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The Future Farmers of America/4H Career Day-Young Eagles Event is scheduled for January 12

th, 2019 at 0900 at the Belle Glade Airport. This function is designed to draw

young folks of 8-17 years old to experience flight and be exposed to the “movers and shakers” in Agribusiness. The objective is to enlighten the youth in the agricultural areas as to the opportunities they might expect after being educated in the agricultural sciences. This has been a huge success the past couple years due to the participation of FFA-4H and the public school ag programs. By offering airplane rides we hope to draw young folks in from all around the agricultural area to be exposed to the leaders in SoFla agribusiness. EAA's Young Eagle program provides support for this function in terms of insurance and manpower. The Florida Cub Flyers, Florida Antique Biplane Association and OFFC will supply the pilots and airplanes. A descripton of the flight path and what you’ll be seeing from the air is attached.

Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida

Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida

Type Agricultural marketing cooperative

Founded July 1960

Founder George Wedgworth

Headquarters Belle Glade, Florida, United States

Area served Florida

Products raw sugar

Members 54

Website www.scgc.org

Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida is a vertically integrated agricultural enterprise that harvests, transports and processes sugarcane grown primarily in Palm Beach County, Florida and markets the raw sugar and blackstrap molasses

[1] through the

Florida Sugar and Molasses Exchange. The Cooperative is made up of 45 grower-owners who produce sugarcane on approximately 70,000 acres of some of the most fertile farmland in America, located in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA). Sugarcane grown by Cooperative members is harvested, transported and processed. The raw sugar is then marketed to one of the ASR Group's

[2] sugar refineries. The Cooperative produces more

than 350,000 tons of raw sugar annually. http://www.scgc.org/

is South Florida’s oldest and largest sugarcane grower and processor. With state-of-the-art technology for both sugar manufacturing and citrus processing, U.S. Sugar practices the most efficient and progressive farming techniques available in the world. Vertical integration of our farming, processing and packaging operations makes U.S. Sugar competitive while meeting the highest standards for worker safety, food quality and environmental protection. With its headquarters in Clewiston, Florida, the Company farms over 215,000 acres in Hendry, Glades, Palm Beach and Martin counties and operates a state-of-the-art citrus nursery on 80 acres in Gilchrist County. U.S. Sugar has approximately 1700 employees. U.S. Sugar is the country’s largest vertically integrated producer of sugarcane and refined cane sugar and is one of Florida’s major growers of oranges and processors of orange juice products. In addition to the Company’s principal businesses of sugar and citrus, U.S. Sugar also farms fresh Florida sweet corn and owns an independent short line railroad, the South Central Florida Express which connects the agricultural communities around Lake Okeechobee with main line railroads. U.S. Sugar is the only American sugar operation that transports its sugarcane crop from field to factory utilizing its own railroad transportation system.

