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DeSantis Signs Florida Farm Bill, Blocking Local Gas-Equipment Bans

The package signals a turn toward state control over local rules.

Overview

  • Florida’s 2026 Farm Bill, signed Monday in Sebring, becomes law on July 1, 2026.
  • The law bars cities and counties from restricting gas-powered farm and landscape tools such as leaf blowers and chainsaws, overriding moves in places like Miami Beach and Naples.
  • It directs the state environmental agency to review some conservation parcels for farm use and, if suitable, to sell them with conservation easements, a move critics say lacks guardrails even as parks, forests and Everglades restoration lands are excluded.
  • The measure caps new housing in designated small towns at one home per 20 acres on ecologically significant land to shield rural communities from high-density projects.
  • It makes Farmers Feeding Florida permanent and launches a loan repayment program to draw veterinarians into food‑animal and equine practice.