EXTENSION CONNECTION: Okaloosa County Farm Bureau to sponsor Farm-City Week event

CRESTVIEW — Farm-City Week will be celebrated this year from Nov. 18 through Nov. 25.

It is a week to express appreciation for the beneficial partnerships between rural and urban communities. Farmers and ranchers rely on essential partnerships with urban communities to supply, sell and deliver finished products across the country and around the world.

Consumer purchases, in turn, make sustainable farm enterprise possible. Food, fiber and renewable fuel are available to us because of the daily relationships among farmers and ranchers, processors, brokers, truckers, shippers, advertisers, wholesalers and retailers. The collective efforts by these members of our society provide a wholesome diet for everyone. In addition, farms and ranches conserve freshwater resources, wildlife habitat and greenspace.

Here in Okaloosa County, our farmers grow cotton, peanuts, soybeans, corn, wheat, tomatoes, watermelons, other fruits and vegetables, hay, beef cattle and honey. We also have a large amount of timberland in our county.

Okaloosa County Farm Bureau, along with the University of Florida IFAS Extension in Okaloosa County, will sponsor the annual Tractor Parade on Nov. 20 starting at 9 a.m. and ending with a Food Distribution at 11 a.m. at Woodlawn Baptist Church to recognize the contributions of Farm-City relationships to Florida’s quality of life.

For more information about Farm-City Week activities in our local community, please contact Molly Huffman at the Okaloosa County Farm Bureau. Okaloosa County Farm Bureau is affiliated with the Florida Farm Bureau Federation, the state’s largest general interest agricultural organization, representing more than 136,000 member-families. Florida Farm Bureau serves to enhance farm enterprise and improve rural communities.

Jennifer Bearden is an agent at the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension office in Crestview.