Polk Small Farms

Friday, October 16, 2015

UF/IFAS Gulf Coast REC Berry Vegetable Times Newsletter

The latest issue of Berry Vegetable Times is now available on our website –

http://gcrec.ifas.ufl.edu/berry-vegetable-times-newsletter/

Thank you for your continued support, and remember, your comments and suggestions are always welcome.

Christine Cooley

Office Assistant/Media Coordinator

Univ. of Florida/IFAS/Gulf Coast REC

14625 CR 672, Wimauma, FL 33598

(813) 633-4132
ccooley@ufl.edu

http://gcrec.ifas.ufl.edu

Entomology and Nematology Newsletter - October 2015

The October 2015 issue of the UF/IFAS Entomology and Nematology Newsletter is now available- http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/news/2015-2017/October15.html

This month's news includes:

Faculty and student news

Lab news

Publications and meetings
Grants

Social media and outreach activities and more...

Issues usually are published by mid-month. Submit items for an issue by the seventh of that month.

We would like to share news when it happens using our social media outlets- Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Follow us on these sites for daily updates! Use the #UFBugs hashtag when you post your UF insect finds.

When you send news we will post it on one or more of these sites and again in the monthly newsletter.

Thank you for reading,

Jennifer

Jennifer L. Gillett-Kaufman, Ph.D.

UF/IFAS Entomology & Nematology Department

Rm. 3006 Bldg. 970, Natural Area Drive

PO Box 110620, Gainesville Florida 32611-0620

Phone: (352)273-3950

Email: gillett@ufl.edu

Twitter: @JGillettKaufman @UFEntomology and @UFNATL

SIFT News Fall 2015

New Strategies Add Markets, and Hoop Houses Stretch Production
One of the goals of the SIFT Farm in 2015 was to get into more markets to increase the profitability of the farm. The farm team explored market opportunities in a small city like Butte and identified a handful of direct and wholesale channels that might be open to buying local produce. One of our best new outlets for getting fresh produce from the SIFT Farm to Butte area residents turned out to be the Stodden Park Farmers Market, an Wednesday evening market in a mixed business and residential part of the city.>>more

Season Extension at the SIFT Farm
The SIFT farm is situated in a high-elevation mountain valley and temperatures can fluctuate 50+ degrees in a given day. It is also not unusual to have a frost in almost every month of the year. Most plants do not perform well under these wide temperature fluctuations; thus, we are always experimenting with ways to lessen this gap and reduce the potential for frost killing our most vulnerable plants. >>more

Scaling Up
Did you have an exceptionally good year on your small farm? Did demand for your crops outweigh your production? Are you thinking of scaling up your farm? Here on the SIFT farm, we aim to stay a small-scale farm (hence the name SIFT, meaning Small-Scale Intensive Farm Training), but even with this goal in mind, there are various ways that we have slowly worked on scaling up.>>more

Selling to Grocery Stores and Restaurants
This year on the SIFT farm, we have had the awesome opportunity to sell to a local grocery store, as well as to a local distillery. Whether you are thinking of scaling up, or are just interested in different opportunities for selling your produce, grocery stores and restaurants are a good direct-marketing avenue to consider.>>more

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Get Em' Done CEU Day

8:00 - 8:10 Registration & Check-In

8:10 - 8:30 Intro., Housekeeping, Layout day

8:30 - 9:20 Mixing and Loading Game – Outdoor Activity Program#20101 CEUs approved: 482 core, 487 core

9:30 - 10:20 Calibration Stations – Outdoor Activity Program#20046 CEUs approved: 482 core, 487 core

