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LAKELAND, Fla. — Florida has over 9 million acres of agricultural land, and according to the Florida Farm Bureau, over 300,000 of those acres are in Polk County.
On Wednesday, the Lakeland Chamber of Commerce hosted farm owners and agriculture experts to discuss the future of farming in the county. Industry leaders discussed challenges and ways to evolve farming methods.
Pasty Rogers, a small farm owner, was there and shared her experience.
“There are challenges at every level,” she said. “The regulations that I struggle with as a small farm, they struggle with them on the large farm, but there are resources out there to help us.”
Rogers grows vegetables indoors using a method known as microgreening. She started this during the pandemic, and like many great ideas, it started with a question.
“If we only had rice and beans to eat, what could we grow ourselves that grows quickly and is nutrient dense,” Rogers said.
Her business, “My Tiny Greens,” has grown from harvesting the greens for family members to now selling them to local businesses.
It’s a journey that she says has proven to have a lot of benefits. “Microgreens have 4 to 40 times the nutrients as the adult plant,” she said.
While her business isn’t as large as some farms in Polk County, she said it’s an industry that is growing.
The latest Census of Agriculture reported that small farms accounted for 85% of all U.S. farms. It’s a number that local farmers are hoping to preserve.
Industry leaders spoke Wednesday about agricultural challenges, including increased development and citrus greening. One big issue some large farm owners are trying to navigate is labor challenges.
John Bedell, the president of H Visa Solutions, said it’s a big part that drives production.
“What a lot of people don’t understand is as these people come in and there’s new regulations that change, seems like every year, you need someone in human resources that understands the three-quarter guarantee that’s required for the H-2A workers,” he said.
While there are challenges in the industry, it also comes with economic benefits and the opportunity to immerse young growers into careers in agriculture.
For Rogers, it’s an industry she believes will continue to grow and evolve over time.
“I think there’s a need for small farmers,” she said. “I think we’re going to see more people doing container gardening, more indoor hydronics’.”
Learning new methods to keep her community fed right from her home.
The chamber connection also brought together Farm Credit of Central Florida, Fancy Farms Market and Polk State College educators to speak more on the agricultural growth in the area.
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Lizbeth Gutierrez
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