Resolution 2016-237 RESOLUTION NO. 2016 - 237
A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF
COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA, SUPPORTING RECURRING FUNDING
FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA INSTITUTE OF FOOD AND
AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES SOUTHWEST FLORIDA RESEARCH
AND EDUCATION CENTER.
WHEREAS, the Southwest Florida Research and Education Center (SWFREC), part of
University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS), was established as
a UF support facility in 1958 and became a OF/IFAS research and education center in 1986 after
the agricultural industry in southwest Florida convinced the state that the region needed its own
center to serve the region's unique agricultural and natural resource needs; and
WHEREAS, the research, education, and extension activities at SWFREC has been, and
will continue to be, an economic engine for the region and the state; and
WHEREAS, the SWFREC serves the entire State of Florida, focusing on Collier, Lee,
Charlotte, Hendry, and Glades counties, which produce almost 25% of Florida's citrus and
nearly 80% of the tomatoes and other fresh vegetables sold during winter to U.S. markets; and
WHEREAS, southwest Florida agricultural interests, including citrus, vegetables,
sugarcane, and ornamental growers, along with cattle ranches, collectively generate $1 billion in
farm sales annually, and are the core of an agribusiness and natural resource economy in
southwest Florida that contributes more than $6 billion of total annual economic activity
statewide; and
WHEREAS, the SWFREC is a valuable regional portal providing technology and
science regarding the management of water, environmental issues, and natural resources critical
and economic development to the region, state; and
WHEREAS, in recent years, the SWFREC has lost funding for staff, faculty, and
research programs, limiting and endangering the ability of the SWFREC to promote and protect
the health and productivity of southwest Florida and statewide agricultural interests.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
OF COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA, join the South Florida Agricultural Council in
supporting the OF/IFAS Legislative Budget Request of$1 million to renovate and automate the
research and extension farm(s) of the Southwest Florida Research and Education Center in
Immokalee, as well as funding for other OF/IFAS programs having a regional impact.
THIS RESOLUTION ADOPTED after motion, second and majority vote on this the
25th day of October, 2016.
ATTEST: BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
DWIGHT E. BROCK, Clerk COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA
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By. , •y. „
4I U Y C E DO A FIALA, CHAIRMAN
Attest as to Chairman 1
signature only.
Approv a as a form and legality:
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Jeffrey AV Kl tz ow
County o ey
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