Dependent upon weather, growing conditions and federal market allocations, U.S. Sugar produces more than 800,000 tons of refined cane sugar a year, providing nearly 10% of the sugar produced in America. The annual sugarcane harvest season begins in October and runs through mid-April. The Company’s sugarcane crop (7-8 million tons) is ground primarily at U.S. Sugar’s newly consolidated and automated Clewiston Sugar Factory. The newly enlarged mill, with a capacity of 42,000 tons per day, is now the world’s largest fully integrated cane sugar milling and refining operation. Our citrus company, Southern Gardens Citrus, processes oranges from its own groves as well as from contracted, independent groves. The company owns and/or manages 12,500 net acres of groves containing 1.8 million trees, which provide high quality fruit to the Southern Gardens Citrus Processing Plant. The juice plant, which opened in 1994, has already been expanded several times and can process up to 19 million boxes of oranges a season, producing over 90 million gallons of orange juice. The plant has set many world records in extractor productivity since its opening in 1994. Southern Gardens is one of the largest bulk suppliers of premium, not-from-concentrate (NFC) orange juice to branded companies as well as the private label grocery trade in the United States. Southern Gardens is a member of the Florida’s Natural Growers Cooperative. Long considered an industry leader in environmental issues, U.S. Sugar has established many on-farm soil and water management techniques that have become models for the industry. Such practices have led to an average 56% reduction in phosphorous, easily surpassing the Everglades Forever Act’s 25% requirements. In addition, U.S. Sugar runs its raw sugar factory and Clewiston refinery on bagasse, the residual cane fiber from the milling process, making them energy self-sufficient. Surplus energy generated from the cane stalk is sold into South Florida’s electric grid. Sugarcane is a clean, green and renewable domestic energy source. As farmers and stewards of the land, U.S. Sugar is committed to Everglades restoration and to continuing efforts to improve the environmental sensitivity of its farming operations. Sugarcane is considered one of nature’s most environmentally friendly crops because it requires little fertilizer or pesticides—particularly as compared to other land uses. Basically a giant grass, sugarcane thrives in South Florida’s sunshine and abundant rainfall. The rich muck soils surrounding Lake Okeechobee provide most of the nutrients needed to produce healthy fields of sugarcane. Likewise, our sugarcane and vegetable fields and citrus groves provide a nurturing and protected habitat for hundreds of species of wading birds—from roseate spoonbills, wood storks and great blue herons to giant egrets and white pelicans. At U.S. Sugar, traditional farming values are successfully combined with modern technology and innovation. The result is farming that is compatible with the environment and with the economic realities of the new millennium. www.ussugar.com

EVERGLADES RESEARCH & EDUCATION CENTER The Everglades Research & Education Center (EREC) near Belle Glade is an agricultural and environmental research and education unit of the University of Florida's, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS). The seventeen scientists located at the Center are from various academic disciplines (see faculty list) and participate in interdisciplinary team approaches to investigate agricultural and environmental issues. The mission of the Everglades Research and Education Center is to conduct research and extension programs in southern Florida that will explore and promote profitable and sustainable agricultural systems. These systems should conserve and protect our soil, water, and natural resources, and contribute to an improved quality of life for Florida citizens. http://erec.ifas.ufl.edu/ DUDA VEGETABLE FARM From the first 40 Florida acres founder Andrew Duda purchased for a farm in the early 1900s, to the nearly 90,000 acres owned or leased by the company in several states across the country today, land has always been at the foundation of DUDA's strength and success. The key to DUDA's continued success lies in its ability to improve and use its land to its highest and best value. We strive to achieve our mission as a diversified land company through our operating divisions and subsidiary companies in agriculture, real estate development and related businesses. In its fifth generation of ownership by the Duda family, the company is managed by an experienced team of family members and non-family managers. The company is governed by a Board of Directors consisting of members of the Duda family and non-family members from varying business backgrounds. The Duda Family Council provides a connection between family members and the business. Learn more. The company has grown and evolved from its beginnings in 1926 as a fresh vegetable grower and shipper to a diversified land company with a variety of agriculture and real estate operations. Learn more.

The company built its nationwide reputation as a quality grower, shipper and marketer of fresh produce. Today, Duda Farm Fresh Foods, Inc. continues that legacy as a wholly-owned subsidiary of DUDA.

Duda Ranches oversees the company's diversified agricultural operations which include sod, sugarcane, citrus and cattle.

The Viera Company manages the development of DUDA's non-agricultural land. The master planned new town of Viera, Florida is its major community development. Viera Realty and Viera Builders provide vertical integration of the company's real estate operations. Duran Golf Club in the community of Viera offers a championship golf course and golf learning center.

In recent years, DUDA has further strengthened its portfolio of land assets and business opportunities with the acquisition of qualified agricultural lands and a variety of commercial properties across the country including drug stores, restaurants, retail stores, warehouse distribution centers and office buildings. DUDA's Land Division and the Viera Commercial Properties management team are responsible for the administration and stewardship of these assets. Learn more.

