FIRA USA Moves to Florida for 2027
From the Western Ag Network, I’m Bob Larson with today’s Fruit Grower Report. If you were lucky enough to attend the recent FIRA USA AgTechnology Conference in Yakima, FIRA USA 2027 will be here before you know it.
And University of Florida professor, Nathan Boyd is inviting us all to come on down …
BOYD … “Next year, it is going to be at the Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in Florida, just south of Tampa. It’s a great location. A lot of things that make it great. It’s where our center is so it will actually be on a functional farm which is going to be interesting.”
While similar in some respects, Boyd says farming in Washington and Florida is very different …
BOYD … “So, the crops between the two state are very different, of course, but our needs are remarkably similar. A lot of it just comes down to labor and the cost of labor, the ability to access labor. And that doesn’t matter whether it’s apples here in Washington or strawberries in Florida,
it’s the same problem.”
But ag tech, Boyd says is the future of agriculture …
BOYD … “It is. I think we’re just at the very starting point of an agricultural revolution. I think it’s going to change agriculture forever. I think that everybody recognizes this and we know the technology is going to keep getting better and better.”
And like Washington, Boyd says agriculture is aslo the second biggest industry in Florida …
BOYD … “When you think about Florida, you think about Disney, and parks, and beaches, but agriculture is a huge part of our state and we feed a lot of the country in the wintertime. You know, we think food security is national security, and we think ag tech is one way we can keep farmers on the land.”
Details about FIRA USA next November will be coming soon.
