WEBVTT - Ep. 442: Backwoods University - Florida Cattle and Conservation 0:00:02.240 --> 0:00:05.840 Welcome to Backwoods University, a place where we focus on wildlife, 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:08.560 wild places and the people who dedicate their lives to 0:00:08.600 --> 0:00:11.080 conserving both. Big shout out to Onyx Hunt for their 0:00:11.080 --> 0:00:14.120 support of this podcast. I'm your host, Lake Pickle, and 0:00:14.200 --> 0:00:17.000 on this episode, we're going back to the state of Florida. 0:00:17.160 --> 0:00:19.880 We're going back to the water crisis. However, this time 0:00:20.120 --> 0:00:30.000 we're gonna hear about it from a different perspective. Okay, 0:00:30.080 --> 0:00:33.280 so allow me to explain kind of the odd setting 0:00:33.320 --> 0:00:35.159 that you're seeing me in right now. I'll start with 0:00:35.240 --> 0:00:38.440 the setting first, and then why explain why this episode's 0:00:38.440 --> 0:00:40.440 going to be a little bit different. First, the setting, 0:00:41.120 --> 0:00:44.040 I am on the Mississippi River with Clay and Josh 0:00:44.040 --> 0:00:46.440 Bilmaker right now, and we are turkey hunting. And at 0:00:46.440 --> 0:00:49.640 this camp where I'm recording this episode, we have electricity 0:00:49.720 --> 0:00:52.600 and starlink and all that stuff. However, we just lost 0:00:52.600 --> 0:00:55.360 power and the generator quit working, so I had to 0:00:55.440 --> 0:00:58.000 drive out of the river bottoms to the highest hill 0:00:58.040 --> 0:00:59.880 I could find and connect to my phone hot spot 0:01:00.000 --> 0:01:02.520 so I could conduct this interview and record this podcast. 0:01:02.560 --> 0:01:04.280 And so that's why you're seeing all this and why 0:01:04.319 --> 0:01:07.160 it just why it's a little bit different. Now moving 0:01:07.160 --> 0:01:09.880 on to why this episode is going to be different 0:01:10.000 --> 0:01:13.480 than probably a lot of other regular Backwoods University episodes. 0:01:13.520 --> 0:01:17.640 So in the last episode, we focused on the water crisis, 0:01:17.640 --> 0:01:20.160 some of the water issues happening in Florida, and we 0:01:20.280 --> 0:01:23.760 heard from Captain Mike and Captain Cody, who both work 0:01:23.920 --> 0:01:27.720 with Captains for Clean Water. What we're doing this week, 0:01:27.760 --> 0:01:30.440 and returning to that subject again, is we're going to 0:01:30.520 --> 0:01:34.080 hear about that same subject, but we're going to hear 0:01:34.120 --> 0:01:37.959 about it from a very different perspective. And I'm not 0:01:38.000 --> 0:01:39.400 going to speak for them. I'm not going to give 0:01:39.400 --> 0:01:40.960 anything else away. I want to let them speak for 0:01:41.000 --> 0:01:42.960 themselves because I believe they've earned the right to do so. 0:01:43.360 --> 0:01:46.800 And like we've said in this show before, I believe 0:01:47.000 --> 0:01:48.920 in not telling you how to think. I believe in 0:01:48.960 --> 0:01:52.200 sharing facts, and I believe in never being afraid to 0:01:52.280 --> 0:01:56.000 share every possible perspective, every possible side of the story. 0:01:56.080 --> 0:01:59.800 So I hope you enjoyed this episode. And yeah, good 0:01:59.840 --> 0:02:01.840 lie there. If you're hunting turkeys, that's what me and 0:02:01.920 --> 0:02:04.280 Clay and Josh are doing. Let's get into it. 0:02:04.720 --> 0:02:07.440 Lake. My name is Pat Durden. I'm a past president 0:02:07.480 --> 0:02:11.720 of the Florida Cattleman's Association. I currently serve on the 0:02:11.720 --> 0:02:16.760 Farm Bureau State Board of Directors, and I'm a seventh 0:02:17.000 --> 0:02:20.800 generation agriculturist, is what I would call it, because we 0:02:20.840 --> 0:02:26.720 haven't always just been in cattle. We have timber and 0:02:27.360 --> 0:02:32.800 I've grown produce and my granddad was a road cropper 0:02:32.960 --> 0:02:38.959 and grew shade tobacco in North Florida. So a pretty 0:02:38.960 --> 0:02:42.960 long history of being an integral part of agriculture. My 0:02:43.080 --> 0:02:47.160 dad was actually a county extension agent for thirty five 0:02:47.240 --> 0:02:51.920 years for the University of Florida at IPUs. And so 0:02:53.400 --> 0:02:58.359 I think, you know, ag is a great part of Florida, 0:02:58.400 --> 0:03:02.840 and we have a good story to tell of how 0:03:02.880 --> 0:03:06.800 agriculture has always been a part of Florida before Florida 0:03:06.840 --> 0:03:07.440 was Florida. 