A Florida feud has agriculture sweating

Florida agriculture groups rejoiced last month when the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a $380.7 million grant to help forest landowners hit by Hurricane Michael. But the celebration was tinged with suspicion that the award could have come sooner — Georgia got its money in February — if Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried weren't engaged in a cold war. DeSantis, a Republican and close ally of President Donald Trump, has frozen out Fried, Florida’s only statewide elected Democrat, in recent months, and even the coronavirus pandemic and economic shutdown haven't been enough to thaw relations. In fact, the crisis made things worse. On Tuesday, DeSantis canceled yet another Cabinet meeting after Fried, the panel’s only Democrat, had complained — again — about a lack of briefings on the coronavirus pandemic. As the umbrage mounts and the heels dig in deeper, agriculture lobbyists and executives are sweating. As they negotiate the new political divide in a presidential election year, they’re worried that agriculture — the state's largest industry — could lose out...MORE