Mike: It's the annual Santa Rosa County Farm
Tour and this year is the forty-fifth annual tour
and to our knowledge, its the longest running
annual tour of its kind in the state.
Target audiences are the non-farm communities
in the county-- our business leaders and the
general public who are not
normally exposed to the agricultural segment
of the county. We take a day long tour where
we go out and visit various farms
in the county.
We may go through the
research center of the Extension
office but we spend at lot of time
actually out on the farm.
We'll have the farmer's actually showing
their operation, talking about their
operation-- they get to see
first hand what a
farmer does in the county.
Each year we try to see a
different segment
of agriculture in the county so if
someone goes on the tour, say, four or
five years in a row, then they'll see
most of the major agricultural operations.
The overall goal, of course, is to increase
awareness of agriculture and appreciation
of agriculture in the county because, you
know, everybody's familiar with the
tourism segment and of course, the military
is a big presence in the county
but ah
agriculture just sometimes
gets forgotten.
We just wanted to understand
what agriculture is all about,
how it plays an important part in
our economy, especially locally,
and just get an appreciation for
the farmer and what he does.
Agriculture influences all our lives, not
only our food, but the clothes we wear
uh, practically everything 
that we're involved with
has to do with with agriculture.
Narrator:  In the Northwest district
agents are using innovative techniques
to teach their residents about the
importance of sustainability
and agriculture.
For two years, agents Beth Bolles and
Carrie Stevenson
designed the landscape for largest
green roof in the state.
The thirty three thousand square foot area
is the first of its kind for Escambia County
and part of the first energy-efficient
building built by the local government.
The vegetated roof
produces rainfall runoff
and saves energy use by absorbing heat.
The garden features Florida-friendly
plants that are both drought and cold
tolerant and the plants can
survive in full sun
and grow in only four inches
of soil media.
In Leon county, the Extension office is
being converted into a demonstration
site for power and water conservation.
The goal for agent Betty Miller is to
show residents, county leaders and
business owners how buildings 
can be retrofitted
or built to produce much energy
as they use.
The building was retrofitted with four
ten thousand gallons cisterns to collect
rainwater and reuse it for irrigation
in the office demonstration garden.
The system is projected to reduce the
use of potable water by eighty percent.
And the 4-H Ag Adventure program is
teaching six hundred students a year
about the importance of agriculture to
their community and their lives.
The program brings children from
counties across the Northwest district
to the North Florida Research and
Education Center in Quincy.
The kids get the chance to see crops
growing in the field
and to learn how these crops 
can benefit them.
