UF is reaching out to Florida’s agricultural roots.
The school’s Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences has developed a program called Agriculture Saves, or AgSave$, which is designed to help farmers in North Florida with both financial and educational decision-making.
“Farming is a business which has evolved into more than just a way of life,” said Ricki McWilliams, a family and consumer sciences specialist at the UF IFAS extension in Walton County, Florida, and one of the coordinators of the program.
The program will be introduced to the public Feb. 23 at a summit hosted by UF IFAS in a segment titled “Preparing and Planning for the Next Generation of Successful Farmers,” McWilliams said.
The free event will be held at three IFAS extension locations in North Florida — Marianna in Jackson County, Monticello in Jefferson County and Jay in Santa Rosa County. The deadline to apply is Feb. 19, McWilliams said.
Agriculture Saves will also hold a series of four workshops starting in late March at the 15 IFAS extension locations that discuss topics ranging from planning for retirement and reducing debt to helping farmers secure their family and their farm’s future.
The cost for attending these four workshops is $55 per family, and the deadline to apply is March 10.
McWilliams said IFAS wants to ensure farmers have the skills needed to run their farms and prepare farm owners for the time when they need to pass their trade on to their children.
“We want to make sure they have the opportunity to be successful,” she said.
Justin Gearhart, a member of the UF College of Agriculture and Life Science Leadership Institute, said he learned about the importance of agriculture and farming at a young age.
While the UF forest resource and conservation junior has not farmed himself, Gearhart, 20, said he became involved with the Future Farmers of America club in high school.
He said the experience opened his eyes because he was able to see firsthand where the food he eats every day comes from.
“I got to meet people whose lives were solely based on agriculture,” Gearhart said. “I just came to respect what they did.”
McWilliams said the program provides a safety net to ensure farming in the U.S. is able to remain a possibility.
“Farming is important for everyone even if they don’t know it,” she said. “Without farming, there wouldn’t be food.”
[A version of this story ran on page 4 on 2/11/2015 under the headline “New IFAS program aims to help farmers secure their futures"]
