Florida Farm Bill signed by Ron DeSantis

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday signed the 2026 Florida Farm Bill

an omnibus measure affecting agriculture, land use, consumer protection and public safety regulations

The legislation, SB 290, includes provisions preempting local restrictions on gas-powered equipment, expanding agricultural support programs and tightening land-use oversight, while also creating new criminal penalties and regulatory requirements across multiple sectors.

The bill additionally establishes new initiatives aimed at supporting the agricultural industry, including a veterinary loan repayment program and a native seed research program, while making existing food distribution efforts permanent.

The measure also includes provisions aimed at preserving agricultural land and shaping rural development. Senate staff analyses say it requires additional review for certain proposed development on ecologically significant parcels in small municipalities, requires state or local review of whether some surplused lands are suitable for bona fide agricultural use, and restricts the transfer of future development rights for some of those lands.

“The Free State of Florida just delivered another major win for the people who feed our state and our nation,” said Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson.

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Even Democrats should like this bill.

Trump’s broader fight against federal overreach and for citizens’ rights

Trump Liberates Family Persecuted by Biden

Dropping Charges from “Politically Motivated Prosecution”

Remember the Biden years? Feels like a bad dream now, doesn’t it? For four years, it seemed like the administration woke up every morning asking, “How can we make life harder for actual Americans today?”

We had job-killing vaccine mandates shoved down our throats, an economy crippled by runaway inflation that evaporated savings, and crazy environmental plans that threatened our energy independence and way of life. It was a masterclass in mismanagement.

And while hardworking Americans were getting squeezed, where was the focus? Sending billions overseas, rolling out the red carpet for illegal immigrants, and generally bending over backwards for everyone except the citizens paying the bills.

Thankfully, those days are over. President Trump isn’t just talking about draining the swamp; he’s already started reversing some of the most egregious attacks on common sense and common decency launched by the previous administration.

So, what heinous crime did this family from South Dakota commit to warrant the full force of the federal government coming down on them? They had a fence. A fence line bordering federal land that had basically been in the same place since the early 1900s, involving an “informal agreement” over about 25 acres used for grazing.

A minor issue, right? Something neighbors usually sort out over coffee. But not for Biden’s Justice Department and USDA. Oh no. They conducted a survey, accused the Maudes of “theft of government property,” and brought the hammer down.

We’re talking federal criminal charges. Kristi Noem, governor at the time, faught for them and she was ignored.

Read about Biden's overreach

Court ruled Biden/Harris overstepped their authority

Federal Judge Blocks Biden/Harris in 17 States from Giving New Rights Only to Non-Citizens

From Breitbart:

A federal judge is blocking, in 17 states, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’s administration from imposing a new rule that gives collective bargaining rights to foreign farm workers while American farm workers are excluded…

In September 2023, the Labor Department announced a federal rule that would dramatically change the H-2A visa program, which allows United States farms to import foreign workers to take American agricultural jobs.

As part of the rule, finalized in April 2024, foreign H-2A visa workers would get collective bargaining rights not afforded to American farm workers.

Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, along with 16 other state attorneys general, quickly took action. They filed a lawsuit against the administration, arguing that the rule was not only unfair but also unlawful.

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Bill Gates buying tens of thousands of farm land

Congressman demands Bill Gates answer questions about massive farmland purchases

Billionaire advocates for artificial meat while taking control of ag lands

One member of Congress is demanding that Bill Gates, the influential computer software company founder and celebrated environmentalist, answer some questions about why he is buying up tens of thousands of acres of farmland.

That farmland, now, often is used for producing feed for cattle, that are turned into steaks and roasts and hamburgers. But Gates has openly advocated that nations should convert to synthetic beef.

So Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., wants him to explain what is going on. And I believe most Americans who are not into "Green" would like to know as well. And the next question I have, why is it only ONE Congressman questioning this?

Bill Gates bought millions of acres of farmland to become the "number one landlord" in the United States...Chinas is probably closing in.

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Florida News Report on Florida Agriculture Commissioner

Who is Likely to be Our Next Florida Commissioner of Agriculture?

Florida State Senate President, Wilton Simpson, is a Republican from the 10th District, covering north and central Pasco County, Hernando County and Citrus County.

Simpson’s votes are in opposition to the Republican Party Platform and of DeSantis’ Floridians-first agenda. In fact, the American Conservative Union Foundation issued a 83.54% lifetime rating for Simpson’s voting record in the Florida legislature, a far cry from most conservative Florida lawmakers.

