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Military families learn about life in the agriculture field
Ken Suarez reports
PLANT CITY, Fla. - After serving in the military most people have a pretty important question to answer: "What do I do next?"
On Friday, dozens of service-related people explored a few options.
Members of the military, active, and retired, along with spouses took the Annual Military Agricultural Tour sponsored by the Hillsborough County Cooperative Extension Service.
It gave Matthew Watson a chance to touch base with his roots. His family farmed peanuts. Instead of immediately going into the family business, Watson joined the US Army.
After he got out, he became a law enforcement officer, something he plans to continue doing for several more years. But not forever.
"I am looking towards the future, and what I am going to do in a couple of years when I retire," he told FOX 13.
He is in the process of buying more than 30 acres in Northwest Florida which he may farm.
Dustin Grooms, who spoke to the group that took the tour, and is a member of the family that owns Fancy Farms, can relate.
Rather than working on the family farm after high school, he joined the military. But the attraction of working outside and the daily challenge of navigating whatever Mother Nature throws at you, eventually lured him back.
He admits the ag industry is not for everyone.
"You gotta be passionate about agriculture. It is a tough job," Grooms said.
But it works for him.
Like in many industries, there is a labor shortage in agriculture.
So Grooms says there are plenty of jobs to go around, running a tractor, driving a truck, picking and packing the berries.
Participants also heard about other kinds of jobs when they toured a local nursery and fish farm.
Although the population of Tampa Bay is growing rapidly, agriculture is still big business here. In Hillsborough County, its economic impact is more than three billion dollars a year.