0:03:07.480 --> 0:03:12.920 Actually, yeah, so so Florida Cattlemans. And I'm trying to 0:03:13.000 --> 0:03:15.920 just set the stage here, so like, what what is 0:03:16.000 --> 0:03:18.840 the Florida Cattleman's What is what who do they represent? 0:03:18.919 --> 0:03:21.400 And what is the what is their function within the state? 0:03:22.639 --> 0:03:26.320 All Right, So the Florida Cattleman's is a grassroots organization, 0:03:27.240 --> 0:03:31.600 uh that you join as a member. We have county affiliates. 0:03:31.760 --> 0:03:34.560 Is what I'll call them. So we have county chapters 0:03:35.560 --> 0:03:38.960 across the state. Not every single county has a chapter. 0:03:39.120 --> 0:03:42.560 Sometimes two or three counties joined together and have a 0:03:42.680 --> 0:03:47.320 chapter together. And the purpose really was, you know, just 0:03:47.400 --> 0:03:53.600 to bring our issues to Tallahassee. I think it dates 0:03:53.640 --> 0:03:57.480 back to our inception is maybe nineteen thirty six. So 0:03:57.520 --> 0:04:00.840 the founders thought it was important for us to always 0:04:00.840 --> 0:04:06.640 being involved in how the state progressed and move forward 0:04:06.760 --> 0:04:11.880 with with legislation or regulation. And we've always thought it 0:04:11.960 --> 0:04:15.880 was important to be a part of that as an organization. 0:04:16.040 --> 0:04:22.640 And collectively we meet quarterly our state boarder directors and 0:04:22.640 --> 0:04:26.040 and go over issues that may be you know, popping 0:04:26.080 --> 0:04:29.360 up around the state or things that we feel are 0:04:29.400 --> 0:04:33.839 important to be heard on and kind of you know, 0:04:33.960 --> 0:04:40.240 collectively work together to to come to you know, positive 0:04:40.360 --> 0:04:47.360 resolutions on those things. On behalf of Florida Cattleman's. 0:04:46.680 --> 0:04:50.160 Right and another question, And just to kind of explain 0:04:50.240 --> 0:04:53.640 what I'm doing here, Like we're eventually we'll get to 0:04:53.760 --> 0:04:56.200 like the meat of this conversation, but I'm trying to 0:04:56.240 --> 0:04:59.560 like make sure everyone fully understands the angle we're coming 0:04:59.560 --> 0:05:04.159 from here. So a lot of people are some people 0:05:04.200 --> 0:05:09.320 may think they're like man Florida cattleman's. We're talking about farmers, ranchers, 0:05:09.440 --> 0:05:12.360 row croppers, people that are you know, growing a crop 0:05:12.720 --> 0:05:16.640 or you know, raising livestock, Like how some of them 0:05:16.640 --> 0:05:18.840 may be wondering like why does that, what does that 0:05:18.920 --> 0:05:21.000 even have to do with wildlife? You know, what does 0:05:21.000 --> 0:05:25.400 that have to do with wildlife conservation? And so I 0:05:25.480 --> 0:05:26.800 kind of paint that picture for me. 0:05:27.320 --> 0:05:30.560 Yeah, so absolutely so. I don't really know a single 0:05:30.560 --> 0:05:34.200 farmer rancher that doesn't love to hunt and fish. And 0:05:34.320 --> 0:05:39.000 that's basically an integral part of being a Floridian. I mean, 0:05:39.000 --> 0:05:42.960 when you can hunt and fish year around in our state, 0:05:43.600 --> 0:05:48.560 and you know, ranch's encompass about nineteen percent of the 0:05:48.600 --> 0:05:55.240 private property in Florida, the state, And I guess I'll 0:05:55.320 --> 0:05:58.599 say that, you know, this is kind of a little 0:05:58.600 --> 0:06:02.120 corny thing that I've all always heard, and certainly I 0:06:02.200 --> 0:06:05.960 heard it directly from my grandfather and father. But you know, 0:06:06.480 --> 0:06:10.919 we live off the land, and we have to be 0:06:11.000 --> 0:06:15.000 stewards of the land, and it's always been important, certainly 0:06:15.000 --> 0:06:18.760 in our family to leave it better than the generation before. 