Simpson terms out this year and has his sights set on becoming the next Commissioner of Agriculture. What would that mean for Floridians to have a man with his ideology as the Florida Commissioner of Agriculture?

Read about his record

Trump endorsed him over a year ago if he should run for Commissioner of Agriculture. I have to wonder why after reading this article.

Florida is holding this election for agriculture commissioner on November 8, 2022. The primary is scheduled for August 23, 2022.

Meet Matt Caldwell for Ag Commissioner

Meet Matt Caldwell Candidate for Florida Agriculture Commissioner tomorrow morning, Monday, at 10:00 A.M. @ Republican Party Headquarters 1555 Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard Suite 500 West Palm Beach

*Coffee and Donuts will be available

 Paid for by Matt Caldwell, Republican, For Commissioner of Agriculture

Florida Land needs to be preserved

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Agriculture is a very large frog in a very important pond that we need to appreciate, brag about, celebrate and recognize. It’s not Old MacDonald’s Farm. There is a tendency in modern life to view it that way. It’s big. It’s important. It’s global, and it is high-tech.”

~ Adam Putnam, Florida Agriculture Commissioner.

Read Sunshine State News and Nancy Smith's great article.

Local governments are creating new environmental crises and allowing the syphoning/selling off of our agriculture land for developers to pave over Florida. Local municipalities are strapped for cash and so is Palm Beach County.  Consequently they are allowing huge developments. When this happens, there is an increased need for public services such as roads, schools and utility infrastructure all borne by the taxpayer. Land owners and developers get wealthy and the taxpayers pay through the nose.

Read about some of the projects approved by the Board of County Commissioners. It's time to change some of them out in this next election.

Florida losing more of its agriculture land to developers in the Agricultural Reserve

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"More of old Florida has gone to developers as some 10,000 homes — many selling for $1 million or more — soon could stand in a vast stretch of once-rural Palm Beach County. About 7,000 of those have already been built, and the rest are in the pipeline on the 21,000 acres known as the Agricultural Reserve," says the Sun Sentinel.

The purpose of the Agricultural Reserve is to preserve unique farmland and wetlands in order to enhance agricultural activity, environmental and water resources, and open space, by limiting uses to agriculture, conservation, low density residential development, and non-residential uses which serve the needs of farmworkers and residents of the Ag Reserve Tier.

"The Reserve, a territory with special development rules, stretches between Florida's Turnpike and the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, spanning unincorporated areas west of Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach and Lake Worth."   A 60/40 rule was adopted by PB County in October 2015 (every four acres of development, six acres had to be set aside for preservation) but small owners of land there wanted the 60-40 rule set aside.-

Many of these owners showed up at the County Commission meeting and after some debate, the Commission voted in favor of dropping the preservation requirement for those who own less than 16 acres. The Palm Beach County Commission voted to allow more commercialization with Burdick and Valeche dissenting.

Read about it...

Managing Honey Bees in Lake Worth

Commissioner Ryan Maier

Tonight City Commission meeting

12A (New Business)
A.    Ordinance No 2015-17 - First Reading - clarify authority to regulate, inspect, and permit managed honeybee colonies and schedule the public hearing date for December 8, 2015

Honey bees are regulated by the state, not the municipality.
House Bill 1197 (Chapter 2012-83, Laws of Florida)

This bill is only tangentially related to land development regulations, except for two provisions—the bill preempts local government regulation of honeybee colonies, and exempts “farm signs” from the Florida Building Code and any county or municipal code (except floodplain management). The honey bee provision will impact increasingly common attempts to regulate when and where bees can be kept in more urban environments; it is now no longer a local issue.
Read House bill 1197

Beekeeping. The authority to regulate, inspect, and permit managed honeybee colonies and to adopt rules on the placement and location of registered inspected managed honeybee colonies is preempted to the state supersedes any related ordinance adopted by a municipality. See F.S. §586.10(1).
State laws affecting local Codes and Ordinances

This was placed on the Agenda so that the city can simply acknowledge that this is regulated by the state.  It is recommending to the City to adopt language to clarify that the City’s Code of Ordinances does not regulate managed honeybee colonies.

Whose needs should be met? The few or the many?

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Letters to the Editor
Palm Beach Post
August 7, 2015
Op Ed Piece--Time to end trophies for a rapacious few

Recently, a Minnesota dentist killed a beloved lion. He wounded the male lion, Cecil, with a bow and arrow and later killed it with a rifle; then he cut off its head and left the remainder to rot.

