UF IFAS Extension Martin County

09/17/2025

Small-scale growers: UF Doctoral student, Rachel Biderman is conducting a needs assessment to understand small-scale farmers' leadership development and social networking needs throughout the state of Florida. The project has been supported by Southern SARE, to support sustainable agriculture in our state. Rachel hopes to use the data gathered to develop a program for farmers. The survey will be open until September 30 and should take 5-10 minutes to complete.

Survey: https://ufl.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3r2GyAOpxZYBYfY

09/16/2025

Spread the word: Peanut Butter Challenge kicks off Sept. 29

Start Giving Season early this year by participating in UF/IFAS Extension’s Peanut Butter Challenge September 29th through November 24th. Martin County is participating again this year.

The friendly competition among counties asks community members to bring a jar of peanut butter to their local Extension office by Nov. 24, after which the totals will be counted and bragging rights awarded to the counties that collect the most. The donations are given to local food pantries, backpack programs and other partners in the fight against food insecurity.

The UF/IFAS Extension Martin County office, located at 2614 SE Dixie Highway in Stuart, will be collecting donations of unopened, unexpired peanut butter jars of any size.

In addition to its nutritional value and long shelf life, peanut butter was originally selected as the donation item as a way to highlight Florida’s peanut production. Peanuts, especially those grown for peanut butter, are a major crop in Florida, contributing $149 million to the state’s economy in 2024.

The Annual Peanut Butter Challenge began in Florida’s Panhandle counties in 2012 and spread statewide in 2020.

09/15/2025

UF/IFAS Extension Tropical Fruit Crops and Pathology specialists shared current guidance on recognizing and managing the sunblotch viroid. An increased incidence of the viroid in Miami-Dade avocado groves was recently reported, so growers are reminded to stay watchful for it. Here is a link to the Fact Sheet Dr. Crane and colleagues created this week to share with Florida avocado growers: https://tinyurl.com/ASBVdSep25

09/13/2025

UF/IFAS Extension Martin County held an Open House event on September 4th. Extension Agents, staff, and volunteers shared information about the programs we offer and offered activities and refreshments. If you missed it, you can stop by our office at 2614 SE Dixie Highway (north end of the Martin County Fairgrounds), call us at 772-288-5654, or check out our events calendar at https://sfyl.ifas.ufl.edu/martin/

09/13/2025

Martin County 4-H Kickoff 10am-1pm today! Come meet the goats, chicks, and rabbits, enjoy fun activities, and shop the arts and crafts and baked goods.

09/12/2025

UF/IFAS, UF College of Veterinary Medicine, and FDACS will offer a free webinar on the current New World Screwworm outbreak on September 17, 1:00 pm. The program is intended primarily for agribusinesses and public health professionals. Advance registration is not required. To join on the 17th at 1:00, go to http://tinyurl.com/Screwworm-Sept-25.

09/12/2025

UF/IFAS Extension Martin County and the Martin County Public Works' Environmental Resources Division recently offered a CEU workshop on landscape fertilization for professionals. If you missed it and would like to keep posted on future CEU opportunities for landscape professionals and agribusinesses, subscribe to the UF/IFAS Extension Sustainable Ag and Green Industry news at https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/martinco/subscribe/

09/09/2025

Martin County 4-H members take leadership in our community seriously!

Vera Howe, a student intern at the Elections Office who attends the Clark Advanced Learning Center, had the opportunity to join Supervisor of Elections, Vicki Davis, at the Environmental Land Oversight Committee meeting last week in the County Commission Chambers. She was able to meet members of the committee, learn more about their work in our county, and caught up with David Hafner, 4-H Youth Development Director.

08/23/2025

The 4-H Teen Leadership Club dove into Martin County's history at the Stuart Heritage Museum. There they found the namesakes of places and streets in our community, discovered Martin County's rich agricultural history, and pondered the changes in technology over the last 100 years.

This is all part of a collaborative program between Martin County 4-H and the Smithsonian Institute. In this program, the members of the Teen Leadership Club will select an issue relevant to our community, research that issue, interview stakeholders in our community, and put together a video highlighting their findings to be shared on a national level. This is the 4-H difference.

If you have a child between 11-18 years old who would be interested in joining this initiative, please contact our 4-H agent for more information- [email protected].

08/23/2025

If you missed last week's Water Ambassador webinar, check out the recording here:

https://youtu.be/wj1ZIZxIu9E

Dr. Randy Parkinson from FIU covers his research on showing how rising seas impact ecosystem services (benefits to us) of the Indian River Lagoon.

In our August Water Ambassador webinar, we learned about sea level rise in the Indian River Lagoon and its impacts on ecological health. Dr. Randall Parkinso...