Candidate: Robert C. Adair, Jr.

Agricultural sustainability -- and the stewardship of our natural resources -- have been the focus of my life work. For 12 years, I, Robert C. “Bob” Adair, Jr., have served as your representative on the Indian River County Soil and Water Conservation District Board and have worked to foster consensus and to develop innovative and equitable solutions that conserve our soil and water resources. When I was 11, my family moved from northern Indiana to Maitland, Florida to answer my father’s call to plant a church and farm citrus. Science and Florida’s unique natural resources captivated me, and I attended the University of Miami and was awarded a BS in chemistry in 1970. While working as a research chemist at the UM Medical School, I met the love of my life and my future wife, Diane, a Registered Nurse. We now have 2 adult sons, Andrew and Matthew, and look forward to our 38th anniversary this November. In 1986, I was chosen by the Oklahoma-based Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture to establish the Vero Beach Research Station where I was the station director for 17 years. Then in 2004, I founded the Florida Research Center for Agricultural Sustainability (FLARES), a non-profit research and education foundation that develops and demonstrates sustainable agricultural practices that are both economically and environmentally efficient. Competitive grants from state and federal agencies, citrus grower’s box tax grants, and private industry have funded these efforts. Improved water quality, reduced pesticide use, pioneering foliar fertilization, and refined mulching techniques – with increased profitability – are the hallmarks of the Sustainable Citrus Program that I developed over 10 years farming the citrus groves at the Kennedy Space Center on the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. The Florida State Horticulture Society just awarded me the president’s 2010 Industry Award and the Citrus Best Paper Award for this work. I have shared my knowledge of sustainable agriculture in more than 17 peer-reviewed scientific publications, numerous grower fact sheets and technical reports, field demonstrations, and countless other presentations. Consensus-building with stakeholders and creating a shared understanding of all the issues through education and outreach, I have learned, are critical to sustaining agriculture and conserving our natural resources. I was honored to be selected for the first graduating class of the Florida Natural Resources Leadership Institute and the second graduating class of the University of Florida’s Wedgeworth Leadership Institute. In 2009 on behalf of the IRC Soil and Water Conservation District, I organized an Ag Forum to bring together regulators, university researchers, citrus growers, and interested citizens to discuss the problems facing citrus industry and to find creative solutions. Also it is my privilege to assist our County as chair of the Agricultural Advisory Committee. My thirty years of hands-on experience in sustainable agriculture, my scientific background and approach, and my ability to foster consensus are why you should re-elect me to serve another term on the IRC Soil and Water Conservation District Board.