Systematic Elimination of American Farming

The American agricultural producer is facing the bleakest horizon for future farming potential than I believe any farmer ever has. Farmers have no labor force to draw from after migrant labor has been slashed to a minimum and other, higher-budget industries have pulled away American hard laborers.

Input costs soar out of control year after year; fertilizer, equipment, and fuel are doubling and tripling in cost, squeezing out any potential margin. We have had record freezes followed by record droughts, water shortages, and new insects and diseases that threaten the potential for any harvest at all.

Washington is failing to approve a farm bill that would alleviate some of the financial burden by providing millions of dollars in aid to struggling farmers. The final straws to break our backs might very well be a Trojan horse. All dressed up as tax savings in your pocket, but beyond the shiny wrapper lie the final bits of funding cuts that will have to take place, which will force our farming families to sell. The only people in town with a pocketbook that can satisfy the mortgage on hundreds of acres are developers.

Check any news outlet, and the reports are the same: American farmers are in trouble; there is no need to deep dive into that conversation.  Those of us who work in AG continue to struggle to advocate for ourselves as we show our ‘grit’ and ‘tighten our belts’.  Unfortunately, this has gone on so long that our belts have no body to tighten into, and those belts have slid up to our necks, now acting as a noose. 

What is the Trojan horse that could kick our feet out from underneath us and snap the noose on the AG industry?  Amendment 3, the “Save Our Homes from Excessive Property Taxes,” might sound like a great deal to put some money back in your pocket, but the state has not taken into account where that money will come from. 

Amendment 3 is holding the proverbial noose around the neck of 29 counties which have already been listed as “fiscally constrained”. These counties, which are rural and primarily agricultural, face a serious risk of defaulting on their bond loans if tax revenue is eliminated from the budget. This poses a serious threat in the state of Florida and to farmers, as we could see counties going into default, and the primary businesses they have available to tax are Ag businesses.

It is true that bona fide agriculture operations will retain their tax exemption to not be taxed on their property for its ‘highest and best use’. Where Ag operations are not protected from are non-ad valorem taxes and fees that counties can impose. Things like stormwater management, trash collection, or fire protection, and items like road frontage fees, which would charge specifically for the amount of road frontage touching your property. These items might not hit businesses in town too hard, but for ag operations with potentially thousands of feet of road frontage, it would be catastrophic.

These are all topics we have discussed in a previous blog: the more specific details of burdens on the farm that will come from Amendment 3 if it passes. It would include things the county needs to cut from its budget to try to stay fiscally sound under the laws it is subject to.

One of the first items that could be cut would be the county extension service; this is an agricultural service that is partly paid for by the University of Florida in our state and primarily funded by the county. The extension office houses scientists and labs for the ag industry, education programs for the public, huge volunteer programs that complete massive restoration projects each year, 4-H, and more.

If farmers had to pay private labs, scientists, or subscriptions for research papers to stay current with everything in the industry, it would be a huge financial blow, the one that could snap the noose on the industry. For the average individual, the extension office costs around 3 cents per day, which is less than $11/yr, and for that money, the extension program delivers $4.7 billion in economic impact across the state. They teach classes on how to save water for residents, fund grant projects, build and design landscapes, and support our ag producers, which is the most profound impact by helping maintain and create jobs.

The UF/IFAS Extension Office is essential to the ag community in Florida, an ag community that generates $ 387.85 billion for the Florida economy. Everything starts with the green industry and farming. We would not have healthy shorelines, parks and recreation, lumber for housing, things to buy at the store and eat, or clothes on our backs without agriculture.

All of those additional services, like grocery stores and home improvement stores, stand on the back of the products they sell, which come from some kind of agricultural business. Those agricultural businesses are in a fight right now to compete with foreign products, raising the cost of input materials, and if the residents of Florida vote for Amendment 3, they will be facing taxes, fees, and an essential loss of support from our extension services.

Amendment 3 is dangerous to agriculture, to our extension services, and to the foundation of our economy. The moment we have to import food, lumber, or plants, we run the risk of being held hostage as if we were at the end of a noose, and whoever has the goods we need decides if we fall or not. Our state would have only two things to fall back on: tourism and housing.

With no money supporting the ag industry, all that land would become available, and ag land is extremely valuable because it is typically already partially leveled and cleared. Water use permits associated with the property would open the door to exclusive golf communities, data centers, and expansive retirement housing on a massive scale.

Don’t allow yourself to be bought out for the promise of a couple thousand dollars only to find out in a few years that little bit of money cost you all of the ag land and the experts who protected it. Vote no on amendment 3.

John Taylor and his wife, Janyel, operate Ralph Taylor’s Nursery, a third-generation nursery that has been in Manatee County since 1968. Their products are available at area Home Depot stores.  The Taylors are the authors of The Veranda View, a blog that focuses on agricultural advocacy and education.