A Partner in Everglades Restoration
Ensuring clean water enters the Everglades is a top priority of farmers. Over the past two decades, U.S. Sugar and other farmers in the Everglades Agricultural Area have reduced the amount of phosphorus leaving their farms by an average of 55 percent a year. That far exceeds the 25 percent annual reduction required by law. In 2021, farmers continued their significant success in reducing phosphorus leaving the farming area. The long-term performance of best management practices shows that farmers are exceeding phosphorus reduction targets year-after-year. Sugarcane farmers have been proud partners in restoration.
Clean Air
Clean Water
Making an Impact
on Clean Water
Thanks to advanced soil and water management practices, water flowing off farmland is significantly cleaner than when it enters. Today, more than 90 percent of the Everglades meets water quality standards set by the federal Everglades Forever Act. Once the projects associated with the Everglades Restoration Strategies are completed, they will raise that percentage to 100.
Leading the Solution
Five years ago, the South Florida Water Management District issued a proclamation that recognized the efforts of the Everglades Agricultural Area farmers over the past 20+ years in reducing the amount of nutrients in the water entering the Everglades. U.S. Sugar, through its on- farm best management practices, has been a leader in that achievement.
Investing in
the Everglades
Leading Restoration Efforts
U.S. Sugar considers the Everglades a treasured state and national asset and works diligently to protect the unique ecosystem. Combined, Florida sugarcane and vegetable farmers have invested more than $450 million in restoring and preserving the Everglades.
U.S. Sugar has been a key supporter of the 1994 Everglades Forever Act, which was designed to increase the quality and quantity of water entering the Everglades and protect the native plants and animals from invasive species. Among other things, the Act required water runoff from farms to be twice as clean as rain and created the most rigorous environmental rules on farming operations in the United States.
