There's more to the agriculture industry than planting and tilling
A group of military veterans, reservists, transitioning active-duty personnel, and their spouses recently took a tour of local farms and food producers to explore career options in the agriculture industry. The bus tour was hosted by Hillsborough County's Extension Service to introduce the many skillsets and occupations that are involved in operating an agricultural business. It's not all planting and tilling the soil.
Today's agriculture industries increasingly focus on using technology and management systems for the production of food, medicine, consumer products, and energy. Like any business, there's labor recruitment and management, bookkeeping, procurement, and marketing, to name just a few examples.
During the tour, participants visited a local flour mill, the UF/IFAS tropical aquaculture lab, a vegetable and ornamental greenhouse nursery, and a strawberry farm. The group also visited the University of Florida Gulf Coast Research and Education Center [https://gcrec.ifas.ufl.edu/ ] in Wimauma.
The tour is organized through a partnership between Extension Service and community partners committed to assisting transitioning veterans by providing meaningful connections to quality civilian career opportunities and training.
More information on the Military Agriculture Tour is available at HCFL.gov/Vets2Ag.