Santa Fe CARES awards:

Santa Fe CARES awards: Farm owners demonstrate environmental stewardship

A cool fall evening could not chill the fellowship of more than 350 dinner guests at the Santa Fe CARES dinner held on Oct. 30. Assembled at the DeChamplain farm in Gilchrist County, they celebrated the outstanding natural resource management of 17 farmers and ranchers who produce food and fiber in the Santa Fe River Basin.

Those agriculturists recognized received a CARES award plaque and earned the right to display a CARES sign on their respective properties.

CARES – County Alliance for Responsible Environmental Stewardship – was initiated in 2001 by Florida Farm Bureau and the Suwannee River Partnership to promote efforts by farm proprietors who implement superior environmental stewardship techniques in the Suwannee River Basin. The partnership now includes more than 60 local, regional, state and federal agencies, as well as industry organizations and other businesses. In the past seven years the CARES program has been expanded into the Santa Fe Basin, the Northern Everglades Agricultural Area and the Indian River region.

Serving as a speaker and a presenter at the event, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Charles H. Bronson explained why such a program is important beyond individual farm properties.
“I want to thank all of those who have won the award in the past years and this year because it really does help us show the environmental community and some of those in government that agriculture is going above the call of duty to do its part environmentally, as well as produce the food and fiber for all people in this state and this country,” Bronson said.

“I am convinced that if we get the message out about what the Florida farmer and the American farmer are worth to this country, other citizens may begin to understand it a little better,” he added.

Bronson noted that he knows few people who do not enjoy eating at mealtimes. “There is only one group that will be able to deliver that food and that is the American farmer,” he said.
Bronson also thanked Florida Farm Bureau and the other members of the partnership for their support of the CARES program.

Pat Cockrell, assistant to Florida Farm Bureau President John Hoblick and a CARES award presenter along with Bronson, said, “These farmers who came across the stage are doing positive things for agriculture. They are doing positive things for the environment. They are doing positive things so they can be sustainable in this state.”

Cockrell emphasized that many farm producers have a vision that “100 years from now agriculture will still be a pillar of Florida’s economy. People like these farmers tonight are going to ensure that their farms and farms into the future continue to be that pillar of the economy.”
When Farm Bureau first began planning the CARES program, Cockrell pointed out, its board held a vision “that you could drive from Miami-Dade County to Pensacola and you would see signs along the side of the road saying: ‘This Farm CARES.’ It is moving that way now because of all of you.

“You have been leaders in this. We appreciate everything that you do.”

He also said farmers maintain a positive attitude about their calling, despite news about the general economy and the stresses of change imposed by forces beyond their control.

Carlos Suarez, state conservationist with the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, applauded both the CARES award winners and the network of agencies and organizations supporting them.

“The strong partnership in this state helps these people help this land,” Suarez said. “Those farmers we recognized are being good stewards of the land.”
Researchers at the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences have been instrumental in developing Best Management Practices CARES winners have applied at their respective operations. Joe Joyce, executive associate vice-president at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, said the staff and faculty at IFAS are “proud to be a member of this partnership. We are the research and development arm of Florida agriculture.”

Joyce noted that agriculturists have recently been effective at helping to “convince some folks that agriculture is a valuable part of this state’s economy. It is part of the culture and it is part of the social network of this state.

“It will be that for a long time as long as you are out there and remain a part of this $100-billion industry,” he said. “I would like to thank you for doing what you do by staying on the land and making this state and this country what it is.”