In the past year, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) undertook a significant effort to update all the state’s agricultural best management practices (BMPs) manuals. Many of these manuals had not been updated for over a decade. FDACS updated the manuals to:
- Create specificity in the manuals. The previous manuals were not specific about who must do what, within what timeframe and where. This lack of clarity is the root of many of the problems being seen.
- Reflect current law. Current manuals had not been updated since the laws surrounding BMPs changed in 2016 and 2020.
- Eliminate practices unrelated to water quality or water conservation.
- Reflect the greater understanding of BMPs and changes to the agricultural industry since the manuals were originally adopted.
- Relate the manual narrative to the checklist. Previously, there was no connection. The checklist is what producers must follow. The narrative suggests how to follow it and why BMPs are important.
- Provide a more consistent structure across manuals to make them easier for staff and producers to follow and to enable analyses of practices across manuals.
For the citrus BMP manual, the notice of change was published in the Florida Administrative Rules process on Jan. 15. The rule adoption package is near approval. The rule will be filed as soon as possible after the 20-day public comment period that ended Feb. 4.
This process is updating and replacing the 2012 citrus BMP manual. The Highlands County Citrus Growers Association (HCCGA) staff was involved with the working group that considered manual revisions. The new manual should be much more concise in nature and more user friendly. Once administrative processes are completed and HCCGA knows how growers will need to be re-enrolled in the BMP program, it will share that information.
FDACS hopes these revisions expand the number of producers implementing BMPs and improves water quality throughout the state. Producers with questions about the new manuals can contact the FDACS Office of Agricultural Water Policy at AgBmpHelp@FDACS.gov or 850-617-1700.
Source: HCCGA
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