New Saw Palmetto Berry Harvesting Rule The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) has adopted a new rule for harvesting and selling saw palmetto berries. According to the agency, widespread gathering of these berries is depleting a wildlife food source and threatening the stability of some ecosystems. Saw palmetto has been added to [...]
Florida Farm Bureau Preparing For The 2018 Election Season As with every election cycle, Florida Farm Bureau, our members and our state’s strong agricultural community have the ability to make an impact in the Florida Legislature and in statewide cabinet races. Supporting and promoting good, quality leaders that will help strengthen and grow Florida agriculture [...]
Two House Immigration Votes Fail; Ag Labor Reform in July? As a direct result of the House Freedom Caucus leveraging their Farm Bill votes, House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte’s Securing America’s Future Act was brought to the House floor for consideration prior to the Farm Bill on June 21st, as promised by leadership. As expected, [...]
House Passes Farm Bill; Senate Debate Underway By a narrow vote of 213 to 211, H.R. 2, the House’s version of the 2018 Farm Bill, passed on the second attempt within a month on Thursday, June 21. The first vote was held on May 18 and failed as a result of conservative GOP holdouts who were [...]
Florida’s Rural Communities Have an Economic Advantage Economic prospects for rural areas in the Sunshine State may be better than expected in the years ahead. Florida has an advantage many other states do not possess. The steady increase in new residents here provides a momentum of growth, said Brian Thiede, a rural demographer at Penn [...]
Survey Says Advocacy Most Important Florida Farm Bureau conducted a survey in May to assess the needs of county Farm Bureaus. The survey was sent to county Farm Bureau board members statewide with a 100 percent participation from each county Farm Bureau. The Florida Farm Bureau leadership team will be using the survey results to [...]
Helping Law Enforcement Serve Farm Families Florida Farm Bureau was presented with a plaque of appreciation for its continued support of the Florida Agricultural Crimes Intelligence Unit (FACIU) and its efforts to provide training for its members to better serve farm families across the state. FACIU includes more than 200 sheriff’s deputies representing more than [...]
COUNTY ORDINANCES MAY VIOLATE STATE STATUTE Several growers in the Desoto County area contacted Florida Farm Bureau after being issued citations for violating a county ordinance restricting the use of fireworks and propane cannons. The ordinance stated that the cannons were restricted to use only once a day either within 30 minutes of 6:30 a.m. [...]
Two FFB Priorities Expected to Collide The week of June 18 promises to be action-packed, as the U.S. House intends to take up the hot-button issues of immigration and agricultural policy. This timing results from an agreement between House leadership and the House Freedom Caucus following a failed Farm Bill vote on May 18. The [...]
DOR Releases Details on Disaster Relief Sales Tax Rebate Program Farm families looking to take advantage of the sales tax rebate program can begin the process of applying for refunds on the sales taxes paid on hurricane-damaged farm fencing and non-residential building materials that were purchased between Sept. 10, 2017 and May 31, 2018. The [...]