As the parent corporation to this variety of business units, DUDA provides corporate services on a centralized basis from its headquarters in Oviedo, Florida. These include finance and accounting, legal, human resources, information services, corporate communications, engineering and environmental services, safety, and purchasing. http://www.duda.com/ OKEELANTA SUGAR OPERATION From cane field to your table, sugar is harvested, milled, refined and packaged at Okeelanta EXPLORE Every 60 seconds, 2,500 1-ounce sugar packets are filled and sealed on the line at Okeelanta Corp., 6 miles south of South Bay in western Palm Beach County. The tiny packets and the more than 400 other products produced here are destined to sweeten everything from the coffee in your cup to the muffins at the corner bakery and the cereal you pluck from the supermarket shelf. Just outside the distribution center, a breeze is rustling row after row of sugar cane, the source of the 750 million pounds of sugar that leave Okeelanta each year to be shipped to 48 states. Okeelanta, a subsidiary of West Palm Beach-based Florida Crystals Corp., is the company's largest facility in Palm Beach County. Its 67,000 acres include cane fields, a mill, refinery, packaging and distribution center and a power plant. Florida Crystals also owns and runs the Osceola Mill near Pahokee. Florida Crystals is the county's largest goods-producing employer, with 1,800 employees, according to the Palm Beach County Business Development Board. Along with U.S. Sugar Corp. and the Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida, they put Palm Beach County on the map as the nation's largest sugar producer. Sugar is the county's top agricultural commodity, with output ranging from 1.3 million to 2.1 million tons annually in the past few years. At 1.68 million tons of sugar projected this year, the value will be about $806 million. That's the raw value, calculated at 24 cents a pound. Once that raw sugar is refined and sold at retail, it's worth more. "We produce everything from a sugar packet all the way up to a 2,000-pound tote and everything in between," said Doug Romain, vice president of a Florida Crystals subsidiary who oversees all the distribution and packaging across the continent, including at Okeelanta. The more than 400 varieties and sizes of sugar products include the company's Domino and Florida Crystals brands and many store brands in every form of

sugar from powdered to brown and white, in cubes, organic and specialty sugars in many sizes and types of containers. Like the mill and refinery on the same property, the packaging and distribution center operates seven days a week, 24 hours a day. The proximity of all the various aspects of sugar production from start to finish is one reason the products are certified carbon-neutral. A major factor is the co-generation power plant that uses leftover sugar cane fiber to make renewable energy which runs the mill and refinery. "We are the only sugar company in the world with that certification," said Romain, 43. Romain joined Okeelanta two years ago after working as a food industry consultant. He also worked for Del Monte Foods and was in charge of logistics strategy at Toys R Us. "We are in a stable consumer product that doesn't get as affected by the economy, one way or another," Romain said. Just a two-minute drive from the facility that Romain oversees is the front end of the industrial complex where the process of turning stalks of cane into sugar begins. Angelo Archbold, 53, a 16-year Okeelanta employee, directs the mill and refinery operations . Originally from Panama, where he received a degree in electromechanical engineering and got his first job in the sugar industry, Archbold calls himself a "sugar guy." "Once you get into sugar, you are in sugar for a lifetime," Archbold said on a recent morning. "People think we just crush the cane and turn it into sugar, but it's a lot more complicated than that." However, he stresses that the end result is a natural product that is made from nothing but the cane. From a metal catwalk high above the mill's floor, Archbold watches as sugar cane is brought in from the field by truck. It's unloaded 25 tons at a time and fed into the highly industrialized computer-controlled mill. It's mechanically shredded by huge metal cane knives. Next it's milled, which means water is added as the cane is mashed. The purpose of the mill is to extract the sucrose from the cane. A stalk of cane is 13 percent sucrose and 11 percent fiber. The rest is water. The liquid sucrose is separated from the fiber. Then the raw cane juice is heated, filtered, purified and the water is evaporated. What's left is a sweet, golden syrup. After more boiling, a rich mixture of crystals and molasses forms. The molasses is separated from the crystals, then the sugar crystals are dried and cooled before packaging. Archbold also oversees the lab, where 10 people, including chief of chemistry Delfin Rodriguez, 64, another "sugar guy" who's been in the industry 36 years, analyze the product, checking for purity and quality. Next, Archbold is on to the massive raw sugar warehouse where up to 180,000 tons of sugar can be stored while it awaits its turn at the refinery. A golden mountain of 65,000 tons of sugar looks like sand. It grows larger each minute as more sugar is deposited from an overhead conveyor belt. Within a few months, it will be packaged and sold across the United States. "There is a certain kind of satisfaction knowing that we provide a staple for families. We aren't making computers or luxury items. We are providing an essential food product. And, we take pride in producing the items that make it to American dinner tables," Archbold said.

