Colleen Hofstetter has contributed several articles to Eventing Nation. Today she explains the history and reasoning behind Florida’s agriculture inspection stations– if you’ve ever taken your horse to Ocala, you’ve had to stop there before! Many thanks to Colleen for writing, and thanks as always for reading! If you have something to share, send it to [email protected].
From Colleen:
FLORIDA’S FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE
By now most southern bound riders and horses have hopped on the ol’ 95 or 75 south and joined the parade of horse trailers and lorries that headed for warmer climates. Big or small, grand, functional, or errr, shall we say, somewhat dubious: various modes of transportation carrying valuable equine cargo have made the trek south and are having some time in the sun. Lucky fellas and fillies! A good many of the snow birds and their snow ponies are already basking away in sunny training facilities, and to get there all they had to do was cross the Mason-Dixon Line, bid the Blue Ridge good bye, roll through the Carolinas, motor down a snippet of Georgia, and there you are! But as you cross the border into the land of sun, citrus, and outrageous hay prices, it’s time to throw on the brakes and stop at the “Ag Station.” The what? The Ag Station, or what is formally known as the Florida Agricultural Interdiction Station – a mandatory stop for any vehicle that has something in tow or is transporting any agricultural product, which includes horses.
I got to wondering why? Why stop now? Why don’t other states have inspection stations? Florida is one of the few states to have Interdiction Stations; it currently has 22 stations along the 19 roads that cross over the St. Mary’s and Suwannee rivers into peninsular Florida, and one station that has opened on 1-10 near the Florida and Alabama border. Basically, any paved road into or out of Florida has an Interdiction Station, which are manned by over 200 Bureau of Uniformed Services law enforcement officers
Major Harold Barry of The Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement spoke with me about the history and function of the Ag Stations. Considered to be Florida’s “First Line of Defense”, the original Ag Stations first appeared in the 1930’s and there were only two. The stations were mostly operated by farmers and local citizens in need of supplemental income during the Great Depression. The stations consisted of tents and wooden shacks on a dirt pull off, and the attendants used their own vehicles to chase down anyone who didn’t stop.
–
The inspection stations soon grew to 16 locations and were first established on the six major highways crossing the Suwannee and St. Mary’s Rivers, as these rivers form a natural boundary north of the citrus and vegetable production areas. Originally, the stations were only open during prime citrus production season. The Interdiction Stations are considered to be essential in safeguarding the state’s agricultural production, which is second only to Florida tourism, and generates approximately 57 billion dollars in direct sales each year. Horses, in the eyes of Florida, are part of the agricultural industry; the Florida equine industry has an estimated horse population of 350,000, with an overall estimated economic impact of $6.5 billion annually and a capital investment of $7 billion. (USDA)
Given all those numbers it is easy to understand the state’s desire to monitor products being shipped throughout the state, including horses. Florida is able to boast a well below average incidence rate – 0.016% – of EIA cases, a fact attributed to strict monitoring of horse traffic and quarantine regulations. Another factor to consider is the tax revenue that is generated by the inspection program. For instance, every commercial vehicle entering the state must turn over its bill of lading, which identifies the cargo being carried. The bill of lading is copied, and the copy is sent to the state Department of Revenue, The bills of lading are then processed to determine which company may owe the state of Florida the difference between Florida’s 7% sales tax and the sales tax in the state of origin.
This program has generated more than $100 million for Florida since it was launched in April 1993, and currently averages about $1.2 million in sales tax revenue each month. Additionally, vehicle inspection also catches its fair share of illegal contraband and individuals trying to smuggle items hidden inside cargo carriers. One infamous example was the case of the ”million dollar printer” in which inspectors spotted a million-dollar printing press hidden in the middle of a trailer supposedly filled with Wisconsin cheese. Hiding the printing press wasn’t a violation of state law, but it was an attempt to get around paying $70,000 in sales tax, something that got the haulers of that item in a lot of trouble! That tidy sum is only part of the 6.7 million the Department of Revenue collected in taxes during the last fiscal year as well as the 1.1 million collected in contraband through inspections and investigations at interdiction stations. (FL Dept of Revenue)
While horse haulers do not have bills of lading, carrying the proper (and legitimate) paperwork is necessary. The inspection for horses is relatively easy: pull into the station, go inside with your Coggins and health certificate, an officer will accompany you back to your trailer, inspect your “cargo,” and voila! You are on your way again – unless there is something amiss with your paper work, (as when and un-named BNR had a caravan of trailers with necessary paperwork, but the wrong horses in the various trailers!) or you forgot/didn’t know you were supposed to stop, (as there is a “Bypass station” light that will flash when the lineup of vehicles is too long – which only happens 3% of the time), or you have managed to really tick off the normally pleasant officers at the Station! In 2011 there were approximately 8 million vehicles that passed through the interdiction stations with approximately 10,000 violations issued. Overall there were 808 livestock violations, with a majority of those being equine related. Those violations, as noted by Major Barry, were primarily administrative, the result of “inaccurate” paper work on Coggins and health certificates. Major Barry stated that the officers at the Interdiction Stations are trained to detect anomalies on paper work – the motivation to change the paperwork something of a puzzle to Major Barry: altered certificates can lead to a 3rd degree felony charge and fines of up to $3500.00! So why risk it when the cost to obtain both certificates is minimal, especially as compared to the boarding, training, and showing fees most people rack up during the winter months?
Major Barry is no stranger to horse people and he reports that most going through the Stations are “pretty organized and there are many wonderful horse haulers”. Major Barry also knows the other side of the coin though, as he was the arresting officer in the landmark 1992 insurance fraud case involving Tommy Ray Burns and the killing of horses for insurance money. Major Barry also stated that in addition to problems with paper work, some people actually try to conceal livestock – like the recent case of a pony inside a U-Haul trailer! Oh yeah, it takes all kinds!
The usual length of time at the Ag Station is typically about 10 minutes, unless there is a huge line up of tractor trailers. The busiest times for the stations are on Fridays, Sunday evenings and Mondays. Fridays and Sundays being horse show travel times and Mondays being the start of the work week. However, technology has managed to speed things along and officers no longer have to hand write information. Computerized scans and the VACIS system are used, although the VACIS system uses gamma rays to scan container trailers for undocumented cargo and is not used on horses. Additionally, many regulars such as Marcea Funk of Market Street Equestrian (www.marketstreetequestrian.
So as you plan your riding filled days in the Florida sunshine, get your papers organized, don’t pretend that the “you don’t need to stop” sign is flashing, make sure you have the correct horses with you, and you will be on your way in a flash! For all you lucky folks getting ready to travel somewhere into or out of the Sunshine State, keep up the good reputation of horse haulers in general and eventers in particular!
Officer Norris inspecting a horse trailer.
