Alternative Crops

An Alternative Agriculture Program (AAP) has been developed to improve and sustain the economy of Santa Rosa County’s third largest industry. Expected outcomes from this new program include improving the profitability of the farmers, protecting our rural flavor, reducing our dependency on foreign markets and creating local markets that have a positive impact on our economy and provide a more nutritious (fresh) alternative to our residents.

Traditionally, our local agricultural economy has been based on row crops that produce a low profit margin and a dependency on government subsidies. The AAP program will improve the profitability of farmers, increase the diversity of agricultural enterprises in the region, and foster the development of new jobs in the region’s agribusiness sector, thereby enhancing Santa Rosa County’s economy.

The AAP was initiated in 2005 to identify and develop new agricultural crop and value-added products for area producers. Sponsors of the program include Santa Rosa County, TEAM Santa Rosa, University of Florida, West Florida Research and Education Center, and Santa Rosa County Cooperative Extension Service.

The strategic plan of the AAP is to identify potential new crops, conduct field research to find the best varieties to grow and identify the most efficient, environmentally friendly production methods, create post-harvest handling methods, and develop new markets and marketing strategies.

One of the keys to success for the AAP is that the marketing research is initiated at the same time as the crop production research. The program is headquartered at the University of Florida, West Florida Research and Education Center located near Jay. This 640 acre research farm conducts cutting edge research on row crop, turfgrass, forestry and ornamentals. The AAP program has approximately 3000 sq. ft. of greenhouse space to conduct research on specific crops as well 15 irrigated acres dedicated to vegetable crop research.

The Santa Rosa County Alternative Agriculture Committee meets on a regular basis to ensure that the program continues to meet the needs of growers. This committee helps decide which crops or value-added concepts to focus on, provides advice on the best methods to get information to the growers and share the information to the surrounding region. Results from AAP crop research studies will be made available through public field days and workshops or visits can be arranged in advance through the AAP Manager. Crop production information and technical support is available through the local county extension offices.