. UF left no stone unturned with a wide variety of speakers from Collegiate 4-H members to their communications department. Commu-nication was done via 3 alternating in-terpreters speaking into a microphone, while the Iraqis wore

earpieces. Surprisingly communication went quite smoothly with some able to speak English too. So, why do the Iraqi’s want 4-H in their country? Their answer touched my heart. Mohammed Al-Gezani, ex-plained it this way, “Children born in our society cannot grow a rose or a flower. They cannot reflect on how beautiful life is because we exist in regimes of war with rifles and pistols. Now we are working hard to restore life to normal and instill in our youth that there is more to life. That life deserves us to be lived. We hope to change the winds of the lives of our children from one direction to an-other. What we hope to achieve might not happen in our lifetime, but we hope what we are doing will be fruitful with what we have started.” Later he said, “The situation in Iraq is the kids have come through wars and violence. We hope we can teach the youth through psychology rather than incentives to speak and ex-press themselves.” One of the Iraqi 4-H leaders, Dr. AMNA S. Kadori, took me aside and explained how her 4-H club with 60 members operates. She said in her coun-try professional women often become pharmacists or dentists while the men become engineers. Her husband is an agricultural engineer and she is a dentist with her own private practice. As a re-sult, when youth become members of her club she examines their teeth and takes their picture making note of what kind of dental work that child needs. She then takes care of their teeth for free. In their meetings she passes out toothbrushes, floss and toothpaste (as most children do not have these) while doing a presenta-tion on gingivitis and other tooth diseas-es. All of their meetings are conducted by the youth, who use PowerPoint. She teaches her members how to dry plants and put them on a wall for decoration as well as first aid for accidents, poison bites from snakes and scorpions, burn care, CPR and more. Her members also learn the benefits of eating roots and fruit as well as learning how to use the

computer and internet. She said that since she started Al Salam 4-H club the kids have really changed. One was a shepherd girl who quit school to work the sheep. As a result of 4-H she went back to school. During their visit these lead-ers were quite clear about their purpose for the trip. Mohammed Al-Gezani said, “4-H has 100 years of experience so we are here to open doors of communica-tion. We want to develop a framework to develop the capabilities of our youth, so we wanted to come to the land where 4-H was invented.” They asked UF if they could help them train their 4-H leaders to “help their children express themselves freely, because our children are shy due to the way they were brought up. Any kind of training or skill you can teach us would be appreciated.” UF and the Iraqis discussed bringing lead-ers to UF for training, who would then return to pass that training onto others. One of their goals is that eventually their 4-H members grow up and become 4-H volunteer leaders themselves. They said someone talked about sending kids to Europe for youth type training, but that is not wise. They need to send adults to train the kids. The words leadership, confidence, and need for building posi-tive self esteem for their youth were of-ten used during their visit. 4-H in Iraq is not funded by the government. It is totally dependent upon support from themselves as lead-ers and friends. Their hope is that in the future more support will come their way as their country recovers enabling them to send people to UF for training and to help their programs continue to spread as they hope to teach their youth there is beauty to life. As they said, “ In Iraq there is not a wide concept of volunteer-ism or charity, in fact with the private sector there are no such concepts. Some-thing we hope will change as well.”

Farm & Ranch News was given a disc by these Iraqi’s about their 4-H. We will post this on our website www.farmandranch-news.com for viewing.


