6th Annual Florida Agriculture Financial Management Conference Soars to New Heights

The 2016 Florida Agriculture Financial Management Conference (FAFMC) was held at the Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate August 25-26. Over 150 attendees received valuable information on the latest trends and tools to assess and manage the overall financial health of their agri-businesses.

Dean Mead attorneys featured during the Water Panel and Legislative Update sessions included Michael D. Minton, Brad Gould and Cari L. Roth. Michael D. Minton was the moderator for the 90 minute water panel session titled, “Agricultural Cost-Share and Payment for Environmental Services – Identifying and Seizing the Right Opportunities for Your Business”. Shareholder, Brad Gould, was featured among the distinguished panel of water experts including Brian Armstrong, Executive Director of Southwest Florida Water Management District; Noah Valenstein, Executive Director of Suwanee River Water Management District; and Dr. Ann Shortelle, Executive Director of St. Johns River Water Management District. Materials from this session are available here: Taxation of Government Payments.

Cari L. Roth, shareholder in Dean Mead’s Tallahassee office, co-presented the “Florida Legislative and Regulatory Update on Agriculture Related Issues”. The session provided an overview of recent Florida legislative and regulatory changes impacting agricultural businesses. Ms. Roth offered attendees a glimpse of key issues that may be addressed during the 2017 legislative session. A copy of the handout from her program may be viewed here: Legislative Update handout.

Other highlights from the conference included the U.S. Economic Update from highly acclaimed speaker and professor, Dr. Ed Seifried, as well as the Federal Tax Update by Paul Neiffer, Agribusiness CPA and business advisor at CliftonLarsonAllen, LLP. One of the more popular sessions at this year’s conference featured Elaine Froese, certified farm family business coach, talking about tough issues that families face when deciding how to advance the farming operation from one generation to the next.

The conference is made possible through corporate sponsorships. Dean Mead is among the founding sponsors for this conference. Each year, our firm’s Agribusiness Industry Team members participate as speakers on hot topics including Water Law, Estate and Succession Planning, Tax and Florida Legislation.

The video recordings from the Water Panel session on Thursday, August 25 have been broken up into segments by presenter and may be viewed below:

Segment 1: Introduction – Michael D. Minton, Dean Mead ; Update on CFWI and Impact of 2016 Water Bill – Brian Armstrong, Southwest Florida Water Management District

Segment 2: Springs Protection Effort and Information on Pilot Programs – Noah Valenstein, Suwannee River Water Management District

Segment 3: Dispersed Water Projects and Payment for Environmental Services – The SJRWMD Perspective – Dr. Ann Shortelle, St. Johns River Water Management District

Segment 4: Tax Consequences of Payments through Government Water Projects and Programs – Brad Gould, Dean Mead

The video recording from the Legislative Update on Friday, August 26 may be viewed below:

Florida Legislative and Regulatory Update on Agriculture Related Issues – Cari L. Roth, Dean Mead

For more information about the conference, please visit http://www.fafmc.org.