Archbold is also proud of what makes Okeelanta Corp. unique. It is the only place in the United States that produces specialty sugars like organic sugar and ECJ, evaporated cane juice, or what is called natural sugar, and Demerara, a less-processed amber sugar with large, coarse crystals. He's also proud of the people who make it happen. "The Florida sugar industry has been vilified by the media for decades," Archbold said. "But, from my inside view, I look around at my peers and what I see are good people who care about what they do and the land and environment." Lake Okeechobee

Lake Okeechobee

from space, September 1988

Shown within Florida with counties

Location Florida

Coordinates 26°56′N 80°48′WCoordinates: 26°56′N 80°48′W

Primary inflows Kissimmee River, Fisheating Creek, Taylor Creek

Primary outflows

Everglades, Caloosahatchee River, St. Lucie River

Basin countries United States

Max. length 57.5 kilometres (35.7 mi)

Max. width 46.6 kilometres (29.0 mi)

Surface area 1,900 km2 (730 sq mi)

Average depth 2.7 m (8 ft 10 in)

Max. depth 3.7 m (12 ft)

Water volume 5.2 km3 (1.2 cu mi) (estimated)

Surface elevation

3.74 m (12.3 ft) to 5.49 m (18.0 ft)

Islands Kreamer, Torry, Ritta, Grass, Observation, Bird, Horse, Hog, Eagle Bay

Lake Okeechobee (US /oʊkiˈtʃoʊbi/),[1]

locally referred to as "The Lake" or "The Big O", is the largest freshwater lake in the state of Florida. It is the seventh largest freshwater lake in the United States

[2] and the second largest freshwater lake (the largest being Lake

Michigan) contained entirely within the contiguous 48 states.[3]

However, it is the largest freshwater lake completely within a single one of the lower 48 states. Okeechobee covers 1,900 square kilometres (730 sq mi), approximately half the size of the state of Rhode Island, and is exceptionally shallow for a lake of its size, with an average depth of only 3 metres (9 feet). The lake is divided between Glades, Okeechobee,Martin, Palm Beach, and Hendry counties. All five counties meet at one point near the center of the lake.

[4]

History Lake Okeechobee sits in a shallow geological trough that also underlies the Kissimmee River Valley and the Everglades. The trough is underlain by clay deposits that compacted more than the limestone and sand deposits did along both coasts of peninsular Florida. Until about 6,000 years ago, the trough was dry land. As the sea level rose, the water table in Florida also rose and rainfall increased. From 6,000 to 4,000 years ago, wetlands formed building up peat deposits. Eventually the water flow into the area created a lake, drowning the wetlands. Along what is now the southern edge of the lake, the wetlands built up the layers of peat rapidly enough (reaching 4-to-4.3-metre (13 to 14 ft) thick) to form a dam, until the lake overflowed into the Everglades.

[5] At its capacity, the lake holds

1 trillion gallons of water[6]

and is the headwaters of the Everglades.[7]

The name Okeechobee comes from the Hitchiti words oki (water) and chubi (big). The oldest known name for the lake was Mayaimi (also meaning "big water"), reported byHernando de Escalante Fontaneda in the 16th century.

[8] Slightly later in the 16th

century René Goulaine de Laudonnière reported hearing about a large freshwater lake in southern Florida called Serrope.

[9] By the 18th century the largely mythical lake was

known to British mapmakers and chroniclers by the Spanish name Laguna de Espiritu Santo.

[10] In the early 19th century it was known as Mayacco Lake

[11] or Lake Mayaca after

the Mayaca people, originally from the upper reaches of the St. Johns River, who moved near the lake in the early 18th century. The modern Port Mayaca on the east side of the lake preserves that name.

