Courtesy of FDACS
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) has announced the preservation of more Florida farmland through their Rural and Family Lands Protection Program (RFLPP). The Bar Rocking C Ranch, a 1,070-acre cattle operation in Highlands County, is being preserved through a rural lands protection easement for $4,300,000.
Bar Rocking C Ranch is a cattle ranch in western Highlands County, approximately 8.3 miles southwest of Sebring and 7 miles northwest of Lake Placid. The eastern half of the property is within the watershed of Fisheating Creek which is part of the Northern Everglades and Estuaries Protection Program. The western side of the property falls within the Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program boundary. The entire property is within the Florida Wildlife Corridor. The ranch is owned and operated by the Conerly family, who are third and fourth-generation cow/calf and citrus producers.
“We’re proud to announce today another partnership to permanently preserve a working Florida ranch through the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program,” said Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson. “Safeguarding our state and nation’s food security while also preserving Florida’s invaluable natural resources through the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program has been one of my top priorities as Commissioner of Agriculture. In less than two years, we’ve nearly doubled the total land preserved by this program – and we are not slowing down.”
The RFLPP purchases the development rights to the agricultural properties through voluntary rural lands 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.
A story map of all completed Rural and Family Lands Protection Program projects can be viewed here.