WAFC Local News – December 17, 2025, 8:32 AM
Transcript
I’m Charles Murphy reporting. The ongoing drought is impacting ranchers in Florida this winter. November was the third driest on record for rain. In the nation, 30 percent of the hay production in cattle herds are under drought conditions. Meteorologist Brad Rippey says we’ve had La Nina two winters in a row. It is normally the dry season, but it makes it even drier than usual during a typical La Nina. He says this is good news for feed stores. So obviously it’s going to require some supplemental feeding unless unexpected rains occur. He expects the rainfall to return in the spring as it normally does. Signing and other recruitment bonuses are attracting more law enforcement officers to the Florida Highway Patrol. Lieutenant Quig Bueno says a lot of out-of-state troopers are coming here. Someone that’s seasoned and has prior law enforcement can be that much quicker of an asset to us. He says troopers appreciate the raise they got this year. For most of us that do this job, we do it beyond the pay. We do it because we’re impassioned for public safety. The Western Palm Beach County Farm Bureau wants certain agriculture structures to be exempt from floodplain and insurance requirements. Farmer Rick Ross says farming is almost all gone in eastern Palm Beach County due to the ongoing development pressures. But there’s a lot of pressure, a lot of pressure for agriculture to be gone. I’m here today because I don’t want Palm Beach County to be Broward County. He says Palm Beach County needs to help farmers all that it can because everything is going against them. We as conservatives are part of the problem. We are now exporting and detaining agricultural workers all over this country, including Palm Beach County. It’s called ICE. So when you add all these issues together, agriculture is disappearing. So we need your help. Farmer Jimmy Alderman says it’s been a tough go in the last 20 years. It feels like it’s not really fair to farming operations to have to spend all this extra money to be able to raise their packing houses, raise their sheds, raise their shops and their workplaces at the expense of the CRS point system so we can gain $5 off somebody’s insurance. Alderman Farms grows about 1,200 acres of vegetables each year. Palm Beach County farmers and ag business groups have opposed flood mitigation projects, particularly those related to Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades Agriculture Area. That’s primarily due to fears that the projects could threaten their water supply and negatively impact ag operations. In 2019, ag and business groups warned against plans by federal agencies to continue lowering the level of Lake Okeechobee. They argued these actions threaten water supplies and the environment, citing previous instances where such decisions had resulted in severe economic and environmental consequences. In the courts, a drug dealer gets 25 years in prison in Hendry County. Todaro Ardell McKinnon went on trial in October. He was found guilty of possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell near a park and sale of a controlled substance near a park. He was arrested during an undercover operation with the Hendry County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Unit. He was arrested on October 13, 2023, after selling crack cocaine to a confidential informant. I’m Charles Murphy, WAFC News.
Recorded from the WAFC daily newscast (Glades Media).