[12] The lake was also called Lake Macaco in the early 19th

century.[13]

The floor of the lake is a limestone basin, with a maximum depth of 4 metres (13 ft). Its water is somewhat murky from runoff from surrounding farmlands. The Army Corps of Engineers targets keeping the surface of the lake between 3.8 and 4.7 metres (12 and 15 ft) above sea level.

[14] The lake is enclosed by the up to 9 metre (30 foot) highHerbert

Hoover Dike built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers after a hurricane in 1928 breached the old dike, flooding surrounding communities and claiming at least 2,500 lives.

[15] Water

flows into Lake Okeechobee from several sources, including the Kissimmee River, Fisheating Creek, Lake Istokpoga, Taylor Creek, and smaller sources such as Nubbin Slough and Nicodemus Slough.

[16][17] The Kissimmee River is the largest source,

providing more than 60% of the water flowing into Lake Okeechobee.[18][19]

Fisheating Creek is the second largest source for the lake, with about 9% of the total inflow.

[17] Prior

to the 20th century, Lake Istokpoga was connected to the Kissimee River by Istokpoga Creek, but during the rainy season Lake Istokpoga overflowed, with the water flowing in a 40 km wide sheet across the Indian Prairie into Lake Okeechobee.

[20]Today Lake

Istokpoga drains into Lake Okeechobee through several canals that drain the Indian Prairie, and into the Kissimmee River through a canal that has replaced Istokpoga Creek.

[21] Historically, outflow from the lake was by sheet flow over the Everglades, but

most of the outflow has been diverted to dredged canals connecting to coastal rivers, such as the Miami Canal to the Miami River, the New River on the east, and the Caloosahatchee River (via the Caloosahatchee Canal and Lake Hicpochee) on the southwest. On the southern rim of Lake Okeechobee, three islands—Kreamer, Ritta, and Torey—were once settled by early pioneers. These settlements had a general store, post office, school, and town elections. Farming was the main vocation. The fertile land was challenging to farm because of the muddy muck. Over the first half of the twentieth century, farmers used agricultural tools—including tractors—to farm in the muck. By the 1960s, all of these settlements were abandoned.

[22]

Lake Okeechobee from Pahokee Hurricanes[edit] In 1926 the Great Miami Hurricane hit the Lake Okeechobee area, killing approximately 300 people. Two years later in 1928, the Okeechobee Hurricane crossed over the lake, killing thousands. The Red Cross reported 1,836 deaths which the National Weather Service initially accepted, but in 2003, the number was revised to "at least 2,500".

[23] In

both cases the catastrophe was caused by flooding from a storm surge when strong winds drove water over the 2 metre (6-foot) mud dike that circled the lake at the time. After the two hurricanes, the Florida State Legislature created the "Okeechobee Flood Control District". The organization was authorized to cooperate with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in actions to prevent similar disasters. U.S. President Herbert Hoover visited

the area personally, and afterward the Corps designed a plan incorporating the construction of channels, gates, and levees. The Okeechobee Waterway was officially opened on 23 March 1937 by a procession of boats which left Fort Myers, Florida on 22 March and arrived at Stuart, Florida the following day. The dike was then named the "Herbert Hoover Dike" in honor of the president. The 1947 Fort Lauderdale Hurricane sent an even larger storm surge to the crest of the new dike, causing it to be expanded again in the 1960s. Three recent hurricanes–Hurricane Frances, Hurricane Jeanne, and Hurricane Wilma–had no major adverse effects on communities surrounding Lake Okeechobee, even though the lake rose 46 centimetres (18 in) after Hurricane Wilma in 2005. Tropical Storm Ernesto increased water levels by 30 centimetres (12 in) in 2006, the last time it exceeded 4 metres (13 ft).

