‘We have it all here’: Florida’s agriculture business is booming in Seminole County

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — Next to tourism, agriculture is the second largest industry in Florida.

Throughout the state there are more than 47,000 farms.

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Seminole County — despite being a relatively urban area — is home to around 400 of them.

From the clothes we wear to the food we eat, agriculture is in just about everything we do.

Seminole County’s farms range in services that include agritourism, U-picks, and produce production.

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“We have lots of vegetables, fruit, fruit trees, cattle production — all sorts of different livestock, from honeybees to chicken to turkeys,” Morgan Pinkerton with the UF/IFAS Extension Office in Seminole County said.

“We have it all here.”

Pinkerton told Channel 9′s Sam Martello, not only do the hundreds of farms help feed the ever-growing population, but they offer unique ecosystem services that improve quality of life.

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She said these farms can help with water quality and air quality. They also provide habitat for thousands of native plants and animals.

“Out here we have our rescue yard,” Beth and Dennis Langlois, the owners of Black Hammock Bee Farms, said.

“I take care of them, make sure they’re healthy, give them food, make sure the queen is doing well.”

This is just one of the Seminole County farms, that over the last year, has contributed to a direct output of nearly $3 billion.

The Langlois’ farm bees, harvest honey, and train and educate the community on how to become their own backyard beekeepers.

In turn, those bees help farmers across the county improve the quality of their crops.

“We have a lot of bees here, so we are pollinating all around our community,” Langlois said.

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A cycle they said will continue to save the bees and keep the agriculture industry alive and well in Florida.

Coming up in March, as part of the extension office’s farm tour, community members will have a chance to visit some of these farms and connect with the farmers themselves.

For more event and ticket information, click here.

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