Enhancing Environmental Compatibility

Other Actions:

Private Stewardship

Urge the state legislature to enact legislation similar to Florida's Blue Belt Law, which allows for a preferential tax assessment (similar to the agricultural assessment) for land left undeveloped if the land can be utilized as a water recharge area. To date, this program has been implemented on a trial basis in only a few counties. But it has the potential to keep land that presently is not used for agricultural purposes undeveloped until it can be brought into production, thereby keeping more land available for farming and avoiding the premature conversion of land to non-agricultural uses.

Jim Strickland, a Manatee County appraiser and cattleman, points out: "Under current statute, many counties do not qualify under the criteria set forth in [the Blue Belt] amendment to Florida statute 193.461. To be eligible for preferential property assessment, counties must have designated high water recharge areas determined by local water management boards. Many counties, such as Manatee and Sarasota, have no high water recharge areas, and are as such not eligible for Blue Belt." Perhaps a change is needed.

Andy LaVigne, Executive Director of Citrus Mutual says: "We need to put together some legislation or a proposal to the Governor that is environmentally sensitive but protects the viability of agriculture so that both environment and agriculture can work hand in hand."

Conduct survey to identify problems that landowners have encountered in trying to apply for and participate in conservation programs and problems agencies have encountered in recruiting landowners to participate in and in implementing conservation programs on private lands.

Locate gaps
Decide what incentives are needed by agencies to recruit landowner participation
Insist on evaluation of process to cut paperwork and improve success rate for applicants.

Create a central source with information on all conservation programs available through federal, state, regional and local agencies and private organizations

Develop an outreach program and one-stop service to inform landowners of opportunities and help landowners get through process. Resolve the following problems identified by landowners:

Too hard to deal with paperwork for uncertain benefit. Need to go out and recruit landowners to participate, then support applicants through the process. Need:

shorter forms
less paperwork
real people to assist in filing papers

Line item in each agency budget to implement and support one-stop shopping.

Need to educate landowners about how conservation can benefit their bottom line, including tax incentives that can be derived from conservation easements and "bargain sale" arrangements (compared, for example, to proceeds that owner would net after capital gains taxes from an outright sale).

Need government assistance in development and release of natural pest controls.

Research

Need renewed agricultural research and extension — we must strengthen these programs which have made our farmers the best in the world

Where's the analysis that helps farmers think through the issues — what BMPs will work, what benefits they provide to environment, what benefits they provide to bottom line?

"More emphasis needs to be placed on making these practices environmentally correct. Once this is achieved through education and good statistics, local planners and zoning staff will recognize agriculture as the important facet of our communities."

"Need research to arrive at methodology and financial statistics to justify paying ranchers for environmental practices maintained or implemented on their land to the benefit of all."

Need research on innovative practices, cooperative production practices.

"The legislature has seen fit to fund less than fee acquisition. Now funds need to follow for research geared specifically toward less than fee. This (to me) is only fair as we are spending tax dollars from all sides of issues. So, logically, we need research to substantiate the faith that taxpayers had in funding new ideas such as conservation easements."

Other Suggestions

Six recommendations are contained in a report, prepared by a Technical Review Committee made up of Jan van Schilfgaarde, Michael Duever, E.T. York and Divaid Zilberman, on a two-day workshop, held April 28-29, 1999 in West Palm Beach, Florida, entitled "Integrating Agricultural and Ecological Solutions in South Florida." The workshop was sponsored by the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force, Science Coordinating Team. The recommendations are:

"Social science ... We need to understand not only the physical/biological /hydrologic interactions as impacted by changes in management and use; we also need to evaluate the economic (profitability?), social (equity?), and political (incentives, regulations?) implications and options. Social science research should be done at various levels. First, we need to better understand the microeconomics of alternative forms of agriculture, that is, the economic considerations facing individual firms when they make use of resources in Florida and how their decisions are affected by various policies. Such microeconomic analysis requires interdisciplinary cooperation among economists, agronomists and resource managers. Once the micro foundation is established, one needs to establish some aggregate relationships (understand how various policies affect the overall economic and environmental perspective of the region) and use these to assess the impact of various policy proposals — the impact on equity, profitability, environmental conditions and natural resources. What is needed is research aimed at the development of policies that are efficient economically, sound environmentally and politically acceptable.

"Soil management. It has been proposed that organic soils can be preserved by maintaining high water tables for much of the year, and that some crops (specifically sugar cane) can be grown profitably when water tables are maintained at or near the surface for some nine months out of the year. Drainage must be provided for harvest and replanting. The long wet period should reduce the microbial population to the point that subsidence is minimized. In the coarse soils of Dade County, water management is crucial for profitable production, as are nutrient and pest management. To protect both the quantity and the quality of the water supply, soil management must be adapted to the emerging conditions, often influenced by market conditions that will lead to changes in cropping.

"Hydrology. The impact of possible changes in water delivery and removal practices on agriculture is, to a large extent, unknown but of great importance. Equally important is the effect of agricultural practices on the hydrologic response in the region. Besides water quantity, there is concern for water quality. Whereas principles are reasonably well established, detailed information for South Florida is sorely lacking.

"Enhancing wildlife in agricultural settings. One of the prime driving forces behind the ‘Everglades Restoration' effort was the loss of habitat for a number of species. Besides changing water quantity and quality delivered to the Everglades, there also is substantial opportunity to enhance the habitat for a number of species in agricultural settings. Wildlife management research is the proverbial stepchild in agricultural research planning, and especially in South Florida, it must be given its due.

"Plant nutrition and nutrient loading. There is overlap and duplication among soil management, hydrology and nutrient management research. However, a major part of the perceived South Florida problem is associated with nutrient loading -- in Lake Okeechobee and south. Past emphasis has been primarily on P, and it is anticipated that regulatory standards will be changed from the current 50 ppb to 5 or 10 ppb. This may be justified, but such drastic action must be based on detailed evaluation, both of its ecological need and of its economic impact. It also should not be overlooked that, as P problems are brought under control, other contaminants -- sulfur, copper and pesticides among them -- may become relatively more important.

"Pest management. Most groups concluded that reducing pesticide use and thus losses was not a high research priority, in part because it was felt that industry would take the lead in this area. That assumption is open to question. In any case, biocontrol of invasive weeds and insects has never been an area for industrial investment and must be supported with public funds. A clear example is control of melaleuca in the Everglades.

"A great deal more could be written in support of an expanded research program for agriculture. We believe, however, that not much would be gained by adding further detail. The purpose of the conference, as we understand it, was to highlight the need for more research in agriculture, to stress the importance of maintaining a viable agriculture in South Florida and to demonstrate that disparate groups of diverse interests can work together. We believe the conference was successful on all three counts."

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