Farmers & Florida Rural Radio

[John FL]

We started out talking about "Ag Reports" which is really a Nothing Burger. But as we looked at various agriculture-based markets, it's obvious that farming continues to retreat further and further inland. It wasn't always that way in most places you may call home in Florida.

Let's assume, population continues to increase in Florida over the next 5, 10, 15, 20 years. Where do new arrivals go? If history repeats itself, one solution is the building of high-rise structures in the already crowded cities and coastal areas. You can certainly fit lots more people in tall buildings than construction of single-family homes.

That's also not a lifestyle for everybody. I've long been a fan of the Classic TV show "Green Acres." I'm old enough to have watched it during its original run. It was a ratings bonanza for many years and it still performs well today. Perhaps there are enough of us who want to escape life in the cities for what we think is a simpler life in the country. Maybe it's nature lovers, maybe it's those who want some peace and quiet and the feeling of living where there is less crime. Perhaps many reasons are at play.

Over the years, I've read stories, especially from real estate, and have even seen TV news that has talked about how the most rural areas of the state will be the next major wave of development. What will that mean for radio? Just maybe, the hogging of signals in the coastal and populated areas will ease up. Maybe new arrivals in the future will depend more on satellite and internet than an antenna farm. Anyway, perhaps 20 years from now someone will find this thread in the archives and validate or dispute what's been said.

If there is anything I've learned about Florida, and I've lived here since the late 70s, is that much does change. When I was a kid, we visited relatives we had at the time in Florida. This was in Dade County (that was the name back then) and in Broward County, sandwiched between Dade and Palm Beach. I remember family in the Miami area poking fun at those who live in Broward. It was like Broward folks were a bunch of hayseeds.

In the mid 1980s, I often went to Miami for various company meetings. Even then, some had a condescending attitude about Broward County mainly along the "things to do line." You see, Broward was once a thriving agricultural region. You'd never think that today. Besides year-round balmy weather, South Florida has the best soil in the entire state according to the experts.

Through the 1980s, I can recall not every major corner had a strip shopping center. There were some wide-open spaces and farms still around. By the 90s that was pretty much all gone. The condescending attitudes probably disappeared as well along with a lot of the greenery.

The first job I got in Florida was working for a company called "Florida Coast Bank." This bank was ultimately taken over by Barnett Bank and I'm sure many of you long-time Floridians know, this was Florida's biggest bank. But, Florida Coast had an interesting history. It was once "The Farmer's Bank of Pompano." Pompano Beach was once known as the green bean capital of the country. Agriculture was a huge industry. Not sure if this is still there, but there was an agricultural distribution center right besides the railroad tracks. What is now Coconut Creek to the west of Pompano was once massive crop fields and pastureland.

In my many trips across "Alligator Alley" visiting Naples and Marco Island from Ft. Lauderdale, I remember driving for maybe 10 miles in mostly a rural setting. Eventually, urban sprawl reached the tollgate. Perhaps Broward's location and tropical weather dictated their future, especially given the massive number of people who want to live near water and leave winter behind.

Here on The Treasure Coast, there are different strategies. Indian River County and to some extent Martin County, are taking a controlled approach to growth and housing demand. St. Lucie County, on the other hand, is very aggressive in building new communities. As I mentioned earlier, farms have been disappearing overnight in Tradition where building is happening with little end in sight. Let's just say, I'm happy we didn't settle there.

There is a back-road I take most mornings that's a time-saver as there is a long stretch without traffic lights. This is just west of Vero Beach in unincorporated Indian River County. It's actually not remote at all being maybe 4-5 miles east of I-95. But it's like time has stood still there and really it's nice to see! There's large homesteads, cows grazing, some dirt roads here and there, no street lights etc. It's like looking at a Florida from the past and nice seeing not one strip shopping center anywhere.

Choosing where we live is a critically important decision. And as we've seen, much can change. There are definitely those who love city life. As someone who lived in populated areas all his life, I can honestly say I love where I live on the Treasure Coast. It's not exactly "Hooterville" that Oliver Wendell Douglas fell in love with, but how nice when you know you made the right move. I love radio here too. I'm grateful.

Florida is an interesting state. Certainly, there's lots of places to choose to live. There's also lots of different winter climates which is a whole other subject. That's about all I have to say about the subject of rural life and rural radio. It would have been nice to have more input about more of the rural areas of Florida. Info is not always easy to come by. Maybe that's by design keeping some of the best secrets of the state from changing.

 

[gr8oldies]

We started out talking about "Ag Reports" which is really a Nothing Burger. But as we looked at various agriculture-based markets, it's obvious that farming continues to retreat further and further inland. It wasn't always that way in most places you may call home in Florida.

