{"id":371119,"date":"2026-08-14T06:52:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T06:52:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/371119\/"},"modified":"2026-08-14T06:52:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T06:52:21","slug":"uf-ifas-taps-john-hinchee-to-cultivate-tallahassee-ties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/371119\/","title":{"rendered":"UF\/IFAS taps John Hinchee to cultivate Tallahassee ties"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Hinchee was Senate President Ben Albritton\u2019s top adviser on agricultural policy.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is turning to a veteran legislative staffer to lead its government affairs efforts in the state Capitol.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">John Hinchee is joining <a href=\"https:\/\/ifas.ufl.edu\/\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer nofollow\">UF\/IFAS<\/a> as Director of Government Relations after more than a decade working in the state legislative process, most recently in Senate President Ben Albritton\u2019s office.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Hinchee served as the go-to adviser for the Wauchula Republican on agricultural issues \u2014 a key policy plank for Albritton, who comes from a long line of Florida farmers.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cJohn\u2019s relationships in Tallahassee and his expertise in the legislative process will make him an effective advocate for UF\/IFAS,\u201d said Scott Angle, UF\u2019s Senior Vice President of agriculture and natural resources and leader of UF\/IFAS. \u201cBecause of the people he knows, he has instant credibility as he speaks on our behalf. With his experience crafting and advancing legislation, he\u2019ll be a superior strategist and a master of the how-to in advancing our mission.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Beyond Albritton\u2019s office, Hinchee\u2019s resume includes work on grassroots political campaigns and serving in staff roles under multiple lawmakers in the House and Senate.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cflpublicaffairs.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external noreferrer nofollow\" data-wpel-link=\"external\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-680168 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/CFPA-Digital-Ad-Sunburn-728x90-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"728\" height=\"90\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Umatilla native also brings a background in agriculture and natural resources to the job, having earned bachelor\u2019s degrees in environmental science and political science from UF as well as a master\u2019s degree in political science from Florida State University.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Early in his career he worked in the Ocala National Forest with the U.S. Forest Service, an experience UF\/IFAS said \u201chelping solidify his appreciation and interest for Florida\u2019s natural resources and environment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cI consider myself incredibly lucky to have worked with so many amazing people over the years in the Florida Legislature who have taught me how meaningful change is made at the state level,\u201d said Hinchee, who steps into the role Sept. 15. \u201cI am very excited to bring my skills and knowledge to UF\/IFAS and am looking forward to working with such a world-class team for the benefit of our state.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hinchee was Senate President Ben Albritton\u2019s top adviser on agricultural policy. The UF Institute of Food and Agricultural&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":371120,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[4218,150064,4870,150065,232,234,233,2511,150066],"class_list":["post-371119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tallahassee","tag-ben-albritton","tag-john-hinchee","tag-personnel-note","tag-scott-angle","tag-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee-headlines","tag-tallahassee-news","tag-uf","tag-uf-ifas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=371119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371119\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/371120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=371119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=371119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=371119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}