Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson announced the preservation of Florida farmland through the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Rural and Family Lands Protection Program. More than 386 acres of working agricultural land in Heart Bar Ranch in Osceola County is being preserved through a rural land protection easement for $2,600,000.
“Preserving an additional 386 acres of working farmland located within Heart Bar Ranch – a family farm that we worked with earlier this year to preserve over 3,000 acres of farmland – is yet another indicator that the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program is not only successful in its mission, but that generational farmers are eager now more than ever to participate in the program to help preserve important land in Florida,” said Commissioner Wilton Simpson. “These rural land protection easements strengthen our food security though the protection of prime agricultural land, keep the protected property on the local tax rolls, and require every property owner to maintain the land and its natural resources according to state standards.”
The Rural and Family Lands Protection Program purchases the development rights to the agricultural properties through voluntary rural land protection easements, which prevent the future development of the land and allow agriculture operations to continue to contribute to Florida’s economy and the production of food, timber, and other resources vital to the prosperity of Florida.
