Currents - July 2025

Currents Suwannee Valley

FIBER ON THE FARM

How Rapid Fiber Internet is transforming local agriculture

JULY 2025

SUMMER ESCAPES Seven Florida adventures to enjoy with friends and family AROUND THE COMMUNITY Cornhole Tournament winners, the Suwannee Valley Food Fight and more

CEO’S MESSAGE

Cultivating progress You don’t have to go far to see just how important farming is for our local economy. Drive down any road and you’re bound to come across row crops, cattle grazing in green pastures and irrigation pivots stretching across fields.

The families who work this land aren’t just growing crops — they’re feeding our community and keeping the traditions of rural America strong.

But that doesn’t mean farming is the same today as it was even a generation ago. Modern agriculture relies on technology just as much as any other industry, and there might be none more critical than reliable, high-speed internet. That is why, just as electric cooperatives once brought power to rural areas that private companies wouldn’t serve, Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative launched Rapid Fiber Internet to bring high-speed internet to our area.

That connection is already helping local farmers Executive VP/CEO MICHAEL S. MCWATERS tackle the complex challenges they face. Weather patterns are increasingly unpredictable. Market demands shift rapidly. Input costs continue to rise. To navigate these pressures successfully, farmers need access to real-time data that is only possible with a robust internet connection.

That’s exactly what the owners of SanRiver Farms discovered when they made the decision to upgrade to fiber internet service. Five years ago, the Sanchez family expanded their farm beyond peanuts, corn and cattle. With their new produce crops, they embraced new agriculture technology to help them better manage their 6,000 acres.

With help from Rapid Fiber Internet, SanRiver can now monitor irrigation remotely, send jobs to tractors in any of their fields and collect crop data enabling them to identify problems before they become costly disasters. You can learn more in this newsletter about how they leverage the power of a fiber connection.

As your electric cooperative, we understand that providing essential services means more than just keeping the lights on. We’re proud to expand fiber internet access to families like the Wards throughout our territory. And we are always excited to support our community in any way we can.

This month, you can see some photos of the fun we had hosting the eighth annual Suwannee Valley Charity Cornhole Tournament. Thank you to everyone who competed and came out to support United Way of Suwannee Valley.

You can also learn more about the Suwannee Valley Food Fight, which are participating in through August. Make your donations today at the SVEC office to help us support the Florida Gateway Food Bank.

Our local farmers have always been stalwart supporters of our community and innovators when facing new challenges. With the power of Rapid Fiber Internet connectivity and reliable service from SVEC, they are well-positioned to continue that tradition while ensuring that farmers remain a cornerstone of the Suwannee Valley for generations to come. ■

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Suwannee Valley

Currents July 2025

Suwannee Valley Currents is a monthly newsletter published by Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative, © 2025. It is distributed without charge to all consumermembers of the cooperative.

WE BELONG TO THOSE WE SERVE Business Office: 800-447-4509 11340 100th St. Live Oak, FL 32060 Lobby Hours: 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday Drive-thru Kiosk: Open 24 Hours 24/7 Power Outage Reporting: 800-752-0025 svec-coop.com facebook.com/sveccoop Instagram.com/sveccoop SVEC is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

On the cover: High-speed broadband through Rapid Fiber Internet helps John and Jeannette Ward make more informed decisions about their crops at SanRiver Farms.

It even lets them control important equipment from their phones. Read more on Page 4.

Suwannee Valley Currents

SVEC NEWS

Scammers are out there PROTECT YOURSELF FROM FRAUDULENT CHARGES

From time to time, SVEC’s consumer-members report calls from scammers impersonating cooperative employees. These callers often threaten to cut off electric service without immediate payment.

While these calls can be scary — especially for those who rely on electronic medical equipment — it is important to remember that SVEC never handles payment issues this way. The cooperative DOES NOT:

• Call consumer-members to demand payment right before disconnection.

• Ask for personal information, like your Social Security number, over the phone.

• Ask for payment via a prepaid debit card.

• Visit your home unannounced to promote a service or demand information.

SVEC will always work with consumer-members to resolve payment issues before disconnecting service. If you suspect you are dealing with a scammer, hang up the phone or close the door and call our Member Services Department at 800-447-4509.

