An interesting tour of sugar cane farm and sugar mill/refinery in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA). The entertaining and informational tour was given by Kayla and Brian.  We were able to taste sugar cane in the field, observe sugar milling and refining and bring some cane home with us to plant.  We saw plenty of wildlife in the fields; and, we toured the Clewiston Chamber of Commerce museum and ate lunch at Sonny’s BBQ.  We also drove over the Hoover Dike on the south shore of Lake Okechobee.

All of the farms in the EAA pay a $25 per acre fee which goes into a fund for water monitoring and environmental testing to keep the Everglades from being affected by the farming industry.  The EAA not only contains sugar cane farms, but also produce farms such as sweet corn and lettuce.  This area was recently in the news because Governor DeSantis attended the ribbon cutting ceremony for the first cell of the 6500 acre EAA stormwater treatment area.  The reservoir will store and clean water from Lake Okechobee and any floodwater from EAA farms before it moves south into the Everglades.  Farms also use laser leveling of fields and high berms to help prevent escape of water from the farms in order to prevent phosphates from contaminating the water moving south from the farms.

For more information go to Raisin Cane Tours