HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STAFF ANALYSIS
BILL #: HB 717 Agritourism
SPONSOR(S): Tomkow and others
TIED BILLS: IDEN./SIM. BILLS: SB 1186
REFERENCE ACTION ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR or
BUDGET/POLICY CHIEF
1) Environment, Agriculture & Flooding 13 Y, 0 N Gawin Moore
Subcommittee
2) Ways & Means Committee 13 Y, 0 N LaTorre Aldridge
3) State Affairs Committee 23 Y, 0 N Gawin Williamson
SUMMARY ANALYSIS
Agritourism is one of the many methods farmers use to diversify and expand their income. An agritourism
activity includes any agricultural related activity that is consistent with a bona fide farm, ranch, or in a working
forest that allows members of the general public to view or enjoy its activities for recreational, entertainment, or
educational purposes. These activities include farming, ranching, and historical, cultural, or harvest-your-own
activities and attractions. An agritourism activity does not include the building of new or additional structures or
facilities that are intended primarily to house, shelter, transport, or otherwise accommodate the general public .
Florida’s greenbelt law allows properties classified as bona fide agricultural operations to be taxed according to
the use value of the agricultural operation, rather than the development value. Generally, tax assessments for
qualifying lands are lower than tax assessments for other uses.
Agritourism is encouraged in Florida as a means to promote and perpetuate agriculture throughout the state. In
2016, the Legislature declared its intent to promote agritourism as a way to support bona fide agricultural
production by providing a secondary stream of revenue and by educating the general public about the
agricultural industry. As such, the conduct of agritourism activity on a bona fide farm or on lands classified as
agricultural does not limit, restrict, or divest the land of its agricultural classification as long as such lands
remain used primarily for bona fide agricultural purposes.
The bill prohibits the denial or revocation of an agricultural land classification solely due to the conduct of
agritourism activity on a bona fide farm or the construction, alteration, or maintenance of a nonresidential farm
building, structure, or facility on a bona fide farm that is used to conduct agritourism activities. So long as the
building, structure, or facility is an integral part of the agricultural operation, the bill specifies that the land it
occupies must be considered agricultural in nature. The bill also specifies that such buildings, structures, and
facilities, and other improvements on the land, must be assessed at their just value and added to the
agriculturally assessed value of the land.
The Revenue Estimating Conference estimated that in fiscal year 2022-23, the bill would have no cash impact
and a recurring insignificant positive or negative impact on local government revenue.
This docum ent does not reflect the intent or official position of the bill sponsor or House of Representatives .
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 FULL ANALYSIS
I. SUBSTANTIVE ANALYSIS
A. EFFECT OF PROPOSED CHANGES:
Background
Agritourism
Of Florida's 35 million acres, almost 10 million acres are used for farming.1 This includes about 47,400
farm operations that together produced cash receipts for around $7.31 billion in 2018.2 However, the
farming business and the number of farms is declining throughout the state. In the 1990s, the
agricultural economy increased only 5 percent compared to 25 percent and 50 percent in previous
decades.3 As a result, 10,000 acres of land are lost each year to urban development.4 In order to
continue farming, operators of small and medium-sized farms find ways to diversify and expand their
incomes, either through new enterprises on the farm or off-farm employment.5
Agritourism is one of the many methods farmers use to diversify and expand their income. An
agritourism activity includes any agricultural related activity that is consistent with a bona fide6 farm,
ranch, or in a working forest that allows members of the general public to view or enjoy its activities for
recreational, entertainment, or educational purposes. These activities include farming, ranching, and
historical, cultural, or harvest-your-own activities and attractions.7 An agritourism activity does not
include the building of new or additional structures or facilities that are intended primarily to house,
shelter, transport, or otherwise accommodate the general public. 8
Agricultural Land Valuation
Florida’s greenbelt law9 authorizes properties classified as bona fide agricultural operations to be taxed
according to the use value of the agricultural operation, rather than the development value. 10 Generally,
tax assessments for qualifying lands are lower than tax assessments for other uses.