Blount, the world’s largest man-ufacturer of saw chain, announces the launch of the new OREGON® Power-Now™ 40V MAX* Cordless Chainsaw. For the first time, a battery-pow-ered chainsaw delivers a combination of performance and features that make it a true alternative to many gas-powered chainsaws. For removing trees, cleaning up after a storm, pruning large branches or clearing debris from property, you can depend on the OREGON® Power-Now™ 40V MAX* Chainsaw. The new OREGON® Power-Now™ Chainsaw, with its lithium ion battery pack, offers instant starting with-out a pull cord, powerful cutting with no-fade power, and long runtime. It is a smarter, quieter way to work free from the hassles of gasoline or cords. When not in use, the lithium ion battery pack holds a charge for months at a time, so the PowerNow™ Chainsaw is ready when you are. Equipped with a 14” bar, the PowerNow™ Chainsaw can power through logs as large as 10 to 12 inches. For smaller cuts, the chainsaw goes non-stop, cutting up to 250 two to three inch (2-3) branches on a single charge with the Endurance battery pack. The PowerNow™ Chainsaw is much quieter than gas-powered chain-saws in use and is silent between cuts. At just under 11 pounds, the PowerNow™ Chainsaw is lightweight, easily portable and offers ergonomic comfort. “Many people use gas-powered chainsaws because they don’t believe that cordless electric chainsaws have the power to perform,” said Alan Lo-furno, Business Unit Director, Power-Now™ Tools. “That has all changed with the new OREGON® PowerNow™ Chainsaw. Not only is the PowerNow™ Chainsaw powerful, but it is free from the hassles of gasoline or power cords.” “The PowerNow™ Chainsaw starts instantly with the pull of a trigger – no pull cords, no gas, and no warm-up times. It is quiet and offers powerful

Breakthrough Cordless Chainsaw Power, Like Nothing You’ve Seen Before!

cutting with no-fade power. The lithium ion battery pack provides long runtime, so the PowerNow™ Chainsaw is ready to perform,” said Lo-furno. The PowerNow™ Chainsaw features the Power-Sharp® built-in chain sharpen-

ing system so you’ll never cut with a dull chain again. When the chain dulls, sim-ply pull the PowerSharp® Lever for 3 to 5 seconds with the saw running and the chain will work like new. The PowerNow™ Chainsaw is sold with either an Endurance or Stan-dard battery pack. Both 40V MAX Lithium Ion Battery Packs feature high-capacity cells with no-fade power that maintain performance throughout the job. The Endurance battery pack dou-bles the runtime of the Standard battery pack. “The PowerNow™ Chainsaw is the result of Blount combining our de-cades of innovation as the world’s largest saw chain manufacturer with lithium ion battery technology to create a powerful chainsaw that will change market per-ceptions of what is possible,” said Jake VanderZanden, Senior Vice President of Business Development for Blount. “The new OREGON® PowerNow™ 40 Volt MAX* Chainsaw is a true technological breakthrough that for the first time offers performance and features that make it a viable alternative to many gas-powered chainsaws.” “We reviewed the complete chainsaw user experience and developed the PowerNow™ Chainsaw to meet those needs,” said VanderZanden. “In addition to its power and convenience, the PowerNow™ Chainsaw includes PowerSharp®, our patent-pending saw chain sharpening system, built into the saw.” “With its high-quality specifica-tions, the PowerNow™ Chainsaw stands up in all kinds of applications,”said VanderZanden. “Intensive field testing and feedback from users, ranging from property owners to landscape mainte-nance professionals, continues to con-firm the product’s performance and op-portunity.”

Product Features:40 volts maximum power – high-• capacity lithium ion battery pack

Ready when you are; instant start• No hassles with pull cords, no gas-• oil mixing, no warm-up time and no emissionsLong runtime, constant no-fade • power during jobLow noise; quiet in use, silent be-• tween cutsLightweight (just under 11 pounds); • portable with user-proven ergonom-icsBuilt-in PowerSharp® precision • chain sharpening system14-inch bar length• Tool-free side cover with easy ac-• cess to bar and chainTUV safety certified•

PowerNow™ 40V MAX* Chainsaw Kit with Standard Battery Pack Saw Kit Includes: 40V MAX* Chainsaw, 14-in Guide Bar, Power-Sharp® Chain, Standard Battery Pack, and Charger – $399.00 PowerNow™ 40V MAX*

Chainsaw Kit with Endurance Battery Pack Saw Kit Includes: 40V MAX* Chainsaw, 14-in Guide Bar, Power-Sharp® Chain, Endurance Battery Pack, and Charger – $499.00

Blount is a global manufacturer andmarketer of replacement parts, equip-ment, and accessories for the forestry,lawn,andgarden;farm,ranchandag-riculture;andconstructionmarkets,andis the market leader in manufacturingsawchainandguidebarsforchainsaws.Blount sells its products in more than100 countries around the world. Formore information about Blount, visitwww.Blount.com.FormoreinformationaboutPowerSharp®, visitwww.Power-Sharp.com.

