By Lisa Lochridge, FFVA director of Public Affairs

The men outlined their platforms at the Wedgworth Leadership Institute Alumni Association annual meeting on Aug. 7.

State Sen. Carey Baker of Eustis, U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam of Bartow, former Suwannee County Commissioner Randy Hatch, and Eric Draper of Audubon of Florida faced off during the Aug. 7 meeting. Baker and Putnam are both Republicans; Hatch and Draper are Democrats.

“The Wedgworth Alumni Association was pleased to sponsor a candidate panel discussion addressing some of the challenges that face Florida agriculture,” said David McDonald, co-president of the alumni association. “All of the announced candidates were invited to attend, and we were fortunate to have four candidates take time out of their busy schedule to join us.”

The WLI program is designed to develop and equip leaders in the agriculture community to become involved in shaping public policy to benefit the industry at the local, state and national levels.

Draper dropped out of the race 10 days after the forum, citing difficulties in juggling a campaign and his job responsibilities at Audubon. (Because Draper is no longer a candidate, his comments are not included in this story.) Former Tallahassee Mayor Scott Maddox and former state Rep. Rick Minton Jr. of Fort Pierce, also Democrats, did not attend the forum.

Wedgworth alumni a ‘farm team’ for ag

In a nod to the leadership represented by the audience of about 85, Putnam opened by saying that WLI’s objectives are “perfectly in line with my vision of Florida agriculture and the state as a whole.”

“We need an agriculture commissioner who fits a three-part test: Someone who has a real agriculture background, who understands what it is to live and die by the thermometer or rain gauge or pest no one can pronounce; someone who has a passion for the agriculture industry; and someone who has the background to go on the 22nd floor of a condo in Boca Raton and advocate the needs of our industry to people who don’t know it exists. Wedgworth can be agriculture’s ‘farm team’ in all parts of Florida.”

Each candidate painted a picture of what kind of agriculture commissioner he would be.

Baker, who was elected to the state Senate in 2000, spoke of his years of public service and his experience as a small businessman. “This job has lots of responsibility. It takes a commitment to service. I got my sense of commitment from my father, who was elected to Florida House, served in the armed services, and started our family business in Mount Dora,” Baker said. His family has owned and operated The A.W. Peterson Gun Shop in Lake County for more than 50 years.

Calling himself a farmer, miner, cattleman and timber man, Hatch cited his leadership from “just being a county commissioner,” but added that he was chairman of the Florida Association of Counties and served on the North Florida Regional Planning Council. A self-pronounced “home-rule authority nut,” Hatch said “government at the local level is government at its best.”

Citing a “generational shift” that’s occurred in industry and the state’s population, Putnam said Florida needs a different kind of agriculture commissioner. “We have to break out of our comfort zone and box above our weight class,” he said. “The Cabinet position of agriculture commissioner has been marginalized, and it doesn’t have to be that way. We take it for granted that we will always have pro-ag commissioner, and that’s a dangerous assumption.”

Besides an understanding of commodity-specific problems such as citrus canker and greening, the commissioner must “see megatrends -– water policy, land-use policy that doesn’t strap farmers, immigration, food safety, and health and nutrition… We need collaboration and consensus-building outside of the usual suspects. That’s vitally important.”

Candidates cite bad policy as a major threat

The candidates cited land-use and water policies as the biggest threats to the future of Florida agriculture.

Hatch discussed “the whole land-use issue that’s been a topic of much debate in Tallahassee in the past few years. I’m not against urban growth; I’m against urban sprawl. I’m not against development but against developers who don’t want to meet concurrency requirements. They don’t care about what’s good enough for the community … it’s about what’s good for them.”

Another significant threat is “unchecked, rampant greed at nearly every level in this country,” he added. “It’s time for people to stand up and say, let’s get a level playing field – that’s the job of government.”

Putnam cited “water policy that is moving” as a serious threat, but he added others to the laundry list.

“It’s public policy at the rule-making level that animals have standing and a trial lawyer can set standards for veal and swine,” he said. “It’s a death tax that will end the family farm. It’s trade deals that are poorly negotiated. It’s the loss of crop protection tools that right now allow less than 2 percent of the population to feed the world. What other industry has that kind of efficiency? Yet those tools are eroding. It’s misguided public policy and the culture that says, ‘Since you’re the last one who hasn’t sold out, we’re going to tell you what to do to your land.’ That’s offensive and unacceptable.”

Baker urged the group to think about the long-term as well as the short-term when considering threats to agriculture.

“When we think, where do we want ag to be 10 years or 20 years from now, we have to think about what’s going to drive decisions in future. We know it’ll be growth,” Baker said. “It’s typically NIMBY (not in my back yard). No one’s going to want to be around a pig farm or where there are fumigants. That’s where policies arise from growth. Folks who don’t understand agriculture think it doesn’t matter if we don’t farm in Florida.”

Without statutory and even constitutional protections to ensure growers have the right to farm, Baker added, “You’re going to see a continuation of growth pushing local decisions that are bad for ranching and bad for farming.”

Baker said voters need to understand policies that are enacted today will ultimately affect their food source. “These property-rights issues are going to become more and more critical,” he said. “We know the pressure for agriculture won’t get less; the issues that growth poses are political ones … Our challenge is to put into effect protections so that tomorrow we’ll have sustainable agriculture.”

Improved economy, smaller government are key

The candidates closed by summarizing their priorities. Putnam and Hatch focused on the need to revive the economy, while Baker spoke of the importance of the small business community and the need for government to “get out of the way.”

Baker told the group he doesn’t use a lot of words, but focuses instead on action. “An indication of future behavior is past behavior,” he said. “In running a small business, I’ve had all the challenges a small business man has every day opening the door and making a living.”

Members of the Wedgworth Leadership Institute Alumni Association listen to four candidates for ag commissioner speak Aug. 7.

“I have a passion for a strong agriculture industry in the state,” he said. “I’ve stood shoulder-to-shoulder with other ag groups in the state. I will put principle above politics. Service is a commitment that I’ve proven over my life and experience. I’ll serve with honor and be honored to serve.”

Hatcher cited his experience as a county commissioner in exercising fiscal responsibility. “I had to balance budgets when there was little money,” he said.

“We have so many issues that are going to fall on us in these next few years -- food safety, homeland security, and tools of terrorism that we may deal with,” he said. “It will take someone who has experience, who understands international relations as they relate to agriculture, and has background in production agriculture.”

Hatcher spoke at length about the dire financial straits many farmers find themselves in today. Devaluation of farmland has hurt growers’ ability to finance the next season’s operation, he said, adding, “We’re going in the wrong direction. We need to make sure farmers are able to get the credit they need in order to operate and feed us.”

Putnam cited specific improvements needed for a 21st century Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which he said “is organized in silos right now.” He called on the department to be more efficient and “customer friendly.”

Putnam suggested the school lunch program be housed with FDACs instead of the Department of Education, and cited the opportunity to expand education outreach by bringing biology, life sciences and chemistry teachers to the farm.

He closed by urging Wedgworth alumni to be fully engaged in the race. “It’s the singular most important race for the future for agriculture,” he said. “If we distort the mission of agriculture with the wrong commissioner, the result would be devastating.”

Photo at top: David McDonald, co-president of the Wedgworth Alumni Association introduces candidates (from left) Putnam, Hatch, Draper and Baker.