Alpha Gamma Rho - University of Florida

4 ALPHA GAMMA RHO THE W hile Joe Marlin Hilliard, grandfather of Jack Hilliard '19, didn't attend the University of Florida and isn't a member of the Alpha Gamma Rho brotherhood, he is an avid supporter of the fraternity's mission. "I have been working in agriculture for my entire adult life and have many friends and associates who are members of ΑΓΡ," Joe said. "I am happy that Jack decided to join the fraternity." Joe was reached out to by a few of his friends from Alpha Gamma Chapter about their efforts to build a new chapter house through Honoring Our Past, Building Our Future: The Campaign for a New Chapter House. "They asked if I wanted to be part of helping them establish a new home," Joe said. "Jack's dad and I decided to make a donation under the Hilliard Family Gift to honor Jack and our friends in the chapter." Joe hopes that Alpha Gamma remains a great place for young men interested in agriculture to get their start in the industry and to move their career forward. "We need young people to be interested in agriculture because it's a helluva commodity in the state of Florida," Joe said. In 1962, Joe started working on the Hilliard Brothers Cattle Ranch, founded by his grandfather and uncle in the 1920s. Over the years, he implemented innovative practices to propel the family operation forward. When he first began managing the ranch, they had a little bit of sugarcane and a lot of cattle. Now, they still have sugarcane and cattle, but have also added oranges, green beans, peppers, and corn. They also own large packing houses that pack green beans and peppers in Immokalee, Florida and Lake Park, Georgia. "Our ranch has expanded two-fold and that is something we are proud of," Joe said. "My two sons and my daughter are now running the operations for the ranch!" Joe's leadership skills provided for major advances in the cattle, citrus, and sugarcane industries. Outside of his work on the family ranch, Joe has served as an officer of the Florida Cattlemen's Association, a member of the Florida Citrus Commission, and a member of the Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission. For all his accomplishments, Joe was inducted into the Florida Agricultural Hall of Fame in 2017. "It was such a great honor being inducted," Joe said. "Not many people get that, and I was honored that my friends and people I've worked with felt I deserved this." Joe and his wife, Barbara, live in Naples, Florida, and can be reached at jmh2041@aol.com. For the Future of Agriculture Joe Marlin Hilliard Discusses His Family's Gift to Alpha Gamma Chapter and His Hopes for Agriculture in Florida Moving Forward Noble Ruler Robert Sistrunk Jr. '18 Food and Resource Economics Executive VNR Eli Collins '19 Agricultural Education and Communication VNR for Finance Joseph Nabors '19 Mechanical Engineering VNR of Scholarship Mason Atkinson '19 Microbiology and Cell Science VNR for Activities Andrew Priest '19 Agricultural Operations Management VNR of Membership Development Quinlyn Johnson '19 Agricultural Education and Communication VNR of Operations and Management Jaxon Purvis '18 Agricultural Operations Management VNR for Alumni Relations Shea Booster '20 Agricultural Education and Communication VNR of Planning Cason Adams '18 Food and Resource Economics Chapter Officers Undergraduates and alumni sign the basement concrete walls in the new chapter house. Brothers attend the new chapter house's ground breaking ceremony last August.

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