Florida Agriculture Salutes Environmental Stewardship Standouts
October 30, 2015 Three Florida farming operations were announced winners of the state’s Agricultural-Environmental Leadership Award at the 74th Florida Farm Bureau Annual Convention in Ponte Vedra Beach.
The annual award, presented by the Florida Department of Agriculture since 1994, recognizes enterprises at the forefront of developing and adopting innovative and environmentally sensitive farming practices. Nominees from different areas of Florida’s agricultural industry were reviewed by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and industry and environmental groups. Environmental practices considered in the nominations include: wildlife protection and habitat conservation; pesticide/nutrient management; water quality; soil and water conservation; and waste management/recycling.
Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam introduced and presented the awards to the winners. “These recipients have each shown a commitment to improving Florida’s environment and conserving our natural resources, especially water,” Putnam said.
The recipients are:
Dennis Carlton
Dennis Carlton, owner of Carlton and Carlton Ranch in Hillsborough County. Carlton is a seventh-generation Floridian whose 35,000-acre ranch includes cattle, citrus, sod and strawberries. Since taking over the ranchland, he has restored and improved wetlands, provided corridors for protected wildlife, and filtered stormwater on the property.
After several hurricanes in 2004 devastated parts of the ranch, Carlton replanted thousands of pines and oaks. He recycles citrus pulp into feed for cattle and collects rainfall to help water his crops and protect them from freezing weather.
Carlton is a former president of the Hillsborough County Farm Bureau and currently sits on the Florida Farm Bureau’s Citrus Advisory Committee.
In 2014, he was named the Sunbelt Ag Expo’s Florida Farmer of the Year.
♦ Click on the following pages to learn more about the other winners ♦
Randall Dasher
Randall Dasher is owner of Dasher Farm in McAlpin. When Dasher took over his family’s Suwannee County farm, he instituted new technology to make the most efficient use of the land, water, and agriculture on his property, which includes peanuts, seed crops and a seed-processing facility.
He adopted conservation tillage practices, crop rotations, cover crops, and a process to farm row crops without irrigation. He also was among the first in the area to adopt hydroponic farming techniques.
Dasher is a self-proclaimed “weather watcher,” keeping decades of rainfall information about his ranch to establish patterns on the best times to plant crops. Dasher Farm is the main supplier of fresh produce for the Farm to School program in Suwannee County.
Dasher is the president of the Suwannee County Farm Bureau and has served in various capacities in the Florida Farm Bureau.
Wes Carlton
Wes Carlton is owner of Bull Hammock Ranch in Fort Pierce and a fourth-generation cattle rancher. Bull Hammock is a showcase for water storage and environmental stewardship, including a unique surface water management system that stores more than 1,800 acre feet of water and drastically reduces the nitrogen and phosphorous released back into the environment. This innovative system restores and rehydrates wetlands, improves water quality and allows wildlife to flourish, all within the Northern Everglades and Estuaries Protection Area.
Bull Hammock Ranch, a 7,500 acre cow/calf operation, has been owned and operated by the Carlton family since 1947. In addition to its water storage programs, the ranch has implemented a number of agricultural best management practices (BMPs), including rotational grazing of the herds, planting a variety of forage plants, nutrient management, and exotic species eradication.
Carlton has served as president of the St. Lucie County Cattleman’s Association and is very active in the Florida Cattleman’s Association. He is a spokesperson for the cattle industry and frequently opens his ranch to environmental organizations to tour and see firsthand the effects of new technology and BMPs on the environment.
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