0:06:19.400 --> 0:06:23.240 And that's a story that's told all across not even 0:06:23.279 --> 0:06:26.279 just Florida. But you know farmers and ranches around the 0:06:26.360 --> 0:06:30.560 nation that's just almost ingrained in their DNA that they're 0:06:30.600 --> 0:06:34.960 they're responsible for the wildlife that reside on their property, 0:06:34.880 --> 0:06:39.320 They're responsible for the water, and I guess most people 0:06:39.320 --> 0:06:44.159 don't realize that whether it's a farm or a ranch, 0:06:44.240 --> 0:06:47.960 there's I mean a pretty large portion of the property, 0:06:48.040 --> 0:06:53.840 even if it's farmed intensively, that is generally just open 0:06:53.920 --> 0:06:58.400 to wildlife, I mean, and for water recharge areas, and 0:06:59.160 --> 0:07:03.960 and just the habit tat that they thrive in. And 0:07:04.680 --> 0:07:08.800 I think every farmer and rancher I know it's it's 0:07:08.880 --> 0:07:13.080 really important to them to be good stewards. I think 0:07:13.840 --> 0:07:17.120 we all hope to make a profit every year. That's 0:07:17.160 --> 0:07:20.280 really something that you have to try and do to 0:07:20.320 --> 0:07:23.440 stay in business. But when you go to a farmer 0:07:24.120 --> 0:07:27.280 or rancher's place and what they really want to show 0:07:27.320 --> 0:07:31.440 you is is their wildlife. You know, they want to 0:07:31.480 --> 0:07:36.280 show you those things because that's really just who they are. 0:07:36.440 --> 0:07:38.920 I mean, when you know you're not going to generally 0:07:38.960 --> 0:07:40.800 make a lot of money, or you're you're kind of 0:07:41.000 --> 0:07:47.480 risking a lot for a very small return sometimes on investment. 0:07:48.400 --> 0:07:50.120 The return that I think a lot of us get 0:07:50.240 --> 0:07:52.080 is that we get to live out there on the 0:07:52.160 --> 0:07:54.520 land and see it and live it, and be a 0:07:54.560 --> 0:07:58.040 part of the wildlife and be good stewards. And you know, 0:07:58.360 --> 0:08:02.240 even if we just break even or something a year like, 0:08:02.480 --> 0:08:05.920 that's so rewarding, I mean, and I think that's just 0:08:05.960 --> 0:08:08.720 a I mean, that's just part of who we are, 0:08:09.360 --> 0:08:12.520 caring about the land and the wildlife. And you know, 0:08:12.760 --> 0:08:14.680 I've always said if we could, if we could do 0:08:14.720 --> 0:08:16.400 one thing in Florida that I would love to do 0:08:16.440 --> 0:08:19.040 that we can't is I'd love to take all twenty 0:08:19.080 --> 0:08:24.560 four million Floridians and take them on a two or 0:08:24.600 --> 0:08:27.640 three day farming ranch tour so they could just so 0:08:27.680 --> 0:08:30.600 they could see that and feel it. And I think 0:08:30.600 --> 0:08:34.120 they would really see what drives farmers and ranchers and 0:08:34.160 --> 0:08:39.160 what they're really passionate about. Certainly we're passionate about growing 0:08:39.240 --> 0:08:42.719 food and fiber for the nation and for our fellow Floridians. 0:08:42.720 --> 0:08:45.520 But you know, the real reward a lot of times 0:08:45.679 --> 0:08:48.559 is just being allowed to be out there in God's 0:08:48.559 --> 0:08:51.880 country and with the wildlife and the land and just 0:08:52.000 --> 0:08:54.800 know that you did a good job of protecting that 0:08:54.960 --> 0:08:59.840 for another year or for the next generation or whatever 0:09:00.120 --> 0:09:01.120 whatever it may be. 0:09:02.640 --> 0:09:07.280 Yeah, absolutely, man, And I've had the privilege and just 0:09:07.320 --> 0:09:10.640 for the folks listening, uh, Pat and I talked a 0:09:10.720 --> 0:09:14.240 little bit before this recording and realized we had some 0:09:14.320 --> 0:09:17.640 mutual friends and so like a mutual friend of both 0:09:17.800 --> 0:09:22.280 yours en mind, Jim Strickland, who