10:30 - 12:20 Breakout Tracts

Track	Landscape - Tree	Landscape - Turf	Ornamental	Aquatic
Room	Kendrick	Rogers	Haley	Ayers/Aalberg
10:30 - 11:20	Selecting Central Florida Trees and Improving Tree Health – Andrew Koeser, UF/IFAS Gulf Coast Research & Ed Center Program#20048 CEUs approved: 1 O&T, Priv. Appl., ROW, LCLM, Ltd L&O, L&O	Common South Central Turf Issues – Susan Haddock, UF/IFAS Hillsborough County Extension Program#20047 CEUs approved: 1 O&T, Priv. Appl., ROW, LCLM, Ltd L&O, L&O, Ltd Urban Fert.	Scouting – Martha Glenn, UF/IFAS Manatee County Extension Program#20049 CEUs approved: 1 Aquat, Nat. Areas, O&T, Priv. Appl., ROW, LCLM, Ltd L&O, L&O, Demo. & Res.	Weed Control For Stormwater Retention Ponds: Principles And Management Techniques – Stephen Enloe, Associate Professor, UF/IFAS Extension, Gainesville Program#20205 CEUs approved: 1 Aquat, Nat. Areas, O&T, Priv. Appl., ROW, LCLM, Ltd L&O, L&O, Ltd Urban Fert., Demo. & Res.
11:30 - 12:20	Selecting, Planting & Maintaining Trees & Palms – Michelle Atkinson, UF/IFAS Manatee County Extension Program#20051 CEUs approved: 1 O&T, Priv. Appl., ROW, LCLM, Ltd L&O, L&O	St. Augustine Response to Fe, Mn & Mg – Dr. Travis Shaddox, Turfgrass Science, UF Gainesville Program#20050 CEUs approved: 1 O&T, Priv. Appl., ROW, LCLM, Ltd L&O, L&O, Ltd Urban Fert.	Pre-emergent Herbicides – Shawn Steed, UF/IFAS Hillsborough County Extension Program#20052 CEUs approved: 1 Aquat, Nat. Areas, O&T, Priv. Appl., ROW, LCLM, Ltd L&O, L&O, Demo. & Res.	Floating, Submersed, And Emergent Weed Identification – Stephen Enloe, Associate Professor, UF/IFAS Extension, Gainesville Program#20204 CEUs approved: 1 Aquat, Nat. Areas, O&T, Priv. Appl., ROW, LCLM, Ltd L&O, L&O, Ltd Urban Fert., Demo. & Res.

12:20 - 12:50 Lunch (provided)

1:00 - 1:50 PPE & Label Game – Outdoor Activity Program#20053 CEUs approved: 482 core, 487 core

2:00 - 2:50 Insect ID Lab – Program#20080 CEUs approved: 1 Aquat, Nat. Areas, O&T, Priv. Appl., ROW, LCLM,

Ltd L&O, L&O, Demo. & Res.

2:50 - 3:30 Evaluations, CEU distribution

___________________________

Crystal Snodgrass, M.S.

Extension Agent II, Manatee County

University of Florida IFAS Extension

Manatee County Government

1303 17^th Street West | Palmetto, FL 34221

Phone: (941) 722-4524 ext. 229

Fax: (941) 721-6796

Email: crys21@ufl.edu

Web: manatee.ifas.ufl.edu

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Thursday, October 15, 2015

Cogongrass Cost Share Program Update - FFS

Please see below for information on the Cogongrass Cost Share Program that we are currently accepting applications from non-industrial private landowners through February 29, 2016. See links below for further information. I am the contact for this program for Polk, Hillsborough, and Pinellas counties. Thanks

Corey Walk
Senior Forester, Lakeland District
Polk, Hillsborough, Pinellas Counties
(863) 519-1066
Corey.Walk@FreshFromFlorida.com<mailto:Corey.Walk@FreshFromFlorida.com>

1700 US Highway 17 South
Bartow, Florida 33830

Florida Forest Service
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services http://www.freshfromflorida.com/Divisions-Offices/Florida-Forest-Service.

Please note that Florida has broad public records law (Chapter 119, Florida Statutes). Most written communications to or from state employees are public records obtainable by the public upon request. Emails sent to me at this email address may be considered public and will only be withheld from disclosure if deemed confidential pursuant to the laws of the State of Florida.

________________________________
From: Eickwort, Jeffrey
Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2015 4:32 PM
To: _Forestry County Foresters
Cc: Strom, Rebecca; Pearce, Chris; Ayers, Anthony; Stine, Bonnie; Ellis, Brad; Lehnert, Karen
Subject: Cogongrass Program Update

Hello everyone,

Just a quick update and reminder - we are now fully "live" and ready to accept cogongrass cost-share applications! Although this is a long-running sign-up period (through February 29) for applicants to begin treatments in 2016, I urge you not to wait until the last minute to submit applications! Submitting them early gives us time to catch and fix any errors and issues ahead of time. Unlike some of our programs, the demand has tended not to overwhelm our supply of funding, so qualified applicants have a good chance of being approved.

The Press Release has been approved: http://www.freshfromflorida.com/News-Events/Press-Releases/2015-Press-Releases/Cost-Share-Program-Now-Available-to-Help-Fight-Invasive-Destructive-Plant. You may distribute this, or use it for reference when writing your own articles for local media!

