Sweet Potato Festival in Waldo: The Waldo Area Historical Society drew about 200 people to its second annual Sweet Potato Festival at City Square, with a sweet potato dish competition, local vendors, and a nod to local agriculturalist Thomas Kelly Godbey. Hot sauce culture in Pinellas Park: The 26th annual “I Like It Hot!” Festival brought hundreds of spicy samples, pepper plants, and heat challenges to England Brothers Park, blending local food makers with family-friendly contests. Rural veterinary pipeline in Georgia: ABAC and UGA’s vet college launched a five-year incentive program aimed at easing food-animal and rural vet shortages by guiding students into that specialty. Tourism push along Polk’s State Road 60: Polk County leaders and business owners want to brand the corridor as “Route 60,” inspired by Route 66, with stops like Golden Ridge Groves’ U-pick and juicing experiences. Florida citrus keeps shrinking: USDA figures show Florida citrus acreage falling to 165,359 acres for 2026-27, down from 183,860 the prior season, as storms, disease, and development keep squeezing growers. Aquaculture spotlight for Gulf seafood: A Gulf open-water fish farming experiment raising redfish is testing whether small-scale aquaculture can be both ecologically and economically viable. FWC “Big Catch” program: Florida’s freshwater anglers get a new push to explore the state’s variety of freshwater fish through a family-friendly recognition effort.