owns a place that 0:09:22.360 --> 0:09:24.680 is that is very dear to me. And I've actually 0:09:24.720 --> 0:09:27.240 referenced it in this podcast before and I even said 0:09:27.240 --> 0:09:28.800 it was. It was on the we did an episode 0:09:28.840 --> 0:09:32.200 on pollinators and I said something along the lines of 0:09:32.280 --> 0:09:36.640 I wish you could take people out there to Blackbeard's 0:09:36.760 --> 0:09:39.640 and walk them through those prairies and let them see 0:09:40.240 --> 0:09:43.640 the wetlands, let them see the wild turkeys, let them 0:09:43.679 --> 0:09:47.520 see all these crazy shore birds he has flying around there. 0:09:47.559 --> 0:09:50.280 Just and it just like this, just this incredible place. 0:09:50.320 --> 0:09:53.480 And like I do think sometimes when people hear the 0:09:53.520 --> 0:09:57.840 word farm or ranch, they I'm not saying. I mean, 0:09:57.880 --> 0:10:00.600 obviously the commodity the crop is is part of it, 0:10:00.679 --> 0:10:05.719 but the the wildlife side of it is is overlooked, 0:10:05.800 --> 0:10:08.320 not by the farmer, but I think by people that 0:10:08.360 --> 0:10:11.920 are on the outside looking in sometimes. And you did 0:10:11.920 --> 0:10:14.560 a really you did a fantastic job explaining that, and 0:10:14.559 --> 0:10:16.680 and it was a perfect segue as well, because you 0:10:16.760 --> 0:10:20.360 made mentioned stewarding the wildlife and the water. And the 0:10:20.480 --> 0:10:23.880 main point of us having this conversation today is so 0:10:23.920 --> 0:10:28.040 the last episode, we we talked about this water issue 0:10:28.440 --> 0:10:31.680 that's going on in Florida, and man, I don't I 0:10:31.720 --> 0:10:34.760 don't want to. I don't want to try to steer 0:10:34.800 --> 0:10:37.520 you any certain direction. I don't want to. I don't 0:10:37.520 --> 0:10:41.120 want to lead the question or anything like that. I 0:10:41.240 --> 0:10:43.760 just I want to give you the opportunity. I'm I'm 0:10:43.880 --> 0:10:49.040 a big believer in in sharing all perspectives of the story. 0:10:50.160 --> 0:10:53.240 And so from what was talked about last time and 0:10:53.600 --> 0:10:56.440 just just a gloss over, we talked about the water 0:10:56.520 --> 0:10:59.480 in Okachobee, the canals that were built to go to 0:11:00.679 --> 0:11:03.480 that go to the Saint Lucie and Clusahatchie rivers, and 0:11:03.520 --> 0:11:06.240 these discharges and all these water quality issues, and that 0:11:06.360 --> 0:11:10.280 was all discussed in last episode. I just I want 0:11:10.320 --> 0:11:12.920 to open the floor up to you and give you 0:11:12.960 --> 0:11:15.959 the chance to share your thoughts on it and your 0:11:16.000 --> 0:11:20.040 perspective from the farmer rancher, from from from that point 0:11:20.040 --> 0:11:20.400 of view. 0:11:21.240 --> 0:11:25.080 Okay, So I appreciate it. We were. I appreciate the 0:11:25.120 --> 0:11:30.720 opportunity to talk about this, and so what I really 0:11:30.760 --> 0:11:35.200 love for everybody to understand is the Everglades Restoration Project 0:11:35.440 --> 0:11:42.160 is the largest ecological restoration project in the world. So 0:11:42.520 --> 0:11:46.920 in the world, we're talking about something that has never 0:11:46.960 --> 0:11:50.000 been done on the scale that we're that we're talking about. 0:11:50.679 --> 0:11:57.760 So it's a pretty pretty intensive project. I think there's, uh, 0:11:57.800 --> 0:12:00.400 if you drill down into it, there's some thing like 0:12:00.480 --> 0:12:07.000 thirty federal and state agencies that are involved. If you 0:12:07.120 --> 0:12:10.760 drill a little deeper into the impact, there's like over 0:12:10.800 --> 0:12:13.160 two hundred and fifty if you get down to the 0:12:13.280 --> 0:12:19.679 municipalities and cities and counties that are involves tremendous, so tremendous. 