Florida farmers, ranchers and growers could get more relief soon from the state to help pay for ongoing recovery from damage wrought by hurricanes Helene and Milton.
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Thursday that he would use emergency powers to replenish the state’s Agriculture and Aquaculture Producers Natural Disaster Recovery Loan Program. He did not say how much money would be available.
“This is interest-free loans of up to half a million dollars,’’ DeSantis told a group meeting at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa. “The repayment is incredibly flexible. We basically just want people to be made whole as quickly as possible. We’re not going to be worried about twisting arms to get the money back in the door. It’s a way to serve maybe as a bridge until the Legislature is able to more fully address the needs not just of our agriculture industry after these storms, but also homeowners throughout the state of Florida that got hit very hard.’’
Eligible farmers, ranchers and growers can apply for the $500,000 loans through the program’s website.
Florida’s $8.8 billion agriculture industry suffered an estimated $1.5 billion in damage from Hurricane Milton alone, according to economist Daniel Munch of the American Farm Bureau. That’s just crop and livestock losses and does not include damage to infrastructure or timber.
Replenishing the disaster relief fund was one of the priorities DeSantis said he wanted the Legislature to deal with when he called it into special session last week. Instead, lawmakers tabled the request and focused exclusively on taking up and passing a bill to enforce immigration laws.
DeSantis promised to veto the bill and expressed anger that it would make Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson the state’s chief immigration enforcement officer. The two traded a fusillade of criticism at each other on social media last week, with the governor even suggesting during a stop in West Palm Beach that Simpson was “a closet liberal who supports open borders.’’
But on Thursday in Tampa, Simpson warmly introduced DeSantis as “America’s governor’’ and DeSantis complimented Simpson on his work as Agriculture commissioner, signaling a thaw in their relationship and a possible compromise in the works over the immigration bill ahead of when the Legislature meets next month.
The aid could help Florida farmers, growers and ranchers, some of whom are still dealing with the aftermath of hurricanes Helene and Milton.
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