2014: Robinson, Vilsack sign historic deal to transfer 3,800 acres of federal land to FAMU

Back in 2014, FAMU Interim President Larry Robinson and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack signed a historic agreement to transfer 3,800 acres of federal land to FAMU.

Robinson and Vilsack made the deal official with a Memorandum of Understanding on March 1, 2014. FAMU is set to receive the property from the U.S. Department of Agriculture by September 30, 2015.

The land is located in Brooksville, Fla. and was formerly used as a research station that focused on beef cattle. That research station closed in 2012.

According to a FAMU press release from last week, “this transfer will be one of the single largest to a historically Black college or university in history.”

The FAMU College of Agriculture and Food Sciences (CAFS) was the driving force behind this achievement. CAFS Dean Robert Taylor asked the FAMU Board of Trustees Academic Affairs Committee to approve a plan to acquire the potential land donation from the USDA in 2013. The board gave its backing to the goal.

FAMU will use the land “for agriculture and research purposes, to train small farmers and beginning ranchers in local communities, and for the promotion of agricultural production, biotechnology exports, and food security.”