Recently, I was in Jacksonville, Florida, for the National Agri-Marketers’ Conference and had some extra time to kill before flying home. Most people – especially my long suffering winter-weary brethren – would jump at such an opportunity to visit the beach. Or at least sit by the pool. That would be normal. Instead, I chose to stay an extra night, rent a car and go cruising looking for farm country photo ops. I figured my odds were good. Florida boasts some of the most productive crop and cattle land in the country. Turns out a plan would have been helpful. I spent a lot of time wandering in the woods, literally (that beach time was starting to sound good). But with the help of Google Earth and some really cool interactive USDA crop maps, I located a cluster of potato fields with some guys cultivating and spraying. Along the way, I found a holly tree farm, some emerging seedling corn, a small field of cabbage, and course some Florida beef cattle. My first evening out, I even stumbled onto a small town high school baseball game and enjoyed a tailgate meal under the home town lights on a beautiful Florida night. Who needs the beach?
The AgriLife Studios Field Journal 