The male lion had two prides of cubs. Now that he is dead, other males will kill his cubs, setting back the success of the lion population in Africa. This dentist killed a lion who brought happiness to millions and was being studied by scientists. The dentist put his selfish needs before the needs of the environment and the rest of the world.

In Florida, we have seen similar selfish actions. The South Florida Water Management District Governing Board rescinded a vote to permit revenues to increase to help fund needed programs — thus putting a bullet in South Florida’s future. They will now begin to eliminate programs that reduce pollution and that would have protected estuaries like the Lake Worth Lagoon and Indian River Lagoon.

The district has laid off 500 employees over the past several years. Gov. Rick Scott is cutting the head off the SFWMD.

The Palm Beach County Commission fired an arrow into the back of the Agricultural Reserve, leaving it to stagger about until its members dispatch it permanently through over-development. They decided to increase allowable commercial development and to open up more area to home building.

Commissioners did so even after the county Planning Commission voted 12-0 to reject the same proposal. During workshops held last year, all agreed that increased traffic was impacting farming and that placing houses next to farms was an impediment to farming.

The commission failed to listen to any of the arguments of the environmental community, who stated that the county’s use of $100 million of bond funds was a commitment to preserve the entire Agricultural Reserve as an island of farming, preservation, limited development and a buffer to the Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge.

Cecil the lion is a metaphor for everything that is wrong with our society. Millions enjoy the pleasures of the environment, but only a few can hang a trophy on their wall. Whose needs should be met — the few or the many?

DREW MARTIN
LAKE WORTH

Former Lake Worth City Commissioner has article featured in the Palm Beach Post

Letters to the Editor
Palm Beach Post
July 25, 2015
Op Ed Piece
Agricultural Reserve a misnomer with so few farms now

Whether you are for or against development, the Palm Beach County Agricultural Reserve doesn’t exist anymore. Long gone are most vegetable crops, farmland and all the flower farms. In the 1950s, Delray Beach was the “Gladiolus Capital of the World” and a major center for growing vegetables and flowers.

Do you realize that, today, no gladiolus or flowers are grown here, and only 1 percent of the vegetables grown in Palm Beach County are grown in the Agricultural Reserve?
Palm Beach County modeled its Agricultural Reserve after Maryland’s Montgomery County Ag Reserve, with one major difference: Palm Beach County allowed development. So the few remaining farmers are now forced to farm next to schools, houses of worship, shopping centers, a hospital, supermarkets, new roads and housing developments.

Like it or not, today’s Agricultural Reserve is a flourishing new residential community with 5,000 new homes and 5,000 more being built. Schools include Somerset Academy and the soon-to-be-built Happy Hollow Charter School.

Nursery owners: Fighting unfair rules or ‘a little greedy’?

St. Mary’s Coptic Orthodox Church is just one of the churches being built. The Delray Marketplace and Canyon Town Center, two major shopping centers, are new and thriving destinations.
Bethesda West Hospital, with a 400-bed capacity, was also approved and built on former farmland — to serve the emerging community in the Agricultural Reserve.

Commercial, industrial, institutional and residential developments; conservation areas; and county-owned property occupy 87 percent of the land in the reserve. The remaining farmers are unfairly restricted by the outdated policies in the Agricultural Reserve.

Forced to Farm is a political action committee to assist private property owners who have been unduly burdened by property restrictions. We advocate that Palm Beach County government treat the private property owners in the Agricultural Reserve equally to private property owners throughout the county.

The agriculture of the past has been lost to development in the Agricultural Reserve. Let’s adjust our policies to the 21st century and allow remaining parcels to serve our community.

SUZANNE MULVEHILL, DELRAY BEACH

Editor’s note: Suzanne Mulvehill, chairwoman of Forced to Farm, is a resident and landowner in the Agricultural Reserve.

Point of View - Drew Martin

Comment Up

Agriculture is the second-largest industry in Florida. We work directly with the National Resource Conservation Service to protect and enhance agricultural lands. It does not make sense to abolish or defund a board that works for free. When you vote, please vote for candidates who support the continued work of the Soil and Water Conservation districts.

Read more... of Drew Martin's Op Ed in the Palm Beach Post

Drew is Vice chair of the PB Soil and Water Conservation District

Rick Scott wins straw poll

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Rick Scott must love blueberries!

We have been reading about a lot of polls on Rick Scott and Charlie Crist being close but the forum and its straw poll just held in Orlando at the Orange County Convention center by the Farm Credit/Florida Ag Institute’s Candidates Forum knocked Crist out of the ballgame.