Let's assume, population continues to increase in Florida over the next 5, 10, 15, 20 years. Where do new arrivals go? If history repeats itself, one solution is the building of high-rise structures in the already crowded cities and coastal areas. You can certainly fit lots more people in tall buildings than construction of single-family homes.

That's also not a lifestyle for everybody. I've long been a fan of the Classic TV show "Green Acres." I'm old enough to have watched it during its original run. It was a ratings bonanza for many years and it still performs well today. Perhaps there are enough of us who want to escape life in the cities for what we think is a simpler life in the country. Maybe it's nature lovers, maybe it's those who want some peace and quiet and the feeling of living where there is less crime. Perhaps many reasons are at play.

Over the years, I've read stories, especially from real estate, and have even seen TV news that has talked about how the most rural areas of the state will be the next major wave of development. What will that mean for radio? Just maybe, the hogging of signals in the coastal and populated areas will ease up. Maybe new arrivals in the future will depend more on satellite and internet than an antenna farm. Anyway, perhaps 20 years from now someone will find this thread in the archives and validate or dispute what's been said.

If there is anything I've learned about Florida, and I've lived here since the late 70s, is that much does change. When I was a kid, we visited relatives we had at the time in Florida. This was in Dade County (that was the name back then) and in Broward County, sandwiched between Dade and Palm Beach. I remember family in the Miami area poking fun at those who live in Broward. It was like Broward folks were a bunch of hayseeds.

In the mid 1980s, I often went to Miami for various company meetings. Even then, some had a condescending attitude about Broward County mainly along the "things to do line." You see, Broward was once a thriving agricultural region. You'd never think that today. Besides year-round balmy weather, South Florida has the best soil in the entire state according to the experts.

Through the 1980s, I can recall not every major corner had a strip shopping center. There were some wide-open spaces and farms still around. By the 90s that was pretty much all gone. The condescending attitudes probably disappeared as well along with a lot of the greenery.

The first job I got in Florida was working for a company called "Florida Coast Bank." This bank was ultimately taken over by Barnett Bank and I'm sure many of you long-time Floridians know, this was Florida's biggest bank. But, Florida Coast had an interesting history. It was once "The Farmer's Bank of Pompano." Pompano Beach was once known as the green bean capital of the country. Agriculture was a huge industry. Not sure if this is still there, but there was an agricultural distribution center right besides the railroad tracks. What is now Coconut Creek to the west of Pompano was once massive crop fields and pastureland.

In my many trips across "Alligator Alley" visiting Naples and Marco Island from Ft. Lauderdale, I remember driving for maybe 10 miles in mostly a rural setting. Eventually, urban sprawl reached the tollgate. Perhaps Broward's location and tropical weather dictated their future, especially given the massive number of people who want to live near water and leave winter behind.

Here on The Treasure Coast, there are different strategies. Indian River County and to some extent Martin County, are taking a controlled approach to growth and housing demand. St. Lucie County, on the other hand, is very aggressive in building new communities. As I mentioned earlier, farms have been disappearing overnight in Tradition where building is happening with little end in sight. Let's just say, I'm happy we didn't settle there.

There is a back-road I take most mornings that's a time-saver as there is a long stretch without traffic lights. This is just west of Vero Beach in unincorporated Indian River County. It's actually not remote at all being maybe 4-5 miles east of I-95. But it's like time has stood still there and really it's nice to see! There's large homesteads, cows grazing, some dirt roads here and there, no street lights etc. It's like looking at a Florida from the past and nice seeing not one strip shopping center anywhere.

Choosing where we live is a critically important decision. And as we've seen, much can change. There are definitely those who love city life. As someone who lived in populated areas all his life, I can honestly say I love where I live on the Treasure Coast. It's not exactly "Hooterville" that Oliver Wendell Douglas fell in love with, but how nice when you know you made the right move. I love radio here too. I'm grateful.

Florida is an interesting state. Certainly, there's lots of places to choose to live. There's also lots of different winter climates which is a whole other subject. That's about all I have to say about the subject of rural life and rural radio. It would have been nice to have more input about more of the rural areas of Florida. Info is not always easy to come by. Maybe that's by design keeping some of the best secrets of the state from changing.

From the very short time I spent in Florida in 1980, going to First Phone Wonder School in Sarasota, I of course remember going to the beach in February, downtown Sarasota, and the fact that I-75 ended in Tampa. It was a long trip from Tampa to Sarasota when I came down from Ohio (I was on the Sunshine Skyway just a few months before it collapsed in that horrible accident). Getting around Sarasota was interesting and slow on Tamiami Trail. Sometimes I'd be surrounded by Ohio plates. Most of the Tampa market's AM and FM stations came in in Sarasota, including the CHR battle between Y95 (WYNF) and Q105 (WRBQ), as well as semi-disco and pop Supermix 96.

