Florida Citrus Mutual Executive Vice President/CEO Mathew Joyner announced that Gov. Ron DeSantis signed SB 1000, the Nutrient Application Rates bill. Joyner called SB 1000 “a critical piece of legislation.”
See the full text of the new law here. The law takes effect July 1.
“Sponsored by Senator Ben Albritton and Representative Lawrence McClure, the bill had previously passed both chambers with overwhelming support,” said Joyner. “This bill authorizes citrus growers to vary from current BMPs (best management practices) on nutrient applications through the use of site-specific nutrient management when supported by written recommendations from a Certified Crop Adviser who also holds a 4R Nutrient Management Specialty certification. Such written recommendation is to be documented using production and field data that is retained for review during the best management practices implementation verification process.
“In addition to allowing site-specific nutrient management for citrus, the legislation instructs UF/IFAS (University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences) to analyze the use of site-specific nutrient management for crops other than citrus and develop a research plan and interim recommendations for implementation.”
A previous Citrus Industry article cited Florida Citrus Mutual reporting that SB 1000 addresses several issues stemming from outdated science supporting UF/IFAS nutrient recommendation rates pertaining to BMPs. That article said the Nutrient Application Rates bill also clarifies that nutrient recommendations are purely recommendations that were never meant to be regulatory. The Nutrient Application Rates bill provides a presumption of compliance with state water-quality standards when producers implement rate tailoring in compliance with the statues outlined in the bill.
Source: Florida Citrus Mutual
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