John Hoblick, a third-generation fern farmer and owner of Hoblick Greens in DeLeon Springs is among three Florida Farm Bureau members who will be inducted into the Agricultural Hall of Fame at a special banquet on Feb. 13, 2024. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services announced that Mr. Hoblick, along with the two other 2023 inductees – Eugene McAvoy of Hendry County and John Schlechter of Western Palm Beach County – will join more than 170 other inductees in the Hall of Fame.
Mr. Hoblick is a member of the Volusia County Farm Bureau and a longtime board member. He also served as Florida Farm Bureau president from 2006 to 2021.
He is married to Kara Hoblick. Kara is executive director of The Florida Agricultural Museum in Palm Coast.
Mr. Hoblick joined Florida Farm Bureau in 1985, a few weeks after graduating college.
“They came and asked if I would participate in the State Discussion Meet. I participated and I won the meet that year. So, Kara and I are at a luncheon for Young Farmers at the convention that I won and we had Mr. Loop (Carl B. Loop, Jr.) the president before me, and we finished our lunch and the field man (sic.) came along and said, ‘You all stand in this corner and hold up this number.’ And it was only Kara and I. I’m like, they’re going to play some hokey game or something. They came by and snatched the card and said, ‘You’re elected.’ I said, ‘To what?’ And they said the State Young Farmers and Ranchers Committee. So, within four months of getting out of college I went straight into Farm Bureau and into leadership,” said Mr. Hoblick.
During his tenure as president, Mr. Hoblick put in 60-hour weeks traveling and advocating for farmers on a wide range of issues.
“It’s an honor,” he said of his induction into the Hall of Fame. “I think the cool thing is that they recognize Volusia County in the Hall of Fame.”
But Mr. Hoblick says agriculture, in this time of population growth, is more challenging.
“The pressures that that puts on having neighboring communities butting up against farms, the environmental concerns that get raised, the finger points to the farmer, it makes it very difficult for a producer to keep producing in this state,” he said.
With the population growth there’s been a sharp rise in land values, too.
“If you’re a farmer and you’ve got a chunk of land and you’re barely making a living and you have built this investment – and that’s your investment is your land – then it makes you think twice about selling the farm.
He adds that despite the challenges, “As long as we’ve got people there’s going to be agriculture.”
He also cautions people not to take farms and the families who run them for granted.
“I tell this to farmers all over the world…I always say that the desire to produce an agriculture product to feed other people, to make a living, support your family is unique to agriculture and it doesn’t matter where you go in this world, that feeling of uniqueness is the same. But a lot these countries that are poor, they recognize the importance of agriculture. We’re lucky because we could import all of our food if we wanted to, but then if we do that what are we going to do? Like fuel, we’re going to be dependent on other countries and it could bring this country to its knees,” said Mr. Hoblick.
To learn more about Farm Bureau visit floridafarmbureau.org or volusiacountyfarmbureau.org.