More Sunflowers

Back by popular demand--more sunflowers. Today I stopped by the field of sunflowers and found that they were harvesting the flowers. I talked to the farmer that leases the land and he told me the flowers were sold to a local flower distributor for resale in flower shops.

A field of Sunflowers

This past week I was surprised to discover this wonderful field planted with sunflowers near my work place, an unusual site since my office is in the middle of the city of Doral, one of Miami Dade County’s newest cities.
The city of Doral is located in the western-end of the county. Twenty years ago ,the area was all agricultural and unincorporated. Today, the city is full of office complexes, warehouses, and shopping centers and it is one of the fastest growing cities in southern Florida.

The land where these sunflowers are planted is worth millions because it is zoned for development. But as long as it is being used for agriculture (hence--the sunflowers), the taxes are minimum because by state law, any "agricultural" land is taxed very very low. I am sure that is the reason the sunflowers are there, because the owner of the field is sitting on valuable land and saving a ton in taxes while the land appraises (especially during this housing bubble). This is a good thing because it gives us an oasis in the middle of the city for all of us to enjoy, even though the state loses considerable tax revenue.