0:12:19.760 --> 0:12:26.439 This is a herculean effort to try and restore, to 0:12:26.920 --> 0:12:31.199 restore this. But part of the project really is that 0:12:31.320 --> 0:12:33.679 gets left out a lot of times is it is 0:12:33.960 --> 0:12:39.240 for flood control, and it is for the ecological restoration, 0:12:39.840 --> 0:12:44.960 and it is also for the supply of water to 0:12:45.559 --> 0:12:52.480 the population of Florida, which obviously that includes agriculture because 0:12:52.640 --> 0:12:56.680 we all have to eat and sometimes crops have to 0:12:56.720 --> 0:12:59.760 be irrigated, and the flood control is a part of that. 0:13:00.080 --> 0:13:05.880 In this region as well, So I guess I really 0:13:06.280 --> 0:13:11.560 just want to reiterate how, like I said earlier, how 0:13:11.640 --> 0:13:17.000 important it is for farmers and ranchers to leave the 0:13:17.080 --> 0:13:19.960 land in a better place than they've had it. And 0:13:20.000 --> 0:13:23.880 this is a complicated, complicated issue, but I will since 0:13:23.880 --> 0:13:25.800 we're going to go back to that episode, I just 0:13:25.840 --> 0:13:31.840 want to lay a little bit more groundwork. One of 0:13:31.840 --> 0:13:34.599 your guests mentioned that they had come to Florida in 0:13:34.679 --> 0:13:38.800 nineteen seventy eight, and that kind of alluded to the 0:13:38.840 --> 0:13:42.240 fishing was great and all that everything was good. Then, well, 0:13:42.320 --> 0:13:46.640 a few things have happened in Florida since nineteen seventy eight. 0:13:47.360 --> 0:13:49.920 The population used to be nine million people. It is 0:13:50.000 --> 0:13:55.160 now twenty four million people. Tourism used to be around 0:13:55.200 --> 0:13:58.480 twenty million people annually. Now it's almost to one hundred 0:13:58.480 --> 0:14:03.199 and fifty million people. We have over two million less 0:14:03.240 --> 0:14:09.920 acres of farmland, and farmers have adopted precision fertilization and 0:14:10.000 --> 0:14:15.960 best management practices that have drastically reduced any negative impact 0:14:16.120 --> 0:14:20.000 that we may have on the environment and water quality. 0:14:21.280 --> 0:14:25.760 And to go back to best management practices, i'd like 0:14:25.800 --> 0:14:29.920 to say that that is a voluntary program that farmers 0:14:29.920 --> 0:14:34.360 and ranters enter into that. It's administered by the Department 0:14:34.400 --> 0:14:40.840 of Agwater Policy, so it's a pretty rigorous program. They 0:14:40.880 --> 0:14:44.280 have to follow it, it's checked up on, and all 0:14:44.320 --> 0:14:51.720 of our practices are approved through the department. So I 0:14:51.760 --> 0:14:56.160 think when we talk about all those things that have 0:14:56.200 --> 0:14:59.360 happened in that time span, just a sheer number of 0:14:59.400 --> 0:15:03.120 people in Florida that I mean, I guess if we 0:15:03.160 --> 0:15:06.600 could go back to seventy eight, we probably if we 0:15:06.600 --> 0:15:09.880 were going to realize that our population was going to 0:15:10.520 --> 0:15:12.920 far more than double and that everybody was going to 0:15:13.000 --> 0:15:15.720 want to come to Florida, that you know, we probably 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:19.400 should have done some things differently, not just in agriculture certainly, 0:15:19.760 --> 0:15:24.520 but you know, just across the entire state. Because one 0:15:24.560 --> 0:15:27.320 part that's left out of just that sheer population is 0:15:28.240 --> 0:15:32.800 most of those people are South Florida, so Orlando south, 0:15:33.280 --> 0:15:37.400 and they're along the coast and waterways. So there's there's 0:15:37.440 --> 0:15:42.520 a lot of what I call people problems here that 0:15:42.840 --> 0:15:47.680 are a real hurdle to the restoration and water quality. 