The State of Agriculture in Northwest Florida

Okaloosa County, Fla — In the past few weeks there have been “Town Hall” meetings in North Okaloosa County concerning the North Okaloosa Planning Study to address the needs of the north end of the County as it continues its rapid growth.

After two meeting and seeing the enormous turnout mostly against the proposed changes to future land use and land development code, we reached out to Okaloosa County UF IFAS Extension, Agriculture & Natural Resources Agent Jennifer Bearden, and to Okaloosa County, FL Resident & Farmer Shannon Nixon of Nixon Farm in Baker.

During the forty-minute interview which will aired at 7am this morning on our public affairs program, Viewpoint, we asked the following questions:

What are the biggest issues facing agriculture in Okaloosa County?

Explain Urban Sprawl and Land use as it relates to Agriculture.

What kinds of misconceptions threaten agriculture?

How is wildlife an issue on the farm and what can we do to mitigate this?

Hear the answers to these questions and more in the interview.