We went to Miami to take our license tests. I remember signs with land for sale along what would be I-75, on past Fort Meyers. Alligator Alley was interesting.

When I was in my early 20s and sick of winter (especially after the horrible 1976-77 and 77-78 winters), I had thought about moving to Florida if I could find a radio job there. That was especially after signing on a station when it was 10 below. (I could be signing on a station in Florida where it might be 40). There were some markets like Gainesville, Ocala and even Fort Pierce),. Nonetheless, that never happened. I've not been to FL since. I don't move to or from a state due to politics but I might take a pause on Florida with DeSantis.

 

[Battenkill50]

Closest I've found for farm networks so far (while trying to clear up my Louisiana logs...)

kw-melbourne

 

[John FL]

I thought I would revisit this topic. Recently, West Palm/Treasure Coast's NBC affiliate, WPTV, ran a series about population growth on The Treasure Coast. While on the surface, it's not really news as growth and urban sprawl is happening all over Florida and elsewhere. But it does leave you wondering about negative impacts on the environment and quality of life.

On the subject of radio for farming interests, we've already determined that ship has sailed. Farmers have other sources, outside of radio, they count on for news and information about their industry. For overall media, we've seen TV promotions that show the importance of push alerts for weather events. But with technology as advanced as it is, those whose livelihood involves the outdoors, not just farmers, there are long-range forecasts at our fingertips.

Out of the three coastal counties that comprise The Treasure Coast, St. Lucie County is clearly in a population boom. And that trend is not reversing any time soon. In fact it's spreading like wildfire all through the area. From just 2020 to 2021, St. Lucie County saw a 4.4% population jump. For those of you who are not familiar with this region, St. Lucie County is home to cities such as Ft. Pierce and Port St. Lucie.

Without even seeing this report, it's our eyes that tell the story. It seems everywhere you look, there's new roads and new housing communities sprouting up where there were once farms. WPTV spoke to a farmer whose family (McCarty's) have been in western St. Lucie County since the 1880s. He spoke at length about the enormous pressure he gets almost daily from developers who want to buy his land.

A community known as "Oak Ridge Ranches" will be developed over the next decade or so. This will border his land literally across a street. This is 3000+ acres and will be home to over 9000 new homes. It's expected this will bring another 25,000+ residents to a place that was once desolate. There will be a school, strip shopping center, all the things we see with urban sprawl.

Mr. McCarty made one statement that hit a nerve with me. He considers himself and other farmers like him"Stewards of the Land." Per Agrivi.com: "Farmers are called stewards of the land, because of the close connection that they have with the land. Their livelihood and way of living depends on their ability to use the land. Therefore it is in the farmers’ best interest to help protect the land because they rely on it."

Farmers are doing their best to be stewards of the land through conservation, preservation and moderation of use of resources as was reported. Not too far from where this proposed development will be built, there are residents who are experiencing water intrusion, for the first time, as a new community was erected in a higher elevation. There's not a lot of thinking about consequences it would seem.

To the south is Martin County. I wish I could remember this Government official who talked about "Eminent Domain." He envisions a time where there will be housing communities all the way to Lake Okeechobee. New and bigger sources of revenue certainly trump the beauty of wide-open spaces.

While we can say this is all under the umbrella of progress, there may be radio issues that come about. I would suspect that radio signals may need modifications to accommodate rising populations especially in the far western portions of counties where for decades the population was coastal.

There is an interesting aspect to radio listening on The Treasure Coast in that signals come from literally all over. I kind of get a kick out of it. But on 105.5, I sometimes pull in West Palm's "KOOL" and sometimes it's Tampa's "The Dove." Very western portions of the T.C. counties may be able to hear radio from the Suncoast better than local. Then again, I'm just speculating. I just may investigate one day by taking a trip "out west."

 

[PTBoardOp94]

Some interesting data published this week by "Hoosier Ag Today", an ag news service based in Indiana:

The 2022 study showed that Hoosier Ag Today radio programs reach 49% of all Indiana farmers — out-distancing their closest competitor at 39%. In key corn producing counties, HAT reaches 48.5% of corn growers; and in leading soybean producing counties, 48.3% of growers listen to HAT reports. Of those surveyed by AMR, 87% of farmers reported being regular listeners to their local radio station. With rural broadband in Indiana slowly improving, radio continues to dominate the dally media choices by top farmers.

Radio ag news is apparently still widely listened to by the target audience.