When governor DeSantis recently vetoed funding for the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program, Florida agriculture property owners lost out on millions of dollars in land conservation deals for the next fiscal year.
Dean Saunders, a former state legislator who's now in real estate, brokering deals through the land acquisition trust fund, claims he doesn't understand why DeSantis vetoed the $100 million for agriculture conservation easements, which was a priority of Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson.
There's over 20 million acres of the state either in agriculture or timber, according to Saunders. But he said there are more than 1,100 people a day moving to Florida, putting “immense pressure” on these land owners to sell to developers.
Florida's citrus industry has less than half the acreage it had at its peak, Saunders added, meaning that less than 400,000 acres of producing citrus land is left across the state. Saunders also wondered what kind of a message DeSantis is sending to the agriculture community as he runs for president in 2024.
Source: news.wjct.org