(Publisher’s Note: This is an excellent cordless Oregon chainsaw by Blount. I have personally tested this saw and highly recommend it should you want a quiet chainsaw with power and mul-tiple safety features. The automatic sharpening is just one of the outstand-ing features.)


Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam and the Florida Agricultural Hall of Fame Foundation an-nounced today four agricultural leaders in Florida who will be inducted into the Florida Agricultural Hall of Fame. “The 2012 Florida Agriculture Hall of Fame inductees were chosen not only because of their com-mitment to improving their own craft through technol-ogy and innovation, but also because of their willing-ness to share these advancements with the industry as a whole,” said Commissioner Putnam. “I commend each of these Floridians for their contributions to the agri-culture industry and our state.”

This year’s inductees include the following:Laurence P. Cutts - Chipley, FL: A third-generation beekeeper, Cutts was instrumental in advocating for research to reduce bee hive losses in Florida. He also invented a trap for small hive beetles, a threat to hives and beekeepers. Cutts served as chief of the Apiary In-spection Bureau at the Florida Department of Agricul-ture and Consumer Services. He also represented the beekeeping industry before the Legislature as a mem-ber of the Florida State Beekeepers Association legisla-tive committee.

Robert Fuchs – Homestead, FL: Fuchs is the premier orchid grower of South Florida. His efforts have placed Florida’s orchid industry in the international spotlight and have brought recognition to Miami-Dade County for its unique agricultural attractions.

Florida Agricultural Hall of Fame Foundation Announces 2012 Hall of Fame Inductees

Gerald Mixon – Winter Haven, FL: Mixon’s determi-nation for growing blueberries helped him transform a small seven acre patch of blueberries into a vertically-integrated, international conglomerate. He is credited with helping to increase Florida’s blueberry sales from approximately $2 million to more than $70 million from 1990 to 2009.

Sidney L. Sumner - Bartow, FL: Sumner has worked with cattle producers to adopt new technologies and practices to improve Florida’s beef production. His en-couragement of innovative and time-tested methods has optimized production and profitability on Florida ranch-es. The 2012 Hall of Fame inductees will be hon-ored at the 34th Annual Florida Agricultural Hall of Fame banquet on February 14, 2012, during the Florida State Fair in Tampa. For more information about the Florida Agri-cultural Hall of Fame, visit www.florida-agriculture.com/halloffame/index.htm or www.flaghalloffame.com.


“An Aquatic Snack” from Photo Contest

By Lexa Armstrong Pinellas County 4-H member

(Note: This is a series of photos submitted to the Florida 4-H Pho-to Contest. For anyone who has taken photos before, you know how tough that a series of shots like this can be).


Shelley Jefferson Appointed General

Sales Manager at Gulf Coast Turf & Tractor

A native Floridian, born and raised on a farm in North Florida and South Geor-gia, Shelley Jefferson has accepted the position of General Sales Manager at Gulf Coast Turf and Tractor in Plant City and Land O’ Lakes. Shelley served his country in Vietnam and then gradu-ated from the University of Georgia with a degree in Business and Management. He has worked in sales and finance in the Tampa Bay area. Shelley says that “the people have been a pleasure to work with. I am looking forward to my new position with Gulf Coast and all the folks that have supported us. My goal is to continue to build our relationship and be a part of our farming community.”

