4 minute read
Outstanding in His Field
FLORIDA’S FARMER OF THE YEAR LEADS BY EXAMPLE
By Cathy Lockman
RICK ROTH has a philosophy of cooperation that has motivated his work life for more than 44 years.
“When it comes to being a farmer, a member of the Florida Farm Bureau or a legislator, I’ve been very fortunate to have opportunities to work together with others on issues that matter to me,” Roth says. “The focus on solving problems and making a difference is very satisfying, especially when you get to do it with others who are dedicated to the same thing.”
That sense of common cause – and the success it has inspired – earned Roth recognition as the 2020 Florida Farmer of the Year. A vegetable, herb, rice, sugar cane and sod producer, Roth and his family own nearly 4,000 acres and a major packing house in Belle Glade. It’s an operation that his father, Ray, started in 1948, when he left the family farm in Ohio, renting 100 acres in Florida sight unseen. Ray began buying his own land in 1955 – first 110 acres and then 1,666 more in 1962 as part of a multiple farmer purchase. Rick joined his dad in 1976, and together they expanded their operation, adding four more parcels of land in the decades that followed.
“My dad was an amazing man,” Roth says. “He was much more of a farmer than I am. He envisioned and established the operation that is still the core of what we do today.” That legacy is honored not just by the farm’s growth, but also by Ray’s Heritage, a 60,000-square-foot packing house built in 2006.
- Rick Roth, legislator
SOLVING PROBLEMS
A 1976 graduate of Emory University, Roth studied math, a major that has provided him with not only the numbers background to run a successful business, but a way of looking at issues that makes him a problem solver. The farming community’s efforts to solve an environmental issue allowed him to utilize those problem-solving principles.
He explains that the problem of nutrient runoff came to a head in 1988 with lawsuits to protect the remaining Everglades.
“The entire ag industry worked with the South Florida Water Management District to develop a matrix of best management practices to control phosphorus runoff from farms,” Roth says.
While he admits it’s been a long process, with the problem not fully solved until 2015, he’s proud of the results and the farming community’s determination to solve their runoff problem.
“We solved this together. In 1994, the water going into the Everglades system had a phosphorus concentration of 180 parts per billion. Now it’s 10 parts per billion,”
he says. “The phosphorus concentration in rainfall is 38 parts per billion, so the effort by farmers and the South Florida Water Management District has resulted in water that is much cleaner than rain. The vegetable and sugar cane farmers stuck together. The results are highly effective management practices that benefit everyone.”
SERVING THE PROFESSION AND THE PUBLIC
Roth says that same sense of camaraderie and shared purpose is central to the work of the Florida Farm Bureau, where he served as vice president from 2000 to 2010.
“As farmers, we have political and economic reasons to stick together and to trust each other. The Farm Bureau is a great organization, where all of that comes together in common cause, to serve the industry and the public.”
Roth’s foray into politics didn’t end with his tenure as vice president of the Florida Farm Bureau. In 2016, he was elected to the Florida House of Representatives, where he serves on the State Affairs Committee and three subcommittees, including Agriculture & Natural Resources.
That commitment to serving the farming community makes a significant impact on the industry and the public. Add to that Roth’s personal success and dedication to crop rotation and you have a winning combination – one worthy of recognition as Florida’s top farmer this year.
“One of the rewarding parts of life isn’t safety and comfort,” he says. “It’s challenge. It’s teamwork. It’s solving problems. It’s so rewarding and risky to be on the front line of what’s going on. Farming is as front line as you can get.”
LEARNING IN THE FIELD
Rick Roth was one of the nine farmers to receive the Swisher Sweets/Sunbelt Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year Award. The Sunbelt Ag Expo is typically held in Moultrie, Georgia, in October, though the 2020 event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Known as North America’s premier farm show, the annual event has more than 1,200 exhibitors showcasing the latest in farming technology. The expo has a 100-acre exhibit area adjoining a 600-acre working research farm. Visitors can tour exhibits and attend seminars and demonstrations, including harvesting, tillage and precision ag demonstrations. The next expo is slated for Oct. 19-21, 2021.