The website has been updated: www.freshfromflorida.com/Cogongrass-Program<http://www.freshfromflorida.com/Cogongrass-Program>. Here you can download all of the forms and guidelines.

As with all such programs, the landowners will have to register as vendors and submit their W-9 information at https://flvendor.myfloridacfo.com/. Detailed instructions can be found on page 7 of the Guidelines. If they have recently participated in or applied to one of our programs, they may already be registered - but DFS occasionally dumps the information from inactive accounts, so they should still sign into the website to check!

Please copy our staff assistant Rebecca Strom with any application materials sent by email. Thanks for all you do, and please contact us with any questions!

Regards,
Jeff Eickwort
Jeffrey Eickwort
Biologist and Supervisor, Forest Health Section Florida Forest Service Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
(352) 395-4689
(352) 395-4623 Fax
Jeffrey.Eickwort@FreshFromFlorida.com<mailto:Jeffrey.Eickwort@FreshFromFlorida.com>
1911 SW 34th Street
Gainesville, FL 32608
www.FreshFromFlorida.com<http://www.FreshFromFlorida.com>
Please note that Florida has a broad public records law (Chapter 119, Florida Statutes). Most written communications to or from state employees are public records obtainable by the public upon request. Emails sent to me at this email address may be considered public and will only be withheld from disclosure if deemed confidential pursuant to the laws of the State of Florida

NEWS RELEASE - USDA Seeks Applications for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Guaranteed Loans and Grants

Rural Development

4440 NW 25^th Place

Gainesville, FL, 32606

Voice 352.338.3419

Email: michelle.m.jacobs@fl.usda.gov

Web: http://www.rd.usda.gov

Contact:

Michelle Jacobs, (352) 338-3419

michelle.m.jacobs@fl.usda.gov

USDA Seeks Applications for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Guaranteed Loans and Grants

DAVENPORT, FLA., Oct. 15, 2015 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development is accepting applications from rural small businesses and agricultural producers for

guaranteed loans and grants to support renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. Funding is available through the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP).

REAP funding may be used by eligible agricultural producers and rural small businesses to purchase and install renewable energy systems and to make energy efficiency improvements.

Eligible renewable energy systems include those that produce energy from wind, solar, renewable biomass (including anaerobic digesters), ocean, geothermal, hydrogen derived from renewable

resources, and small hydroelectric systems. Examples of energy efficiency projects include, but are not limited to: the installation of more energy efficient motors, pumps, fans, blowers,

compressors, grain dryers, irrigation projects, refrigeration units, ventilation systems, windows, heating systems, lighting systems, and insulation upgrades that reduce energy consumption. The REAP

grants can pay up to 25% of the total project cost.

REAP applications are accepted continuously, and the next funding deadline for grants of $20,000 and less is Nov. 2, 2015. Grant funding is very competitive in Florida. Interested applicants

are encouraged to contact our office to discuss their potential projects prior to applying. For additional information, also see page 60349 of the October 6 Federal Register.

Additional information about USDA Rural Development energy programs can be obtained by contacting the Agency’s Davenport office at 863-420-4833, extension 118. Individuals

may also call the Rural Development State Office at 352-338-3412 or visit www.rd.usda.gov/fl.

REAP was created in the 2002 Farm Bill and reauthorized in the 2014 Farm Bill with guaranteed funding of no less than $50 million nationwide annually for the duration of the five-year bill.

Through this program, USDA has supported nearly 11,000 renewable energy and energy efficiency projects nationwide since the start of the Obama Administration, providing more than $367 million

in grants and $354 million in loan guarantees to agricultural producers and rural small business owners.

President Obama’s plan for rural America has brought about historic investment and resulted in stronger rural communities. Under the President’s leadership, these investments in housing,

community facilities, businesses and infrastructure have empowered rural America to continue leading the way – strengthening America’s economy, small towns and rural communities. USDA’s

investments in rural communities support the rural way of life that stands as the backbone of our American values.

LaTasha Thomas Pace|Area Specialist

Rural Development

United States Department of Agriculture

2629 Waverly Barn Road, Suite 129 | Davenport, Fl 33897

Phone: (863) 420-4833; ext. 104| Fax: (855) 474-8230

www.rd.usda.gov/fl | “Committed to the future of rural communities”

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