0:15:48.280 --> 0:15:52.840 I really believe that, actually I know that farmers and 0:15:52.960 --> 0:15:57.000 ranchers are actually have to be and are a part 0:15:57.040 --> 0:16:02.360 of the solution to our water issues. In Florida. As 0:16:02.480 --> 0:16:08.240 we lose more green space farmland, it's going to become 0:16:08.320 --> 0:16:13.200 exponentially harder to accomplish the goals that we want for 0:16:13.480 --> 0:16:18.920 the Everglades restoration. So agriculture is we are at the table, 0:16:19.200 --> 0:16:23.000 We are a part of the solution. We actually invest 0:16:24.560 --> 0:16:30.360 our own money in solving issues, and I think a 0:16:30.360 --> 0:16:33.160 lot of times we just get painted with this broad 0:16:33.280 --> 0:16:36.760 brush that you know, it's pretty We're pretty easy to 0:16:36.800 --> 0:16:42.240 paint sometimes simply because the likelihood of a fellow Floridian, Noah, 0:16:42.320 --> 0:16:45.680 a farmer rancher is pretty low. So you know, if 0:16:45.680 --> 0:16:47.600 you want to if you want to pick a target 0:16:47.640 --> 0:16:52.840 that uh, that to to paint as a as as 0:16:52.880 --> 0:16:57.240 a as a problem to fundraise off of or something, 0:16:57.720 --> 0:17:00.640 you know, pick the pick the group with the smallest 0:17:00.680 --> 0:17:06.840 number of people. The only problem is that we are 0:17:07.000 --> 0:17:11.080 absolutely going to be a part of the solution and 0:17:11.160 --> 0:17:15.879 we have to stay viable and engaged and we want 0:17:15.920 --> 0:17:21.600 to and we've been a part of that and conservation, 0:17:22.680 --> 0:17:26.600 most of the conservation efforts, certainly on land conservation in Florida. 0:17:27.359 --> 0:17:36.120 I mean we have spent almost more political capital, if 0:17:36.119 --> 0:17:39.760 you want to call it that. In Tallahassee fighting for 0:17:40.080 --> 0:17:44.639 I mean, this is agriculture, the Florida Cattleman's or Farm Bureau, 0:17:44.720 --> 0:17:50.800 fighting for funding for conservation easement programs and where those 0:17:50.880 --> 0:17:56.000 lands will be protected in perpetuity forever. You know, catleb 0:17:56.040 --> 0:18:01.359 been in Florida since fifteen twenty one, and and we 0:18:01.440 --> 0:18:05.439 have a thousand people a day moving here. Now we're 0:18:05.480 --> 0:18:09.520 at twenty four million people. It's never been more important 0:18:09.520 --> 0:18:14.760 than it is today to protect agriculture and protect the 0:18:14.840 --> 0:18:18.160 part of the solution that we can provide to clean water. 0:18:18.880 --> 0:18:24.240 And I hate to ever I told you this earlier. 0:18:26.000 --> 0:18:29.600 It's kind of always been in our DNA to sit 0:18:29.680 --> 0:18:33.400 down and have conversations with people, whether we always agreed 0:18:33.640 --> 0:18:38.760 or not that we don't really like we don't see 0:18:38.800 --> 0:18:46.399 the benefit of having an enemy anywhere. But it really 0:18:46.440 --> 0:18:54.880 does baffle me sometimes when folks just don't understand how 0:18:55.000 --> 0:18:58.400 much agriculture we make our living off the land we 0:18:58.520 --> 0:19:06.479 have to have uh clean water. We we absolutely have 0:19:06.720 --> 0:19:12.399 no intention and never have UH done anything that would 0:19:12.480 --> 0:19:16.880 that would have been detrimental to to water quality or 0:19:17.080 --> 0:19:23.480 or wildlife. And certainly over time we have gotten extremely 0:19:24.040 --> 0:19:32.240 extremely good at doing things with utilizing less resources, precision, 0:19:32.720 --> 0:19:39.240 delivering of fertilizers to to crops is is absolutely paramount 0:19:39.480 --> 0:19:45.399 too to agriculture staying economically viable. I mean what we 0:19:45.480 --> 0:19:48.560 have going on right now, I mean with fuel prices 0:19:48.640 --> 0:19:52.320 and and most people don't realize, but fertilizer as well, 0:19:52.359 --> 0:19:55.160 with the with the conflict that's going on in Iran 0:19:55.800 --> 0:19:59.760 and and the implications of that that hits farmers directly 0:20:00.280 --> 0:20:03.920 and with with it certainly hits all of us directly 0:20:03.960 --> 0:20:08.639 with fuel prices, but with h with the commodities and 0:20:08.720 --> 0:20:14.160 things we need to grow the crops for for the nation. 