CLEWISTON -- At Suga-Lik, they make liquid gold. 

Actually, it's blackstrap molasses, the thick dark syrup that remains after sugar has been crystallized from sugar cane juice. The molasses is mixed with other nutrients to create more than 100 kinds of cattle feed products, said Pat Whidden, who directs the molasses department at Suga-Lik, a division of Clewiston-based U.S. Sugar Corp. 

Palm Beach County's three sugar companies -- the other two are Florida Crystals Corp. of West Palm Beach, and the Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida in Belle Glade -- produced 624,000 tons of molasses last year. One-third of it was shipped to Europe, the Far East and Mexico. It is the largest export out of the Port of Palm Beach, which also is the home of the Florida Molasses Exchange. 

In contrast, none of last year's 2 million-ton Florida sugar crop, valued at $760 million, was exported. Industry experts say that's because the United States doesn't have enough sugar to meet the demand, but molasses is in short supply in other countries. 

Florida's 2000-01 molasses production was worth $37.9 million, according to LMC International Ltd., a New York consulting firm. Molasses is selling for about $80 a ton; sugar goes for about $400 a ton. 

U.S. Sugar's Suga-Lik division dates back to the 1940s, Whidden said. As a producer of animal feed, Suga-Lik is part of an industry with $25 billion in annual sales, according to the American Animal Feed Industry Association. 

"We're the largest liquid feed manufacturer in Florida, by far," Whidden said. "We produce 100,000 tons a year. The cheapest product we sell is $90 a ton, and the most expensive is $450 a ton." 

At the mill, the sugar cane juice is extracted, then boiled to remove the sugar. So-called first strike molasses could be removed at this stage to make the kind of cane syrup that's ladled on pancakes. That isn't done here. Instead, it's boiled further to make a caramelized black syrup that has most of the sugar removed. 

"It has a bitter taste," Whidden said. "That does not seem to matter to animals." 

From the sugar plant, the molasses is pumped in underground pipes about 100 yards to one of seven 1 million-gallon tanks. Then it's fed into one of two 18-ton capacity tanks where it's mixed with protein, vitamins, minerals and other types of feed additives such as mold inhibitors, Whidden says. 

Among the ingredients added are leftover catfish oil and cooking oil from restaurants. 

The feed is then fed directly into steel tanker trucks. 

"Molasses is very important in feed throughout the cattle industry," said dairyman Red Larson, who buys Suga-Lik products for his 12,000 head of cattle at Larson Dairy in Okeechobee. ""It increases the palatability of the ration. It's like you putting sugar on your cereal," he said. 

Mary Beth Hall, a University of Florida assistant professor of animal science, said molasses is one of a variety of products, including citrus pulp, that is recycled by animals and helps them stay in better condition. 

"In Florida each year we have the equivalent of a football field 120 yards deep in byproducts. You could put it in a landfill, or plow it under or burn it, or you can feed it back to cattle," Hall said. 

Whidden points out that although Florida's molasses isn't fed directly to people, eventually, they consume it as beef or milk. 

By the way, is that molasses feed really slow? Yes, because it's about two-thirds dry matter. 

"It pours pretty slow," Whidden said, "particularly on a cold day."