{"id":202688,"date":"2026-03-23T17:24:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T17:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/202688\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T17:24:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T17:24:09","slug":"gov-desantis-signs-really-significant-florida-farm-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/202688\/","title":{"rendered":"Gov. DeSantis signs ‘really significant’ Florida Farm Bill"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gov. Ron DeSantis<\/a> has signed the Florida Farm Bill, which makes sweeping changes<\/a> on areas such as land use, workforce development and local government preemption.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this package is really, really significant. It shows that we have a strong commitment to not just agriculture, but our rural communities writ-large,\u201d DeSantis said as he signed SB 290<\/a> during a news conference in Sebring<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The new law goes into effect July 1.<\/p>\n

Some of the provisions in the Sen. Keith Truenow<\/a>-sponsored measure include banning local governments from enacting policies to restrict the use of gasoline-powered farm or landscape equipment. DeSantis said that move supports\u00a0farmers\u2019 freedom.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of these local governments want to not let you use certain equipment if it\u2019s gas operated. That\u2019s not their decision \u2014 that\u2019s your decision,\u201d DeSantis said during the press conference<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Farm Bill also sets density requirements for developers looking to build in small cities. Developers cannot exceed a maximum density of one residential unit per 20 acres on an \u201cecologically significant parcel in a low-density municipality.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe protected small cities in this bill,\u201d said Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services<\/a> Commissioner Wilton Simpson<\/a>. \u201cif you are a small city, we\u2019ve protected the ability for large developers to come in and take over your city essentially. And there\u2019s about 110 cities<\/a> in this state that will get that protection.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bill would also make changes to the state\u2019s conservation land policies by requiring the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP<\/a>) to determine if parcels of state-owned land are suitable for agriculture. If found suitable, DEP would be able to \u201csurplus\u201d the land after attaching a conservation easement.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it should be an agriculture production, we can remove the development rights from that land and surplus that land back into farming families,\u201d Simpson said Monday.<\/p>\n

The Fam Bill also creates the Florida Food Animal and Equine Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program to help fight the shortage of livestock veterinarians. Three new vets each year will get help with their student loans. \u201cFor each eligible candidate, the department may make loan principal repayments of up to $25,000 each year for up to 5 years,\u201d according to the Senate staff analysis<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Senate President Ben Albritton<\/a> joined DeSantis and Simpson for the bill signing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat a great opportunity to have our Governor sign this bill right here in Florida\u2019s Heartland,\u201d he said in a statement afterward. \u201cFlorida\u2019s agriculture industry is the key to thriving families, businesses, and communities across our state.\u00a0Agriculture matters, and that\u2019s a fact.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Florida Nursery, Growers and Landscape Association<\/a> celebrated the new law.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the Governor\u2019s signature, this legislation is now law and provides certainty for Florida\u2019s landscape professionals,\u201d said the organization\u2019s CEO, Tal Coley.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt ensures that equipment decisions remain in the hands of business owners and their customers. We appreciate Governor DeSantis, Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson and the Legislature for recognizing the importance of consistency and affordability for our industry and the communities we serve.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed the Florida Farm Bill, which makes sweeping changes on areas such as land…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":202689,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[71263,4218,72148,28,30,29,412,39513,93340],"class_list":["post-202688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-agriculture-commissioner-wilton-simpson","tag-ben-albritton","tag-farm-bill","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-ron-desantis","tag-sebring","tag-tal-coley"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202688","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=202688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202688\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/202689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}