[6] However, the lake's level began dropping soon after and by July 2007, it

had dropped more than 1.2 metres (3.9 ft) to its all-time low of 2.68 metres (8.8 ft). In August 2008, Tropical Storm Fay increased water levels to 0.65 metres (2.1 ft)

[clarification

needed] above sea level, the first time it exceeded 3.66 metres (12.0 ft) since January 2007.

Over a seven-day period (including some storms that preceded Fay), about 20 centimetres (7.9 in) of rain fell directly onto the lake.

[6]

National Scenic Trail[edit] The 30 m wide (100 foot) dike surrounding Lake Okeechobee is a part of the Florida Trail, a 2,250 km (1,400-mile) long trail that is a National Scenic Trail. There is a well-maintained paved pathway along the majority of the perimeter. It is used by hikers and bicyclists, and is wide enough to accommodate authorized vehicles. Fishing[edit] The most common fish in this lake are largemouth bass, crappie, and bluegill. Pickerel have been less commonly caught. Rim Canal[edit]

Lake Okeechobee, from Canal Point, Florida During construction of the dike, earth was excavated along the inside perimeter, resulting in a deep channel which runs along the perimeter of the lake. In most places the canal is part of the lake, but in others it is separated from the open lake by low grassy islands such as Kreamer Island. During the drought of 2007-2008 this canal remained navigable while much of surrounding areas were too shallow or even above the water line. Even when the waters are higher, navigating the open lake can be tricky, whereas the rim canal is simple, so to reach a specific location in the lake it is often easiest to go around the rim canal to get close then take one of the many channels into the lake.

[24]

Environmental concerns[edit] In 2007, during a drought, state water and wildlife managers removed thousands of truckloads of toxic mud from the lake's floor, in an effort to restore the lake's natural sandy base and create clearer water and better habitat for wildlife. The mud contained elevated levels of arsenic and other pesticides. According to tests from the South Florida Water

Management District, arsenic levels on the northern part of the lake bed were as much as four times the limit for residential land. Independent tests found the mud too polluted for use on agricultural or commercial lands, and therefore difficult to dispose of on land.

[25]

Through early 2008, the lake remained well below normal levels, with large portions of the lake bed exposed above the water line. During this time, portions of the lake bed, covered in organic matter, dried out and caught fire.

[26] In late August 2008, Tropical Storm Fay

inundated Florida with record amounts of rain. Lake Okeechobee received almost a 1.2 m (4-foot) increase in water level, including local run-off from the tributaries. This quick rise, mixed with largely polluted run-off from local farmlands, killed thousands of fish. In 2013 heavy rains in southern Florida resulted in high runoff into the lake; rising lake levels forced the Army Corp of Engineers to release large volumes of polluted water from the lake through the St. Lucie River estuaryto the east and the Caloosahatchee River estuary to the west. Thus the normal mix of fresh and salt water in those estuaries was replaced by a flood of polluted fresh water resulting in ecological damage.

[27]

In popular culture[edit] Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades are featured as a backdrop for the 1951 Gary Cooper film, Distant Drums. Lake Okeechobee is the setting of a climactic scene in Carl Hiaasen's 2002 novel Basket Case (Ch. 28). Used in the John Anderson song " Seminole Wind" Lyric: "And blow, blow from the Okeechobee, All the way up to Micanopy" Lake Okeechobee is the setting of a significant part of Zora Neale Hurston's novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, and the movie of the same name. Janie and Tea Cake go there to work "on the muck." Hurston refers to the lake as "Big Lake Okechobee, big beans, big cane, big weeds, big everything". The description speaks to the migrant African American laborers working in this area during the agricultural season in the 1920s.

[28]

Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades are settings in Patrick D. Smith's novel A Land Remembered, chronicling the effects of modernization upon the lake and the Seminole tribe. Lake Okeechobee is famously mentioned in Hank Williams Jr.'s number one Billboard country hit song "Dixie on My Mind", when comparing country life to big city life: "I've always heard lots about the big apple / So I thought I'd come up here and see. / But all I've seen so far is one big hassle / wish I was camped out on the Okeechobee'".

BELLE GLADE STATE MUNICIPAL AIRPORT http://www.airnav.com/airport/X10