Idalia Cost Recovery Update

IS AVAILABLE NOW!

SVEC’s electric system sustained the most damage in our cooperative’s history when Hurricane Idalia struck last year. The cost of recovery was substantial, and we are still regrouping some of those expenses.

Here’s a quick snapshot of where cost recovery currently stands: Invoices Paid

$76,943,681

Reimbursements Received

$28,663,803

Idalia Cost Recovery Collected

$5,274,107

Remaining Balance

$43,005,771

Fast, reliable and affordable Rapid Fiber Internet service is now available throughout much of SVEC’s service area.

No contracts.

No data caps.

No installation fees.

Sign up or find out if service is available in your zone at rapid-fiber.com. /rapidfiberinternet @rapidfiberinternet @rapidfiberinternet

Suwannee Valley Currents

Rapid 100 100 Mbps $55 per month Social Media Video Conferencing Optimize 5 Devices Instant Message Rapid 1G 1 Gbps $85 per month Movie Streaming Live Video Sharing Optimize 15 Devices High-Speed Operations Rapid 2G 2 Gbps $105 per month Video Conferencing Online Gaming Optimize over 15 Devices Online Backup

JULY 2025 | 3

Growing with fiber Rapid Fiber Internet service is driving new opportunities for local farmers Since Rapid Fiber Internet launched three years ago, access to reliable, high-speed internet has changed the way our community lives, works and grows. With big city speeds and small-town service, Rapid Fiber is not just connecting homes; it is transforming how local businesses operate by empowering them to work smarter, faster and more efficiently.

Look no further than SanRiver Farms in O’Brien — a 6,000-acre farm established in 2020 to expand the Sanchez family’s farming business beyond peanuts, corn and cattle. Under the care of John and Jeannette Ward, the farm now cultivates sweet corn, green beans, broccoli and carrots, all of which they grow, harvest, pack and ship from the farm to grocers along the East Coast as far north as New York. SanRiver also partners with the neighboring Southern Cross Dairy as its primary grower of feed crops.

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As soon as Rapid Fiber Internet was available, SanRiver used that high-speed connection to better communicate with irrigation pivots across all their crops. You may have seen these long, bridge-like sprinkler systems while driving past a crop field. With fiber internet, the farm can use a mobile phone or computer to check on the status of these pivots and see how much water has been distributed, how much remains and whether they are online or offline.

The farm’s management team can also send jobs to tractors each day, monitor their production, get live status updates and track work as it happens. When a tractor shuts off, its data automatically transmits to the farm’s operations center, helping John, the O’Brien farm manager, keep tabs and provide real-time communication for the Sanchez family headquarters in Old Town.

Being able to send and collect data quickly has also helped SanRiver Farms in much bigger ways than automation alone.

Fast delivery

Before upgrading to fiber service, the Wards couldn’t rely on information getting to equipment promptly. Information sent to tractors in the morning might be received quickly, or it might not arrive until lunchtime. With Rapid Fiber Internet, they can count on having the latest information within minutes.

Timely repairs

Better service also means better response times. In the past, an internet outage could leave the farm without service for as long as a week. That delay didn’t just impact equipment like pivots and tractors, it could also set back day-to-day operations, like payroll. Rapid Fiber’s local

Fiber service is revolutionizing farming for SanRiver farms’ O’Brien location, managed by Jeannette and John Ward.

Suwannee Valley Currents

PHOTOS COURTESTY OF CHRISTY TUCKEY/SVEC

OPPOSITE: caption

A mural based on Paul Harvey’s speech to the Future Farmers of America in 1978 adorns the wall of SanRiver Farms’ on-site office.

service and suppport ensures a timely response for the farm, minimizing disruptions to help keep operations moving.

Nimble decision-making

Having so much data from across the farm available at the touch of a button helps the Wards be more productive and responsive in their decision-making. That information helps John see developing problems sooner and gives immediate access to records for each field, so he can identify problems quickly.

Smarter planning

A lightning-fast connection also helps the farm save money and time with its preparations for future crops. With the extensive information gathered from across its fields, the Wards have the insights needed to confidently decide whether to stick with the same crop next year or if it would be better to diversify into something new.