According to its web site, the forum attracts over 300 of the state’s most influential agricultural opinion leaders from virtually every commodity group as well as media (TV, radio, local print and trade publications) from around the state. The forum is held in conjunction with the Florida Nursery, Growers and Landscape Associations (FNGLA).

Read about it...

Bee Petition

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Albert Einstein once said, "If the bees disappeared off the face of the earth, man would only have four years left to live."

Today, bee populations in the United States are rapidly collapsing. This cruel reality makes it even more disheartening to learn that one of the largest fruit juice producers in the United States, Florida's Natural Growers, buys some of its oranges from Ben Hill Griffin, Inc., a supplier which was recently fined by the Florida Department of Agriculture for spraying its citrus groves with harmful pesticides. According to the Florida Department of Agriculture, this spraying resulted in the death on millions of bees. However, this fine only amounts to $1500, a mere slap on the wrist to a company the size of Ben Hill Griffin, Inc.

Sign the Petition

SNAP -

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The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the Food Stamp Program) is the nation’s most important anti-hunger program. 45.8 million people are receiving SNAP benefits with the average participant receiving $133.79 and average household receiving $289.61 per month.

The GOP was looking to slash the growing national food stamp program that has more than doubled since Obama.  They voted today and the budget was reduced but nothing was mentioned about SNAP. The vote was 216 to 208. The Democrats who have done everything within their power to expand big government and the welfare program, want to give more people that free lunch. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is the federal agency that oversees food stamps. Their main objectives are to --

Reduce improper payments and errors
Pursuing Food stamp fraud
Combating abuse and misuse of benefits

In the USDA projected budget for 2014, 72% was to go towards nutrition assistance; 6% for forestry an conservation; 15% on farm and commodity programs; and all others at 6%. $1.3 billion was to go towards renewable energy but the bill did not invest in renewable energy, an important source for economic growth in farming and rural communities across the country.

Palm Beach Post
Letters to the Editor
Sunday, January 27, 2013

The Ag Reserve west of Boynton Beach is a perfect place to grow winter vegetables. The county should have made the reserve 100-percent agriculture, but developers wanted to put some houses in the area. From the start, this has resulted in conflicts.

Even though the Ag Reserve was never intended to have services, homeowners were promised services. The county compromised, promising a 60–40 split between agriculture and housing. But this depended upon the clustering of housing. Builders agreed to these terms to protect the integrity of the Ag Reserve. Now KRG/Atlantic Delray Beach wishes to break the agreement, because it can make more money through urban sprawl than clustering.

Every time the county makes an agreement with the builders, the builders come back and ask to break the agreement. If we continue, developers will drive agriculture out of the county at a time when climate change is damaging farming around the world. We may someday be dependent upon these farms for food. We need farms more than more homes.

DREW MARTIN
Lake Worth
Editor’s note: Drew Martin is Conservation Chair, Loxahatchee Group, of the Sierra Club.

TC Palm endorses Allen West's opponent

It seems that this news publication got insulted when West turned them down for an interview for endorsement stating that he did not feel that they could be objective.

We don't need "gentlemen" in Congress. We need kick ass stand-up men who can get the job done--men like Allen West.

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West capitulates to Big Business Lobby

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Don't we all believe in humane treatment of animals?  It seems like a "no-brainer" to me. However,  Colonel Allen West has just changed his position on more humane treatment of egg laying hens. He advocated for larger cages for hens and now has changed his mind. Some of these hens are in cages 6 inches by 8 inches.

West reversed his position. The agriculture business' lobby, Keep Food Affordable, and a lobby that represents 56 large egg-producing farms, has been running attack ads against West. They are afraid of over-regulation of farming in general particularly pigs. Those ads have appeared on just about every Internet site.

The Lobby gave the pitch that if egg producing farms had to provide better conditions for hens, then it would cost them money or eggs would be produced in foreign countries and the cost of eggs would sky-rocket. However, it is estimated that over twenty years, it would cost consumers less than one cent per egg.

Remember the Pregnant Pig amendment in 2002?

The language that appeared on the ballot for the Pregnant Pig that passed with 54.75%:
Inhumane treatment of animals is a concern of Florida citizens; to prevent cruelty to animals and as recommended by The Humane Society of the United States, no person shall confine a pig during pregnancy in a cage, crate or other enclosure, or tether a pregnant pig, on a farm so that the pig is prevented from turning around freely, except for veterinary purposes and during the prebirthing period; provides definitions, penalties, and an effective date.

Government has an obligation to protect animals, not just big business that is exploiting them for profit. Animal cruelty is an issue that no one supports. You got lousy advice on this one Colonel.