Al Bellotto is a respected leader in Florida’s agriculture industry. He is best known for his fight to implement a Beef Checkoff Program in Florida in 1985. Through Bellotto’s leadership and persistence, the checkoff program was overwhelmingly passed with the second-highest approval vote in the country. Bellotto also introduced freeze branding to Florida, which vastly improved legibility of the brands and is still in use today. Bellotto has been president of the Florida Cattlemen’s Association and the Polk County Cattlemen’s Association, twice chairing Florida’s Beef Council. He has served as chairman and director on the boards of AgFirst Farm Credit Bank and Farm Credit of Central Florida. He was president of the Polk County Farm Bureau, where he served as director for 25 years, and a trustee of the Florida Agricultural Museum.
Regarded as a pioneer of Florida’s cotton industry, Copeland Griswold spearheaded a program to eradicate the boll weevil. Through his efforts, the boll weevil has virtually been eliminated from Florida, Georgia and southern Alabama. He also served as the first chairman of the Southeast Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation. Griswold is a sixth-generation farmer who began his career as a member of the FFA. His family has been recognized nationally as a leader in conservation tillage and has led the way to making Santa Rosa County first in strip tillage acreage in Florida. Besides being active with pest eradication and conservation, Griswold also spends time as a member of Northwest Florida Water Management District, Santa Rosa County Farm Bureau, Florida Farm Bureau Federation, American Farm Bureau Federation, Georgia-Florida-Alabama Peanut Association, Florida Peanut Producers Association, Florida FFA Foundation, and the American Soybean Association.
Fountain “Fount” H. May, Sr., began helping his family run their tobacco business early on. He soon began to explore other agricultural opportunities and eventually started May Nursery, Inc. in 1970. May sought out the Florida Nurseryman and Growers Association with the need for information and ended up serving as president and as an international ambassador. He has traveled to Europe and the Pacific Rim several times to introduce homegrown products and forge trading relationships. May has helped to establish foreign relationships that resulted in Florida nurserymen exhibiting at international flower shows. In addition to FNGA, May is a member of Gadsden County Farm Bureau and former governor of the American Association of Nurserymen, former president of the Southern Nurserymen’s Association, and former president of the Florida Nursery and Allied Trade Show.
Bert Edward Roper has spent his life involved with Roper Growers Cooperative and other citrus interests, but he is best known for developing a revolutionary electronic device that has made grove sprayers more efficient. Roper is the inventor of Tree-See Control System, an electronic sonar system that can turn spray nozzles on and off based on the pattern of reflected sound from the spray fluid. The device has become widely used in the citrus industry as well as the apple, cherry, plum, and almond industries. Roper serves as chairman and president of Roper Growers Cooperative and president of Citrus Service, Inc. He is also vice president of Space Groves, Inc., and director of Diamond R Fertilizer Co. Roper has also served as president of the National Juice Products Association, and the president of the Florida Citrus Processors Association.