Remote monitoring

Perhaps the biggest quality of life improvement since upgrading to Rapid Fiber Internet, John says, is equipment no longer requires constant in-person monitoring. Instead, John can oversee farm operations anytime, anywhere.

Suwannee Valley Currents

Farm Manager John Ward surveys a field while tracking data from other crops on his phone.

With 52 irrigation systems that need to be monitored, checking on them with a phone rather than driving to each one multiple times a day saves hours.

The future of farming

While many farms in Florida are still catching up to the benefits of fiber technology for their own fields, John expects it won’t be long before more largescale farming operations like theirs start taking advantage of a faster connection. As farming equipment continues to advance, there will only be more ways to leverage the power of fiber communications for local farming operations.

SanRiver’s early adoption of agricultural technology and Rapid Fiber Internet is transforming the way their team works.

They’re grateful for the opportunity to invest in these tools and continue adapting for the future.

Visit Rapid-Fiber.com to sign up or view the Project Information page to find information on zones in your area today! ■

JULY 2025 | 5

RECIPE COURTESY OF FLORIDA LYCHEE GROWER LAKE PLACID FRUIT & NUT GROVE

RECIPE and SAFETY

Lychee Jam INGREDIENTS 4 pounds lychees 2 pounds strawberries 1 pineapple 6 tablespoons unflavored pectin Spoonful or pat of butter 4 cups sugar Pinch of salt DIRECTIONS Prepare 8 jam jars and lids: Wash the jars and their screw bands in hot, soapy water. Rinse with warm water.

Pour boiling water over the flat lids in a saucepan off the heat. Let stand in hot

water until ready to use. Drain the jars and lid parts well before filling.

Peel and deseed the lychees. Process them in a blender for about 1 minute.

Stem and crush the strawberries thoroughly. Cut the pineapple into small pieces, but do not use the core.

Measure 5 cups prepared fruit into a 6- or 8-quart saucepot, stir in the pectin and add butter to reduce foaming. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil—keeps bubbling when stirred—over high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in sugar and salt.

Return to a full rolling boil and cook for exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam with a metal spoon.

Ladle the fruit immediately into prepared jars to within 1/4 inch of the top. Wipe

jar rims and threads, then screw on the lids. Place jars in a large canning pot with enough water to cover jars by 1 to 2 inches. Put on pot lid and bring water to a gentle boil. Process for 10 minutes.

Remove jars and place them upright on a towel to cool completely. After jars cool, check seal integrity by pressing on the middle of lids with your finger. If lids spring back, they are not sealed and refrigeration is necessary. ■

Safety first Electricity powers modern life, but it can be dangerous if not handled carefully. Check back here each month for new tips on how to stay safe around electric power at your home or business. Even when you head outside to cool down this summer in one of Florida’s abundant water resources, electrical awareness is a must.

• Never swim near a marina or a running boat.

Faulty wiring or damaged equipment can cause the surrounding water to become energized.

• There is no visible warning for electrified water, and just

10 milliamps of current in the water—1/50th the amount used by a 60-watt lightbulb—can cause paralysis and drowning.

• Be aware of any potential electrical hazards. Check for

• Never use household cords near water. Only use

portable ground fault circuit interrupters or shore power cords, including “Y” adapters, that are UL Marine Listed.

• When on a boat, find the main breakers onboard and

at the shore power source. If you see a shock situation taking place, turn the boat power off, throw a life ring and call 911, but never enter the water. ■

nearby power lines before boating, fishing or swimming.

To learn more about building safe electric habits, click the Outages & Safety tab on the SVEC website, svec-coop.com, and follow us on social media. /sveccoop

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@sveccoop

Suwannee Valley Currents

Cool events this summer

By Janet K. Keeler, Visit Florida Florida is open for business, and the activities don’t hide in the air conditioning. The state’s dramatic summer weather is the backdrop for music and food celebrations, but that’s just the tip of the sandbar. Here are some sizzling Florida summer events to keep you busy.

be touch tanks, paddleboard lessons and probably more than one reference to the ultracheesy “Sharknado” movies.

