It was announced today that another Florida family farm has been preserved through the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ (FDACS) Rural and Family Lands Protection Program (RFLPP). The Joseph Miller Ranch, a 490-acre cow/calf operation in St. Lucie County, is being preserved through a rural land protection easement for $2,070,000.
The ranch is a 490-acre cow/calf operation located about 14 miles west of Port St. Lucie and 11 miles northeast of Okeechobee. The property includes uplands and wetlands, with a diverse range of Florida wildlife. About half of the property supports mature mixed wetland hardwoods and hydric hammock. Numerous depression marshes and small dome swamps are throughout the site. A portion of Cypress Creek runs through the southwestern corner of the property. The remaining acreage is a mosaic of hammocks and woodland pasture.
“The preservation of Joseph Miller Ranch through the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program is yet another win for Florida agriculture and the state of Florida,” saidFlorida Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson. “By protecting this land from future development and keeping it in the hands of working farmers, we are conserving an essential natural resource and ensuring that future Floridians will benefit from the economic and environmental advantages of our state’s agricultural legacy.”
The RFLPP 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.
Commissioner Simpson recently recognized the families of the RFLPP at an event in Lake Placid and celebrated the program’s 100,000th acre milestone in agricultural land preservation.
A story map of all completed projects can be viewed by clicking here.