Steve Cordle
ECB Publishing, Inc.
Former Jefferson County Commissioner Stephen Fulford was recently hired as the new Conservation Technician by the Madison County Soil and Water Conservation District to serve the three-county area of Jefferson, Madison and Taylor Counties.
Fulford was born in Jefferson County and raised on the farm where his grandfather started growing green peanuts in 1945. After attending the University of Florida, Fulford spent time in Wyoming before completing a Master's Degree in Agronomy in Gainesville. After a brief foray to work with the North Carolina Cooperate Extension, he returned to Jefferson County from the Tar Heel state in 2004 and joined the family farming operation. Fulford served two non-consecutive terms on the Jefferson County Commission, the most recent one ending on Thursday, Nov. 19, after Fulford decided not to seek reelection.
Now, Fulford has moved on to his new position, which still serves Jefferson County residents, particularly those working in agriculture. As a conservation technician, Fulford "provides the boots on the ground" for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) Office of Agricultural Water Policy (OAWP). Fulford works with Florida's agricultural producers to implement best management practices (BMPs) for nutrient reduction, irrigation management, and water resources protection. The goal is to help producers apply less fertilizer and use less water and still get the same results.
Each Ag sector has a BMP Manual that contains a checklist of BMP Practices. The BMPs were created through a joint effort of the FDACS, the University of Florida, Water Management Districts and Ag Producers. The goal is to get farmers to voluntarily enroll in the BMP program and adopt the recommended practices. Enrollment has its benefits; enrolled producers are eligible for cost share to help them comply with the BMPs and enrollment also conveys a degree of legal protection as long as they follow the BMP practices. Historically, the program has been all voluntary, until this year when Florida Senate Bill 712, the "Clean Waterways Act" was signed into law on June 30, 2020. That act makes enrollment mandatory for anyone located within a Basin Management Action Plan (BMAP) area, including the Wakulla, Wacissa, and Suwanee Basin BMAPs that cover most of Jefferson and Madison Counties.
Under the new law, if a farmer does not want to comply voluntarily, the case is turned over to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, which carries enforcement powers. Still, it is Fulford's goal to prevent a producer from ever getting to that point.
The three counties in Fulford's water conservation district territory, have some differences in how agriculture plays out in each county. According to the Ag Census for each county, there are slightly fewer farms in Jefferson County than in Madison County, but there is little difference in the amount of acreage farmed. In Jefferson County, a lot of agriculture business comes from the agricultural nurseries as opposed to family farms. Private agricultural nurseries, such as Simpson's Nursery, are the largest private employers in the county.
In Madison County, the total market value of crops produced by family farms is more than double that of Jefferson County.
Of the three counties, Taylor County has the least amount of farming. As evidenced by the annual Forest Festival, the largest agricultural crop is timber, an event that goes back to 1955. Starting as a county-wide "Pine Tree Festival," it was an educational tool meant to reduce forest fires that were crippling the county's timber-based economy.
The management strategies will help agriculture in north Florida be a vital part of the economy for years to come and provide jobs needed to help all of our region's residents.
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