0:20:16.440 --> 0:20:20.800 We are not wasteful with them. We we utilize as 0:20:21.119 --> 0:20:25.760 limited amount as possible, because every dollar that farmer or 0:20:25.840 --> 0:20:28.400 rancher spends on fertilizer is a dollar that they don't 0:20:28.440 --> 0:20:31.520 have in their pocket. It's it's not something that that 0:20:31.920 --> 0:20:37.240 uh is done in any way that would be uh, 0:20:37.600 --> 0:20:40.320 you know, wasteful. It's not. I mean, we don't just 0:20:40.520 --> 0:20:42.760 keep a pasture green like a golf course just for 0:20:42.800 --> 0:20:44.600 the heck of it, for for aesthetics. 0:20:45.200 --> 0:20:45.480 Uh. 0:20:45.760 --> 0:20:48.480 It has to make sense for us to do it. 0:20:49.160 --> 0:20:51.320 And I mean that's leads into kind of one of 0:20:51.359 --> 0:20:54.240 the problems we talked about with the sheer population of Florida. 0:20:54.280 --> 0:20:58.440 I mean there's there's there's probably a lot more fertilizer 0:20:58.480 --> 0:21:02.640 that's used in people's yards and golf courses. And they 0:21:02.640 --> 0:21:04.760 look great, but you know they're they're a part of 0:21:04.800 --> 0:21:09.720 the problem as well as just you know, our sheer 0:21:09.800 --> 0:21:11.000 numbers in Florida. 0:21:14.520 --> 0:21:18.840 Let me ask you about so talking about when we 0:21:18.880 --> 0:21:23.639 talked earlier, you you mentioned a little bit about you 0:21:23.680 --> 0:21:26.280 told me a little bit about your dad. Yeah, And 0:21:26.320 --> 0:21:28.560 I don't want to speak for you, but I just 0:21:28.600 --> 0:21:31.880 thought some of the things that you shared were fascinating 0:21:32.520 --> 0:21:36.880 from just what he has seen from his time farming 0:21:36.920 --> 0:21:40.439 and how it's changed until now, and how like the 0:21:40.560 --> 0:21:45.320 land ethic real the land ethic hasn't really changed, just 0:21:45.400 --> 0:21:47.960 there's been other circumstances that have changed. And I'd like 0:21:48.040 --> 0:21:48.639 to hear some of that. 0:21:49.440 --> 0:21:52.639 Oh yeah, So you know, my dad graduated from the 0:21:52.720 --> 0:21:57.320 University of Florida in nineteen sixty with an animal science degree. Uh. 0:21:57.600 --> 0:22:00.080 You know, part of your job as an as an 0:22:00.080 --> 0:22:04.920 extension agent is to help advise farmers and ranchers on 0:22:04.920 --> 0:22:09.320 on the newest and latest UH practices that have been 0:22:09.359 --> 0:22:13.160 studied at the Land Grant University, University of Florida, trying 0:22:13.160 --> 0:22:14.879 to do the best thing for the land and the 0:22:14.880 --> 0:22:20.639 crop you're growing. Right, So, I mean the practices have 0:22:21.080 --> 0:22:27.840 drastically changed. I mean certainly there's there's stuff, you know, 0:22:27.960 --> 0:22:32.280 in his time that that we don't. We don't subscribe 0:22:32.280 --> 0:22:37.480 to anymore like that was. You know, it's just we don't, 0:22:37.520 --> 0:22:39.080 Like I said, I'll do the easy one. We don't. 0:22:39.160 --> 0:22:42.720 Nobody fertilizes like they used to. Uh it's an it's 0:22:42.800 --> 0:22:47.919 unnecessary uh two to do it that way when we 0:22:47.960 --> 0:22:50.560 have the technology to precisely put it right where we 0:22:50.600 --> 0:22:54.080 want it at at the root system, in the in 0:22:54.119 --> 0:22:57.600 the plant bed. You don't have to do that, and 0:22:57.640 --> 0:23:01.440 we don't. And that's why you've seen a lot of changes, 0:23:02.000 --> 0:23:04.560 even down where we're talking about south of the lake. 0:23:05.320 --> 0:23:10.720 You know, honestly, most people think this is a fallacy, 0:23:10.800 --> 0:23:13.800 but it's it's just absolute truth. The water leaves those 0:23:14.520 --> 0:23:18.879 farms cleaner than when they receive it. I mean, they're 0:23:19.000 --> 0:23:23.040 literally cleaning the water that is coming onto their farms 0:23:23.080 --> 0:23:28.639 and ranches, and it is leaving cleaner than they receive it. 0:23:28.640 --> 0:23:31.880 It's I mean a lot of that is part of it, 0:23:32.040 --> 0:23:37.280 just changing practices, using utilizing best management practices, the technology 0:23:37.280 --> 0:23:41.040 that we have the advantage of today. I mean, and 