Pensacola News Journal

For: Saturday, July 24, 2004

By: Daniel E. Mullins

Extension Horticulture Agent

Santa Rosa County

The Orlando Trip, and a Take-Home Tip

I have just returned from a work related trip to the Orlando area. During the week of July 11, Florida hosted the National Association of County Agricultural Agents Annual Meeting and Professional Improvement Conference there. The location of the meeting is rotated between four regions of the U. S. and this was the first time in sixty years that this meeting has been held in Florida.

The conference was attended by over fifteen hundred members and their families. All activities were well planned with professional improvement as the goal. Information was provided through seminars, workshops, tours and educational exhibits. There were separate educational programs for active members, retired members and spouses as well as daily tours and other activities for the youth in attendance.

Eighteen hour days were the norm as Florida’s Extension Agents rose between the hours of 4:00 to 6:30 a.m., depending upon their job assignments. A 10:00 p.m. meeting was held each evening to evaluate the day’s activities and to fine tune plans for the next.

Attending the annual agent’s conference is usually a highlight of the year for me. This meeting provides an excellent opportunity to obtain some of the latest information as well as new ideas for using it.

Though there are many interesting programs offered, a good example is the NACAA Communications Awards Program. There are a dozen categories including newsletter, newspaper column, photo, fact sheet, learning module and video. This is a competitive program and the national winners are present to display their work and provide workshops that describe how they succeeded.

Approximately 300 spouses enjoyed daily workshops, luncheons and tours, as well as a hospitality room for relaxing and visiting. The traditional “spouses gift” this year was a beautiful pewter sand dollar with the annual meeting information engraved on the back.

One day I had the opportunity to help lead a tour of the Kennedy Space Center for retired Extension Agents. Wednesday of the week is always family tour day and there was an opportunity to choose from 29 offerings. My family chose a tour of the 5,000 acre Brahma Island on Kissimmee Lake. On this island, a farm family has diversified their cattle operation by offering wildlife tours and hunting opportunities. There are over 100 bald eagles on the island (14 nesting pairs), as well as virgin live oak savannahs and carefully managed herds of cattle, deer and wild hogs.

With all of the week’s various activities, meeting and networking with other Agents is perhaps the most important. It was interesting to note that the challenges and opportunities faced by Extension Agents are similar throughout the nation.

We all struggle with how to best reach an increasing population, many of which move into the area and are not familiar with local growing conditions. This meeting provided a great opportunity to learn how other Agents are meeting the challenge.

This was an exhausting, yet enjoyable week. If another 60 years passes before the Conference is again held in Florida, I take heart in knowing that I will be attending strictly as a participant in the future. I now know the amount of planning and work that is required to be a host state and plan to take full advantage of the opportunities provided by others.

The Take-Home Horticulture Tip: Obviously, there is a lot for the gardener to see in the Orlando area and I viewed many residential and commercial landscapes while there. St. Augustine grass dominates most lawns in the urban area and I was impressed by its appearance. Central Florida is obviously doing a better job of maintaining this lawn grass than we are, and the biggest difference is in the mowing height. It is being left tall, with the shortest cut that I saw being about four inches.