International Flying Farmers Touchdown To Learn About Local Agriculture

January 15, 2015

Of all private pilots, International Flying Farmers are perhaps the only ones who will tell you their Cessnas and Beechcrafts and Pipers are no different from their combines, tractors and pickup trucks. After all, airplanes are workhorses too, for hauling supplies,checking irrigation systems, and perhaps compressing the time between the farm and parts store.

Wednesday, the a group from the International Flying Farmers touched down at the West Florida Research and Education Center in Jay, and they visited several local points of agricultural interest in a quick farm tour.

The International Flying Farmers, or IFF for short, are based in Oklahoma where the group was formed over 70 years ago. Local farmers turned to airplanes as tools of the agricultural trade. Both in the past and today, planes were a vital part of a family farm life, used to deliver groceries and livestock feed, deliver the mail, round up cattle, check crops and fields, monitor irrigation systems and sometimes to just visit with friends and neighbors on remote farms.

Wednesday, a few of the groups nearly 1,000 members, checked out the Research Center, explored peanut production, learned about cotton production in Northwest Florida and more.  The local farm tour was the finale to a three-day fly-in for an IFF workshop based in Navarre.  The group enjoyed the beach on Monday, and spent Tuesday touring the National Naval Aviation Museum, NAS Pensacola and downtown Pensacola.

Pictured top: Honey producer and farmer Chester Capers addresses a group from the International Flying Farmers Wednesday. Pictured inset: Jerry Jones explains cotton production. Pictured below: Ken Barton from the Florida Peanut Producers Association shares information about the Florida peanut industry with members of the International Flying Farmers. Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News