The Florida Senate

It is the intent of the Legislature that current and continuously updated information on the state’s agricultural land base be available to all governmental bodies in the state, so that it may be established whether a net decline in the amount of available agricultural land is occurring.

The Department of Community Affairs shall develop a program for mapping and monitoring the agricultural lands in the state. The department has the power to adopt rules necessary to carry out the purposes of this section, and it may contract with other agencies for the provision of necessary mapping and information services.

In compiling the information specified in this section, the department shall utilize to the fullest extent practicable the topographical data available through the LANDSAT satellite program of the Department of Transportation; soils data developed through the county soil survey and land evaluation and site assessment (LESA) programs of the Soil Conservation Service; the agricultural land use statistics required to be furnished annually to the Department of Revenue by the various county property appraisers; data compiled through the federal censuses of agriculture; crop data and other data collected and maintained by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the United States Department of Agriculture; and relevant data developed or maintained by the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences and other components of the State University System. Each of these agencies of state government and all other state agencies, as well as local and regional governmental agencies, shall cooperate with the department in establishing the mapping and monitoring program provided for in this section.

The department shall encourage all state, regional, and local agencies and units of government to utilize the information which is compiled pursuant to this section, as well as the information of the individual agencies from which the compilation of the department is drawn, in planning and other activities in order to minimize the impact of governmental decisions and actions on the continued use and availability of land for agriculture. The department shall provide technical assistance to any such agency or unit of government in utilizing the information developed pursuant to this section.