The rise of Florida’s sugar supremacy
Sugarcane farming in Florida began in the 1500s but flourished in the 1920s with Everglades drainage and major investments. The Cuban Revolution spurred domestic production, rising from 175,000 tons in the 1950s to over 17 million tons annually. Despite environmental concerns, Florida remains the leading U.S. sugar producer.
Sugarcane has been a part of the Florida landscape for centuries. But it wasn’t until recent years that it turned into Big Sugar.
The Spanish introduced sugarcane to what later became Florida back in the 1500s. The British tried to grow sugarcane commercially pre-Revolution in the New Smyrna Colony (now New Smyrna Beach). But early attempts kept faltering; despite the tropical climate, the soil quality wasn’t conducive.
In the 1920s, sugarcane farming started to take root. A big reason: The controversial decision backed by the federal government to start building a canal system that drained the Everglades south of Lake Okeechobee to free up quality farmland. Investors such as General Motors co-owner Charles Stewart Mott started buying up land. Mott, in particular, purchased Southern Sugar Corporation near Clewiston in 1931. He renamed it United States Sugar Corporation, which remains a top sugar producer today. (Pictured are laborers in Clewiston harvesting sugarcane in 1941.)
Still, domestic sugar was slow to take off. In the 1950s, only about 175,000 raw tons of sugar were produced annually in the state, according to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Then the Cuban Revolution changed everything. An embargo following the rise of Fidel Castro blocked imported sugar from the nearby country. Domestic sugar production boomed to about 572,000 tons within four years.
Sugar production in Florida has only increased, concentrated in the three-county area south of the lake. Ecologically, it has caused a host of environmental issues ranging from the harmful effects of farming runoff in rivers and lakes to the air pollution from sugarcane fires — but Florida remains the top sugar producing state in the country, generating more than 17 million tons annually.
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Source Link : Gulfshore Business
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