About Woerner Farms
Located in Levy County, Woerner Farms utilizes Best Management Practices to cultivate approximately 400 acres of turf grass. Allen Woerner, owner, Graham Simmons, director of turf grass operations, and James Lewis, farm manager, work together to increase the efficiency of their operation while simultaneously bettering the land that they farm.
The branch implements several BMPs that aim to preserve water quality. The utilization of John Deere sprayers equipped with GPS technology allows the farm to pinpoint output to where it is specifically needed. This technique cuts down on chemical waste, production costs, and runoff. Their pivots can be controlled and analyzed from a mobile phone screen; this increases efficiency of water use across their operation. According to TriYield’s Director of Sales and Agronomy, Austin Ham, Woerner has taken an even further step to conserve resources by adopting TriYield’s AquaYield nanotechnology, a tool that has lowered their output by at least 25%.
In addition, other BMPs work to combat soil erosion. Plants, such as sunflowers, are introduced to seeded soil to serve as a windbreak for topsoil that is both valuable and vulnerable. On fallow land, they plant cover crops; a tool that lowers soil temperatures and fosters carbon sequestration. Their addition of plant-based compost and microbial to the soil has made minerals available to the crops that would be otherwise unusable.
Their involvement certainly does not stop at the fence line. Graham Simmons gives his time to the Turfgrass Producers of Florida as a board member. In addition to managing the farm, James Lewis supports his daughter’s high school FFA chapter.
The Florida Farm Bureau Federation is honored to award Woerner Farms as a 2023 CARES Award recipient.
