4.6 Deliver targeted education and resources to farmers and ranchers

Key Message: Sarasota County has a strong agricultural heritage founded on cattle ranching and now diversified into multiple commodities, including citrus, sod and ornamental plant nurseries. About 46% of Sarasota County’s registered and eligible farms voluntarily participate in agricultural Best Management Practices to reduce nutrient runoff and better manage water use. Additional incentives are needed to encourage more farms, including small crop, animal farms and hobbyists, to embrace sustainable practices.

Importance

Runoff from agricultural uses can carry excess nutrients from fertilizer and animal waste into water bodies. Implementing agricultural BMPs helps limit nutrient runoff by managing nutrient and water budgets more precisely and efficiently. Crop-specific fertilizer formulations applied with GPS-guided equipment help ensure the right fertilizer is applied at the right rate in the right place at the right time to maximize uptake by plants. Remote controlled irrigation and virtual fencing, the use of cover crops and no-till crops, tailwater recovery, and adaptive livestock and waste management can significantly reduce nutrient loading. Producers enrolled in BMP programs operate more efficiently, lower their costs, and are eligible for state cost-sharing programs, while helping to protect water quality. Expanding targeted BMP education and resources for agricultural producers, particularly around sustainable agriculture, is an investment in protecting water quality, preserving local heritage, supporting a diversified economy, and maintaining a local food supply.

Overview

Sarasota County’s agricultural footprint is relatively small, with about 20% (71,878 acres) of its land area under agricultural production. Of the 286 farms in the county, 50% are smaller than 10 acres and 85% generate less than $100,000 in annual sales (USDA 2022). The majority (59%) are cow/calf operations, sometimes combined with citrus, sod, and nursery production. About 11,000 acres are cultivated as croplands, including hay, citrus, and tomatoes.

While farms are exempt from local urban fertilizer ordinances, many farmers, ranchers, and nursery owners voluntarily adopt BMPs to reduce fertilizer and water use and manage the landscape to protect water resources. The Fertilizer Institute’s 4R Nutrient Stewardship program promotes the right fertilizer source, rate, time, and place.

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) has developed BMP manuals for all major agricultural commodities produced in Sarasota County and updated them in 2024. A new Small Farms BMP manual was adopted in 2024 to guide the growing number of small farms and hobby farms (5–10 acres), where overgrazing and manure management issues are common.

FDACS conducts outreach via surveys, workshops, and site visits to encourage BMP enrollment and evaluate implementation. FDACS also partners with UF/IFAS Extension agents to reach both commercial and non-commercial operators. Enrollment in the BMP program is voluntary unless a farm lies within a watershed covered by a Basin Management Action Plan (BMAP) mandated by FDEP, in which case BMP implementation or water quality monitoring is required. Currently, there are no BMAP areas in Sarasota County. The Clean Waterways Act (2020) requires FDACS to conduct biannual inspections and provide fertilization and nutrient records to FDEP.

FDACS and Water Management Districts incentivize BMP adoption through programs like SWFWMD’s Facilitating Agricultural Resource Management Systems (FARMS) and mini-FARMS programs, which reimburse small farmers for water-conserving BMP projects. The Florida Farm Bureau’s CARES program publicly recognizes farmers who adopt BMPs. However, BMP investment can be a difficult decision for farmers anticipating land transitions to development.

About 46,000 acres (46%) of Sarasota County’s registered and eligible farms voluntarily participate in FDACS BMP programs specific to their operations. The vast majority (95%) of enrolled lands are cow/calf operations. Indeed, the largest farming operations in Sarasota County are cattle ranches owned and operated by some of Sarasota’s oldest families who have adopted land stewardship strategies such as rotational grazing and manure management that reduce or eliminate the need for fertilizer.

Approach

Fewer than 2,000 acres of cropland (row crops, sod, citrus, nurseries) are enrolled in the BMP program. Only about a third of small farms under 10 acres are enrolled. Local UF/IFAS Extension agents could expand outreach to small crop and animal farms and hobbyists. Incentives such as participation in “Fresh From Florida” marketing or access to State Farmers Markets could be offered for farms adopting BMPs.

Nutrient barrier walls and carbon trenches are relatively inexpensive low-tech solutions to intercept and break down nutrients flowing off fields in groundwater. New technologies like GPS guided applicators can apply fertilizer to crops at a variable rate. Sampling soils on a grid produces precise georeferenced maps of farm soils and waterway buffers, so that fertilizer is applied automatically only where needed. Golf courses and large common areas of HOAs could also implement this technology.

Regenerative farming practices that improve soil health can align natural nutrient and water cycling with farm profitability. Florida’s sandy soils, which have low nutrient-holding capacity, require organic content improvement. Practices such as no-till agriculture, cover cropping, tree intercropping, silvopasture, adaptive grazing, and composting (see Chapter 4.7) gradually increase soil organic matter, improve fertility, enhance water retention, and foster healthy microbial communities. These practices reduce the need for synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, and irrigation, protect water quality, and sequester carbon.

Working with the Florida Smart Agriculture Working Group, UF/IFAS could develop workshops and consultations to offer producers educational resources and soil health services. Programs modeled after initiatives like the Kiss the Ground Farmland Program could provide scholarships and cost-sharing to advance soil regeneration and ecological farming practices.