Agritourism is encouraged in Florida as a means to promote and perpetuate agriculture throughout the
state. In 2016, the Legislature declared its intent to promote agritourism as a way to support bona fide
agricultural production by providing a secondary stream of revenue and by educating the general public
about the agricultural industry.11 As such, conducting an agritourism activity on a bona fide farm or on
lands classified as agricultural does not limit, restrict, or divest the land of its agricultural classification
as long as such lands remain used primarily for bona fide agricultural purposes.12
Local governments are prohibited from adopting ordinances, regulations, rules, or policies that prohibit,
restrict, regulate, or otherwise limit an agritourism activity on land that has been classified as
agricultural land under Florida’s greenbelt law.13
1 University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UFIFAS), Expanding Florida's Farming Business to Incorporate
Tourism, http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fr242 (last visited Jan. 27, 2022).
2 United States Department of Agriculture, Florida Agricultural Overview, available at
https://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Florida/Publications/Annual_Statistical_Bulletin/2020/A1thru10Over -
2020.pdf (last visited Jan. 27, 2022).
3 UFIFAS, Expanding Florida's Farming Business to Incorporate Touri sm, http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fr242 (last visited Jan. 27, 2022).
4 Leon Kolankiewicz and Roy Beck, Sprawl in Florida, 2001, p. 4, available at
https://www.numbersusa.com/content/files/pdf/FLsprawl.pdf (last visited Jan. 27, 2022).
5 UFIFAS, Expanding Florida's Farming Business to Incorporate Tourism, http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fr242 (last visited Jan. 27, 2022).
6 Section 193.461(3)(b), F.S., defines “bona fide agricultural purposes” to mean good faith commercial agricultural use of the land.
7 Section 570.86(1), F.S.
8 Id.
9 Section 193.461, F.S.
10 Id.
11 Section 570.85, F.S.
12 Section 570.87(1), F.S.
13 Section 570.85, F.S.
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 Effect of the Bill
The bill revises the current statutory legislative intent regarding agritourism to remove a provision
specifying that agritourism provides a secondary stream of revenue for agricultural producers.
The bill prohibits the denial or revocation of an agricultural land classification solely due to the conduct
of agritourism activity on a bona fide farm or the construction, alteration, or maintenance of a
nonresidential farm building, structure, or facility on a bona fide farm that is used to conduct agritourism
activities. So long as the building, structure, or facility is an integral part of the agricultural operation, the
bill specifies that the land it occupies must be considered agricultural in nature. The bill also specifies
that such buildings, structures, and facilities, and other improvements on the land, must be assessed at
their just value and added to the agriculturally assessed value of the land.
B. SECTION DIRECTORY:
Section 1. Amends s. 570.85, F.S., to specify legislative intent.
Section 2. Amends s. 570.87, F.S., related to the impact of participation in agritourism on land
classification.
Section 3. Provides an effective date of July 1, 2022.
II. FISCAL ANALYSIS & ECONOMIC IMPACT STATEMENT
A. FISCAL IMPACT ON STATE GOVERNMENT:
1. Revenues:
None.
2. Expenditures:
None.
B. FISCAL IMPACT ON LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
1. Revenues:
The Revenue Estimating Conference estimated that in fiscal year 2022-23, the bill would have no
cash impact and a recurring insignificant positive or negative impact on local government revenue.
2. Expenditures:
None.
C. DIRECT ECONOMIC IMPACT ON PRIVATE SECTOR:
The bill may have a positive fiscal impact on land owners who conduct agritourism activities and have
property that would be reappraised as agricultural land under the bill.
D. FISCAL COMMENTS:
None.
III. COMMENTS
A. CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES:
1. Applicability of Municipality/County Mandates Provision:
The county/municipality mandates provision of Art. VII, s. 18 of the Florida Constitution may apply
because this bill reduces the authority of counties and municipalities to raise revenues by allowing
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 additional properties to be classified as agricultural under Florida’s greenbelt law. However, an
exemption may apply if the bill results in an insignificant fiscal impact to county or municipal
governments. The Revenue Estimating Conference met on January 7, 2022, and estimated that the
bill may have an insignificant negative fiscal impact on local governments.
2. Other:
None.
B. RULE-MAKING AUTHORITY:
None.
C. DRAFTING ISSUES OR OTHER COMMENTS:
None.
IV. AMENDMENTS/COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE CHANGES
None.
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Statutes affected:
H 717 Filed: 570.85, 570.87