Buggy for bugs

Summer means mangoes

The king of fruit gets its due at two mango-riffic events in South Florida.

The annual Mango Festival at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables draws attendees from all over the state to taste some of the world’s best mangoes. The festival, set for July 12-13, includes workshops, a market and a special Sunday brunch. Mango trees are also for sale. The same weekend, Pine Island’s MangoMania brings mango lusciousness to the Gulf Coast on July 12 with tastings and food demonstrations. You don’t want to leave this tropical fruit fair without trying a smoothie.

The scoop on sharks

SharkCon at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa is a weekend of shark-related education and interactive exhibits. Set for July 12-13, there will

A shell of a time

Harvest your own scallops during their season, which starts in August along Florida’s Big Bend coast. You’ll need a saltwater fishing license, snorkel, mask and dive flag as you hunt for the sweet shellfish. There are many local outfitters and guides to show you the way and people at the shore who will clean your bounty for you.

Bug is a common term of endearment for the Florida spiny lobster, celebrated during Key West Lobsterfest, Aug. 7-10. Lots of recreational divers come to the Florida Keys for the two-day season, hoping to catch their limits of the succulent crustaceans. Lobsterfest marks the season with a beach party, lobster boil, concerts and a street fair.

Rhythm is gonna get you

Miami Salsa Congress is five nonstop days of cha-cha, mambo and bomba, Aug. 6-10, at the InterContinental hotel. There will be performances, workshops, pool parties and other ways to shake your bonbon. Salsa got its start in 1970s New York, drawing from many Caribbean influences. Today, though, it seems like Miami through and through.

Start your engines

Pack the cooler, gas up the RV and get to NASCAR’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 to watch stock cars roar around the famed high banks at Suwannee Valley Currents

Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach. The main event is on a Saturday evening, Aug. 23, but the Coke Zero Sugar 400 is more than an all-day affair.

Cool fun for kids

The Florida Kids and Family Expo, Aug. 23-24 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, is fun for kids of all ages. Exhibitors show off their latest kid-friendly wares, from bouncy amusements to games and educational tools. Interactive offerings include martial arts demonstrations, laser tag and even makeup lessons for teens. On the agenda is party planning help for parents who have run out of ideas. ■ JULY 2025 | 7

SVEC IN THE COMMUNITY

Eighth annual Cornhole Tournament scores big

Thank you to all of the teams and community partners who made SVEC’s eighth annual Cornhole Tournament possible. Thanks to the support of our sponsors and players, the tournament raised over $4,500 for United Way of Suwannee Valley. Congratulations to our six winning teams.

Recreational winners

First place Nate Dogg and Chad

First place Soggy Bottom Boys

Second place Mike and Dylan

Second place Baggin’ and Braggin’

Third place Grumpy Old Men

Third place Average Joes

First-place competitive team Nate Dogg and Chad

PHOTOS COURTESTY OF CHRISTY TUCKEY/SVEC

Competitive winners

First-place recreational Second-place Third-place recreational team team Soggy Bottom Boys recreational team Baggin’ Average Joes and Braggin’

Suwannee Valley Food Fight SVEC is uniting with local partners to raise food donations for the Florida Gateway Food Bank, which serves families and pantries in Hamilton, Lafayette, Suwannee and Columbia counties.

From now until Aug. 29, SVEC members can join the cause by dropping off in-date canned or dry food items at our office from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Donors will be entered into a drawing for a $25 bill credit.

You can also make donations to other Food Fight Partners. No glass items, please. All other in-date dry or canned food is accepted.

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Second-place competitive team Mike and Dylan

Third-place competitive team Grumpy Old Men

Level up your classroom this school year Operation Round Up® can help Are you a teacher looking to upgrade your classroom for the 2025-26 school year? SVEC’s Operation Round Up® has the funding that can make a difference for your students.

Visit svec-coop.com/apply-for-a-grant to view eligibility guidelines, monthly deadlines or to apply for a grant quickly and easily.

Grants are available: • To public schools.

• To accredited independent/private schools.

• For any materials that will directly benefit students in the classroom.

Suwannee Valley Currents