The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) has announced the preservation of Florida farmland through their Rural and Family Lands Protection Program (RFLPP). 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.
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.
Heart Bar Ranch is a cattle, timber, wildlife management, and seed operation in Osceola County. In March 2024, the Florida Cabinet approved a rural land protection easement that preserved approximately 3,080 acres in Heart Bar Ranch. With this most recent rural land protection easement, the property consists of approximately 3,466 acres of native or semi-native habitat for wildlife, much of which also supports cattle grazing. Pine flatwoods, forested wetlands, and herbaceous wetlands are the primary habitat types. Over 4 miles of Camp Lonesome Creek traverses the project before flowing into Canoe Creek, which has a mile of frontage. The project site is enrolled in the FDACS’ Best Management Practices program and is located within the Florida Wildlife Corridor.
“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 FDACS Commissioner Wilton Simpson.
During the 2024 legislative session, Commissioner Simpson helped to secure from the Florida Legislature $100 million for the RFLPP and another $100 million each fiscal year, appropriated in SB 1638, to support the Florida Wildlife Corridor, including the acquisition of conservation easements under the RFLPP.
Click here to see a story map of all completed RFLPP projects.