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The National Association of REALTORS is all over this and working to get it repealed before it takes effect. But I am very pleased that we aren’t the only ones who know about this ploy to steal billions from unsuspecting home-owners. How many REALTORS do you think will vote Democratic in 2012? Did you know that if you sell your house after 2012 you will pay a 3.8% sales tax on it? That’s $3,800 on a $100,000 home, etc. When did this hap-pen? It’s in the health care bill and goes into effect in 2013. Why 2013? Could it be to come to light AFTER the 2012 elections? So, this is “change you can believe in”? Un-der the new health care bill all real estate transactions will be subject to a 3.8% Sales Tax. If you sell a $400,000 home,

Sales Tax on Your Home Enacted in Health Care Bill

Will You Sell Your House After 2012?By Brian Blair

Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is Accepting

Nominations for 2011 Woman of the Year in Agriculture

AwardHonorsWomenforTheirOutstanding Contributions toFloridaAgriculture

The Florida Department of Agri-culture and Consumer Services (DACS) has issued a call for Floridians to submit nominations for the 2011 Woman of the Year in Agriculture Award. The award, given by the Depart-ment in conjunction with the Florida State Fair Authority, recognizes one woman each year who has made a sig-nificant contribution to Florida agricul-ture. The award has been granted to 27 women since 1985, including Jo Ann Smith (1985), Vina Jean Banks (1999) and Ann Holt (2010). The 2010 Woman of the Year in Agriculture, Ann Holt, was recognized for her contributions to the sweet corn industry over the past 40 years, her mem-bership in numerous agricultural associa-tions and non-profit groups and overall

leadership in the agricultural communi-ty, especially in educating Florida’s ur-ban residents about the benefits farming brings to the state. Nominees for the award must be at least 25 years of age, be active in the agriculture industry and have re-sided in the state of Florida for the past 10 consecutive years. In addition, she must serve her community in some pro-fessional and/or civic capacity and have made some unique or outstanding con-tribution to the agriculture industry. The deadline to submit nomina-tions for the 2011 Woman of the Year in Agriculture Award is November 15. The recipient will be announced in early December and honored at the Salute to Women in Agriculture luncheon on Feb-ruary 13 at the 2012 Florida State Fair in Tampa.

Formoreinformationabouttheprogramortodownloadthe2011nomi-nationapplication,visithttp://www.flor-ida-agriculture.com/agwoman/.

there will be a $15,200 tax. This bill is set to screw the retiring generation who often downsize their homes. Does thismake your November and 2012 vote more important? Oh, you weren’t aware this was in the Obamacare bill? Guess what, youaren’t alone. There are more than a few members of Congress that aren’t aware of it either.

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Florida Agriculture in the Class-room announced that it is offering a new Teacher Grant Program to help educate Florida’s students about the importance of agriculture. The program, which shows teachers how agriculture can be used to teach all subject areas, will pro-vide 222 $500 mini-grants for the cre-ation or improvement of a school garden that grows Florida fruits and vegetables. Certified, general education

Florida Agriculture in the Classroom Offers Assistance to School Gardens

GrantProgramShowsHowAgricultureCanBeUsedtoTeachAllSubjectAreas

Florida and agriscience teachers engaged in classroom instruction at the pre-K through 12th grade level are eligible to apply. The grants will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. Proposals can be submitted through the Florida Ag-riculture in the Classroom website,www.flagintheclassroom.com, and grants will be allocated until all funding is depleted . Teachers who are awarded a

grant will also receive a copy of Gar-dening for Grades, Florida Agriculture in the Classroom’s new resource aimed at helping teachers through the start and maintenance of classroom or schoolyard gardens. Gardening for Grades provides advice for how to secure support from school administrators to use school prop-erty, how to find grant funding to pay for supplies, and what types of fruits and vegetables will thrive depending on the school’s location. It also includes guid-ance on using the garden to teach core subject areas. The book is offered free to Flor-ida teachers, thanks to a partnership with the Florida Department of Education’s

Office of Healthy Schools and Food & Nutrition Management Section. Teach-ers who would like a copy of the book can order one here. Workshops will also be held throughout Florida during Fall 2011 to train teachers how to use Gardening for Grades. The Teacher Grant Program is funded by the U.S. Department of Ag-riculture, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and Florida Agriculture in the Classroom’s “Ag Tag” sales, among others. For more information about Florida Agriculture in the Classroom, visit www.flagintheclassroom.com.

frnews v38 issue 9

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