1. Sugar Cane – Tightening Our Belts
2014 Palm Beach County Property Appraiser

2. Palm Beach County & Lake View
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3. Organic Soils
Rainfall detention is achieved through water table management across a farm. Without successful management on farm water tables this BMP would be impossible to implement without negatively affecting crop production and the profitability of the farming enterprise in the EAA. 3

4. Palm Beach County has 5 Sugarcane Belts. Delineation
Is based on proximity to
Lake Okeechobee, soil quality, temperature variations attributable to the warming influence of the lake, sugarcane tonnage
production numbers and market value derived from sugarcane land sales.

6. Seed Cane Cutting Hand-cut whole stalk Machine-cut whole-stalk
Explain billeted seed in more depth.
Hand-cut whole stalk

7. Seed Cane Loading
Whole stalk seed cane is loaded on wagons using a “Grab Loader”

8. Furrowing for Planting
3 or 5 furrows made in one pass
GPS guided – auto-steering
Furrows 4-6” deep

9. Fertilizing Before Planting
Custom blended fertilizer
Primary nutrients applied: P, K, Mg, Cu, Zn, Mn, B, N – on sand
Explain what a furrow is.
Fertilizer can be Broadcast or Banded in the furrow

10. Hand Planting Sugarcane
8 or 9 person crews
4 droppers
4 choppers
15 – 20 acres/day
2 – 6 crews depending on size of operation
30 – 120 acres / day

11. Machine Planting Sugarcane
I would move quickly through these slides because of time.

12. Covering Sugarcane After Planting
You mentioned adding to much insectide that we need too

13. Sugarcane Cultivation
Weeds controlled mechanically and chemically
Herbicides used:
Atrazine
2,4-D & dicamba
Ametryne (Evik)
Asulam
Glyphosate (Roundup)
Metribuzin (Sencor)
Pendamethalin (Prowl)
Mesotrione (Callisto)
Mostly early post
2 applications
Lay-by mid-May
The students haven’t had any herbicide background so keep this very basic.

14. Weed Control
Both aerial and ground applicators

15. Pre-harvest Sugarcane Burning
Burn permits issued daily by zone
More restrictions in easterly zones

16. Sugarcane Harvesting
Do you cut by hand or is it 100% harvesting by hand? You can not transport sugarcane on the highway? Why?

18. Loading Cane
Cane is loaded into trucks or rail cars via conveyor or dump wagons

19. Cane Receiving Each load is tracked from the field.
Each trailer makes about 2 loads a day.
Independent contractor hauling fleet.
Each driver makes 7 – 10 loads per day
Driver has electronic keycard for load tracking and fueling

20. Feeding the mill
3 minutes / load 24 hr operation

21. Cane Milling Cane is carried by conveyor through sets of knives
Prepared cane is passed through sets of mills in a tandem
Each mill presses cane with a force of about 2200psi

22. Cane Milling 6 – 7 mills in a milling tandem Water is added
Cane is crushed repeatedly
98% of sucrose extracted

23. Juice Processing Sucrose content determined for payment
Clarified by removing mud and fine fiber
Juice quality is monitored
Water evaporated off under vacuum

24. Sugar Sugar separated from molasses by centrifugation
Trucked to warehouses until shipped to refineries
Storage for up to a year without problems
Shipped to refineries by ocean-going barge

27. 2013 SUGAR CANE 10 YR FINAL AGRICULTURAL VALUES
TAX YEAR – (CROP YEAR )
SUGAR CANE AG VALUE BASED ON THE INCOME APPROACH
PRODUCTION ANALYSIS 1 2 3 4 5 6
BELT #
SAMPLE #
GROSS TONS
STANDARD QUALITY FACTOR
NET TONS
/ACRE
NET STAND TONS/AC
COMMENTS
(with trash)
(less trash) =9%
(4 x 5 = Col 6)
ALL (12)
37.32
1.2223
33.96
41.51
Indication that Belt
ALL (17)
37.98
1.2011
34.56
1 & Belt 2 are one.
ALL (15)
34.50
1.2280
31.40
38.55
ALL (18)
28.55
1.2490
25.98
32.45
ALL (9)
24.08
1.1442
21.91
25.07
INCOME ANALYSIS 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
PRICE/ST TON
SUGARCANE INC/AC
MOLASSES INC/AC
TOTAL INCOME
PER ACRE
EXPENSES/ GROSS TONS
NET INCOME
CAP RATE
FINAL AG VALUE/AC
$25.53x1.15
10 YEAR
1.24
@ $25.96
$29.36
(6 x 7 =Col 9)
Col 5 x 1.24
(8+9= Col 10)
3 x exp=Col 11
10-11=Col 12
0.0600
12/13= 14 $
$42.11
$1,260.84
$968.83
$292.01
0.1235
$2,364
$42.85
$1,261.58
$985.96
$275.62
$2,232 $
$38.94
$1,171.06
$895.62
$275.44
$2,230
$952.73
$32.22
$984.95
$741.16
$243.79
$1,974
$736.06
$27.17
$763.23
$625.12
$138.11
$1,118

28. Sugar Cane – Tightening Our Belts
2014 Palm Beach County Property Appraiser

30. “River of Grass” Restoration
In 2008, the SFWMD voted to accept a contract with US Sugar Corp. to acquire 187,000 acres of agricultural land for Everglades Restoration. The purpose is to store and treat water for the benefit of the Everglades, Lake Okeechobee, St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee Rivers.
In 2010, SFWMD purchased 26,800 acres, including 10,000 acres of prime sugarcane acreage in PBC. Now they are selling 8,700 of the 10,000 acres to Florida Crystals. Clearly, the EAA acreage is at the mercy of the SFWMD.

31. A recent mining study prepared by the FL Dept
A recent mining study prepared by the FL Dept. of Transportation shows the EAA as one of the prime areas in the state with potential for rock mining. As a result, during the past few years more than 20,000 acres have been approved for mining, in addition to three commercial rock mines that were approved prior to Currently, there is 1,592 acres already mined and 25, acres approved to excavate. The duration of mining is up to 75 years.

32. For more information contact Diane Pendleton – dpendleton@pbcgov.org