The Committee on Agriculture heard an update from JP Freitas, assistant director of the Office of Ag Water Policy at the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), about the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program, a voluntary easement program that buys development rights to keep agricultural land working.

Freitas said the program’s acreage has grown substantially in recent years. "From 02/2001 when the program was created to 2022, we have 66,000 acres...In just 2 years, we have 144,000 acres," Freitas said. He described online-application improvements, a monitoring protocol and procedural changes that speed smaller closings by keeping properties under $5 million out of an additional Board of Trustees review step; properties valued above $5 million go to the Board of Trustees (the Florida Cabinet) for review.

Freitas described program criteria that applicants must meet (examples include improving wildlife habitat, protecting water bodies or protecting agricultural lands threatened by conversion) and said landowners must enroll in agricultural Best Management Practices (BMPs) before a property closes. The office conducts desk reviews and site visits and monitors properties roughly every 18 months to confirm easement terms are met.

Freitas said the program is pursuing partnerships with federal agencies, including NRCS and the Department of Defense’s Sentinel Landscapes Program, and is encouraging landowners near military installations to apply. He summarized current funding requests: a legislative budget request for $200 million in nonrecurring funds on top of $100 million in recurring funding already in place. Freitas said the program has roughly 200 active projects and received 224 new applications in the most recent cycle, totaling nearly $2 billion in project value across existing and new applications.

Committee members asked about long-term maintenance and whether landowners could default on monitoring and upkeep. Freitas said the program has not encountered a situation in which a landowner could not meet maintenance requirements; easement payments and BMP enrollment are intended to support ongoing stewardship. When asked about the Board of Trustees, Freitas confirmed that the Board refers to the Florida Cabinet.

The committee took no formal action on the presentation; the meeting ended later by unanimous procedural adjournment.