Our Department

One department, a very wide brief

Few state agencies cover as much ground. On any given day the department is inspecting a restaurant kitchen, fighting a wildfire, testing a gas pump for accuracy, quarantining a citrus grove, and mediating a dispute between a homeowner and a contractor.

The department traces to 1868, when the Florida Constitution created an office to gather agricultural statistics. Its responsibilities grew alongside the state: forestry in the 1920s, consumer protection in the 1960s, and food safety and environmental programs in the decades after.

Today the department is led by the Commissioner of Agriculture, an independently elected member of the Florida Cabinet, and organized into nineteen divisions and offices.

What we do

• Protect the food supply — inspecting food establishments, testing samples, and managing recalls.
• Support producers — marketing Florida commodities and opening export markets.
• Guard plant and animal health — intercepting pests and diseases before they establish.
• Manage forests — stewarding state forests and responding to wildfire.
• Protect consumers — licensing regulated industries and mediating complaints.
• Steward water — implementing agricultural best management practices statewide.