0:23:41.080 --> 0:23:43.720 that's why I say the farms and ranches are absolutely 0:23:44.080 --> 0:23:48.800 we have we have absolutely stepped up with the technology 0:23:48.800 --> 0:23:56.080 that's available today and and transformed the way that farming 0:23:56.119 --> 0:24:01.520 and ranching is done. And we've in doing that. We're 0:24:01.560 --> 0:24:07.639 always improving. The university is always researching. We we advocate 0:24:07.680 --> 0:24:10.640 for those funds that the legislature and make sure that 0:24:10.680 --> 0:24:13.640 they're able to do the research so we can continue 0:24:13.640 --> 0:24:16.919 to improve, so we can continue to back to be 0:24:17.600 --> 0:24:20.480 the stewards of the land that you know, like I 0:24:20.520 --> 0:24:23.840 said earlier, that's ingrained in our DNA, like we want 0:24:23.880 --> 0:24:28.679 to do those things. We expend the time and energy 0:24:28.680 --> 0:24:32.480 to learn from from the research, We expend the time 0:24:32.480 --> 0:24:35.400 and energy to advocate for the funds for the research, 0:24:36.240 --> 0:24:40.520 and and we invest in that. And uh, you know, 0:24:40.720 --> 0:24:43.960 we talked about this. You know that we all live 0:24:44.000 --> 0:24:48.760 in little bubbles. Sometimes agricultures over here in their bubble 0:24:48.840 --> 0:24:53.280 and and maybe the uh you know, the uh, the 0:24:53.359 --> 0:24:55.879 charter boat guys on the coast, or they live in 0:24:55.920 --> 0:24:59.920 their bubble of being the charter boat guy and uh 0:25:00.080 --> 0:25:03.320 and and a lot of times that's part of the 0:25:03.359 --> 0:25:07.800 problem is not not kind of crossing over and and 0:25:07.800 --> 0:25:10.600 and talking to each other and really seeing uh what 0:25:10.800 --> 0:25:13.800 goes on and and what's really in their heart and 0:25:13.840 --> 0:25:16.600 what's in their mind and what they're really what they're 0:25:16.600 --> 0:25:21.040 really about. So I uh, you know, like I said, 0:25:21.800 --> 0:25:25.440 I'm not for making an enemy of anyone, but I 0:25:25.440 --> 0:25:28.520 certainly think if you're going to speak on the topics 0:25:29.080 --> 0:25:36.359 uh of clean water and and the everyblad's restoration, that 0:25:36.359 --> 0:25:38.480 that you have to be willing to sit down with 0:25:38.560 --> 0:25:43.000 agriculture and have really relevant conversations and and not just 0:25:43.119 --> 0:25:47.320 point fingers because you know, with with a thousand people 0:25:47.640 --> 0:25:51.679 of day moving here, you know it's it's not going 0:25:51.760 --> 0:25:54.240 to get easier. We we have to work together. We 0:25:54.320 --> 0:26:01.280 have to uh see that we honestly want apparently the 0:26:01.359 --> 0:26:05.240 exact same things in a lot of ways. And it's 0:26:05.280 --> 0:26:10.400 almost like you laughed, it's actually when you're on my side, 0:26:10.440 --> 0:26:12.720 it can get maddening, but it is kind of comical 0:26:12.920 --> 0:26:17.639 at some point that that you know it. I mean, 0:26:17.680 --> 0:26:20.000 I'm not gonna lie. Some of our people get really 0:26:20.040 --> 0:26:25.320 really been out of shape when they hear stuff from people. 0:26:25.400 --> 0:26:29.720 When when they're like, man, I grew up here I'm 0:26:29.960 --> 0:26:36.600 seven generations. We love hunting and fishing. That's literally, if 0:26:36.640 --> 0:26:38.680 we could just go do that twenty four to seven, 0:26:38.720 --> 0:26:41.119 we would do that, But you know, we got to 0:26:41.119 --> 0:26:48.000 pay some bills in the meantime. Yeah, you know, let 0:26:48.000 --> 0:26:48.640 me make sure. 0:26:49.320 --> 0:26:51.639 I'm pretty sure I want to I understand you, but 0:26:51.680 --> 0:26:53.200 let me make sure I can hear you correctly. What 0:26:53.520 --> 0:26:55.960 are the points you're trying to make is is basically 0:26:56.040 --> 0:27:00.800 because of the level of urban growth I'll call it, 0:27:00.880 --> 0:27:07.520 that Florida is experiencing. You're saying that the farmer, the rancher, 0:27:07.800 --> 0:27:11.440