On March 3, 2023 Sarasota County in cooperation with UF/IFAS (University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences) sponsored the first annual Sarasota County Farm and Ranch Tour. I was fortunate to have been on this all-day educational tour of several working farms and ranches where we learned about the important role that agriculture has played in the development of the Sarasota area.
Agriculture has played an important role in the history of Sarasota County since the Spanish colonization in the 16th century. The indigenous peoples of the region relied on a combination of farming, fishing, and foraging for their food and trade. Early settlers relied on farming as their source of food as well. Bertha Palmer, a wealthy Chicago businesswoman came to Sarasota in 1910 and purchased 80,000 acres of land and established farming and ranching operations here. Today much of that land is now in the residential communities of Palmer Ranch. Read on for details about the locations we visited on the Farm and Ranch Tour!
Brown’s Grove Citrus & Produce
Brown’s Grove was established in 1915 and is now run by a fourth generation of the Brown family. The operation features a wide variety of citrus products including oranges, tangerines, lemons, etc as well as Pecans. They specialize in table quality fruit and during season are open for u-pick as well as selling their products at local farmers markets. Citrus has been negatively affected by “greening” which is a disease that eventually kills the tree so replanting is a necessary part of citrus management. UF/IFAS has done extensive research on greening and is developing varieties of citrus that are resistant to the greening disease.
Albritton’s U-Pick Blueberry Farm
The Albritton family has been farming in Sarasota since 1880 and is the oldest family-owned business in Florida. Citrus has always been a primary crop, but since greening became a problem in the last decade or so there was a need to shift to other types of product, so blueberries are now the focus. With over 25 acres of berries in production the operation produces over 200,000 pounds of blueberries annually. The farm is open during the spring harvest season for U-Pick when families can come out and spend a day in the fields picking their own blueberries. Much of the crop is also sold and shipped commercially.
Robinson Hay & Feed
Wherever there are farms or ranches there is a need to keep the animals fed and that includes hay as well as feed for cows, pigs, chickens, horses and other livestock. Robinson’s is one of the companies that supports the local farming community by providing these products.
Hi Hat Ranch
The Turner family has owned and operated Hi Hat Ranch since 1943. The ranch spans over 10,000 acres with the primary focus on breeding and raising cattle for commercial sale to the meat processing industry. Additional operations include sod farming, as well as their newest foray into growing bamboo for food (think bamboo shoots) and the sale of mature bamboo to the lumber industry for use in flooring, furniture and other products.
Honeyside Farms
Operated by Tiffany Bailey, a fifth generation farmer in Sarasota and Manatee counties, Honeyside Farms is a certified organic farm that focuses on the raising of about twenty different crops including lettuces, collard greens, kale, cabbage, tomatoes, beans etc. Other operations include the growing of turfgrasses for sod, as well as some cattle. Much of their produce is sold to local restaurants who participate in the “farm to table” model where the produce is grown locally and is never more than a day or two old since being picked. The farm also offers weekly vegetable box service where they automatically deliver retail customers a fresh box of whatever is currently being picked at the farm.
The Future of Farming in Sarasota County
The reality is that as more and more people move to the Sarasota area, more land is needed to build the homes and commercial spaces that are needed to support these new arrivals. This constantly puts pressure on large landowners (farmers and ranchers) to sell their land. Fortunately Sarasota County has done a good job at preserving these open spaces by supporting the establishment of Agricultural Conservation Easements. The Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) protects the agricultural viability and related conservation values of eligible land by limiting nonagricultural uses which negatively affect agricultural uses and conservation values, protect grazing uses and related conservation values by restoring or conserving eligible grazing land, and protecting and restoring and enhancing wetlands on eligible land.
Will people continue to move to the Sarasota area? The answer is yes. Fortunately I believe that there is a recognition that saving and preserving agricultural lands is a benefit for future generations. Let me know your thoughts!