BUSINESS LAW 101 / AGRICULTURAL CRIMES

By Albert L. Kelley, Esq.

We all know that tourism is king in Florida.  Tourism is the largest income producer in the state. But right behind it is agriculture.  Agriculture is big business in Florida.     Two-thirds of Florida is farmland. We produce roughly 87% of the nation’s oranges, 70% of its citrus and is 10th in the nation in beef production. Florida provides about 80% of the nation’s fresh vegetables from January to March.  With so much importance placed on agriculture, the laws are strictly written to protect it.

It is a second-degree misdemeanor to ship “Florida Oranges” if they were not grown in Florida.  It is also a second-degree misdemeanor to sell or offer to sell any trees, plants, seeds, and vines without giving its proper name as to variety and kind, if done with the purpose to deceive or defraud the purchaser.  It is also a second-degree misdemeanor to sell any syrup mixtures (defined as two or more ingredients differing in their nature and quality, such as sugarcane syrup, sorghum syrup, maple syrup, molasses, or glucose) unless the percentage of the mixtures is clearly labeled on the container. 

One of the more interesting criminal laws regarding agriculture affects the cotton and tobacco crops only. It is a second-degree misdemeanor to buy any cotton or leaf tobacco from anyone except the producer or the producer’s authorized agent unless the cotton has been baled or the tobacco boxed in the usual manner for the producer or if the producer provides a written notice that they have released their interest in the cotton or tobacco. 

While these statutes strive to protect the cash crops, the law provides an even more encompassing law to protect the farmers. Florida Statute 863.065 states: “The Legislature finds, determines, and declares that the production of agricultural food products constitutes an important and significant portion of the state economy and that it is imperative to protect the vitality of the agricultural economy for the citizens of this state by providing a cause of action for agricultural producers to recover damages for the disparagement of any perishable agricultural product.” In other words, if anyone makes a disparaging comment about Florida agriculture (defined as the willful or malicious dissemination to the public in any manner of any false information that a perishable agricultural food product is not safe for human consumption. False information is that information which is not based on reliable, scientific facts and reliable, scientific data which the disseminator knows or should have known to be false.) and any farmer, producer or any association representing producers of perishable agricultural food products is damaged as a result of those comments, they can sue whoever made the comment for their actual damages, and for punitive damages.  The farmer, producer or association has two years from the time the statement is made to file suit.

Florida takes strong action to protect its industries. It needs to. Florida’s economy is one of the largest in the worlds. In fact, it has been estimated that if Florida were its own country, its economy would be the 16th highest in the world- just behind Mexico and ahead of Indonesia and Saudi Arabia.

Al Kelley has worked as an attorney in Monroe County for the last 32 years. He is the author of five law books available through Absolutely Amazing E-Books and the host of “Basics Of The Law”, a legal YouTube channel. He serves as the Vice Chair of the 16th Judicial Circuit Professionalism Panel.  He also previously taught business law, personnel law, and labor law at St. Leo University. This article is offered as a public service and is not intended to provide specific legal advice. If you have any questions about legal issues, you should confer with a licensed Florida attorney.

[livemarket market_name="KONK Life LiveMarket" limit=3 category=“” show_signup=0 show_more=0]