Research Partners

A cooperative agreement was established in 1994 among MAERC, the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF-IFAS), South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD)  to initiate a multidisciplinary research program at Buck Island Ranch to support the development of ecologically sustainable and economically viable beef cattle operations in South Florida. The Florida Cattleman's Association joined the group in 1996 and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) joined in 2002. New partners joining in 2004 include the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) and the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), which has been a long-time partner on projects at Buck Island Ranch.  These organizations work together with the research staff at at MAERC on research and demonstration projects in water quality, nutrient cycling, wildlife biology, wetland ecology and wetland restoration in a working agricultural landscape.  We established a new collaborative partnership on 2006 for the Florida Ranchlands Environmental Services Project (FRESP), which is lead by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and includes many of these same partners above as well as 7 other area ranchers.