BUSINESS

'We have to change'

Kaylin Parker
Northwest Florida Daily News

Through the Florida Climate-Smart Agriculture Working Group, Lynetta Griner is opening a discussion and developing a solution with fellow farmers across the state of Florida about a previously avoided topic — climate change.

"We don't talk about who's causing anything," Griner, a timber and cattle producer, said. "We just talk about how to respond, how to adapt so we can remain a viable operation. Agriculture is so important to the state of Florida."

Agriculture is Florida's second largest industry with more than 40,000 farm operations totaling more than 9 million acres as of 2017, according to the Department of Agriculture's website.

According to a blog post on the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences website, the Working Group aims to, "focus on how to keep Florida agriculture profitable while providing nutritious food, clean energy, and ecosystem services such as water filtration and carbon sequestration."

On Aug. 21, at the Grand Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort in Miramar Beach, the Daily News sat down with Griner and Jack Payne, senior vice president for agriculture and natural resources and leader of UF/IFAS, to talk about the new group, which has had only three meetings to date.

'An advocate'

Griner didn't graduate with a degree in agriculture although she grew up in a farming family. But lacking a degree didn't keep her from where she is today.

Griner, a generational forest land owner, logger and cattle producer, owns and operates Usher Land and Timber in Chiefland with her husband and son. She was named the 2018 Swisher Sweets/Sunbelt Ag Expo Florida Farmer of the Year, and she's previously been named Florida's Ag Woman of the Year.

"I didn't grow up planning to do this. I grew up in Chiefland and always wanted to be a lawyer," Griner said.

Griner did become a lawyer, and her husband owned a car dealership. However, Griner said, her brother, who was running the family farm, passed away leaving her and her husband with a hard choice.

"Ken and I made the conscious decision to go back and help my dad," Griner said. "So, I found myself knee-deep in agriculture."

Earlier this year, Griner joined producers of several types of commodities in a meeting to talk about the challenges in Florida agriculture, which have been many, including extreme heat, severe hurricanes and record-breaking rainfalls.

Along with running her own operation, Griner tours the state as co-chair of the Working Group speaking with farmers.

"Ken and I made the decision to be advocates for our livelihoods," Griner said. "It's important. Being generations here in Florida, you can see how Florida has changed so much with the pressure of 1,000 people a day moving in. We know that we have to learn how to do more, produce more."

Climate change deniers

Florida farmers are already feeling the effects of climate change.

Strawberry farmers aren't seeing the cool temperatures they once did. Producers like Griner are battling higher amounts of rainfall, droughts and extreme storms.

But before finding a solution to the problem, there needs to be an acknowledgement that the problem exists.

"I've been 10 years in this job ... I used to come to the table as a scientist," Payne, who supports the Working Group, said. "I'd say, 'Guys, this is what the data tells us,' and they would say, 'Jack, the climate is always changing.'"

So, what does it take for farmers to acknowledge climate change?

Payne said it takes helping them realize how the change affects their crop and coming up with solutions to protect the future of their operations.

"That resonates because I don't have to blame them, because agriculture gets blamed," he said.

Climate-smart solutions

According to a recent United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, over 100 experts in 52 countries concluded that agriculture, food production and deforestation cause about 23% of all human-induced greenhouse gas emissions. 

Payne said in the United States, agriculture is responsible for only 9%, and so far, has been credited with shrinking the carbon footprint.

"We have to change the way we grow our food, we have to protect farm land, and somehow we got to make it affordable for people like Lynetta to make those changes," Payne said.

No-till crops, apps on cell phones that control irrigation, and cover crops are just a few of the solutions Griner said can help farmers protect their lands and crops.

Griner also said she wants to see signed contracts that would allow farmers to leave certain parts of their property untouched for certain amounts of time, which she said would help farmers financially.

"It might be that we continue on this 40 acres to do hay for 10 years, and at the end of that, then we can do something else with that land," she said. "That way you're working with the system anyway."

"It's a challenging concept, but it really adds to the quality of life," Payne said.

In the Working Group, Griner said, they are focused on "climate-smart" solutions for farmers to combat climate change.

Climate-smart agriculture is a solution being discussed in at lease three other states. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations website, CSA, "aims to tackle three main objectives: sustainably increasing agricultural productivity and incomes; adapting and building resilience to climate change; and reducing and/or removing greenhouse gas emissions, where possible."

The Working Group's next steps include outlining an agricultural and forestry management strategy for Florida based on CSA principles and developing an "action plan" to implement that strategy.

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