The Florida Department of Citrus may lose $5 million for marketing programs if the Florida House of Representatives' proposed 2017-18 state budget prevails.
The proposed spending plan also slashes spending by more than 84 percent for the Fresh From Florida marketing program run by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. That drew a rebuke from the department's chief executive, Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam.
"This is a political assault on a good program that will have real consequences on real people," Putnam said in a statement. "Gutting the Fresh From Florida program will hurt Florida's small farms the most — their ability to raise awareness for the high quality of their locally grown products and compete against lesser quality products from foreign countries."
The budget proposal reduces the program for marketing all of the state's agricultural commodities from the $12.86 million Putnam requested to $2 million.
source: newschief.com
