How I wish that I had better photos to share all that I saw today. I went on a half-day road trip out west from Palm Beach to Lake Okeechobee. The most interesting moment was driving by a sugar cane field with 15 foot high flames, a monstrous plume of smoke you could see for miles, and an almost alarming amount of heat that wafted into my open window as I drove by. After doing some research I discovered how controversial it is. If you are curious there are two recent articles that I found at the Claims Journal and the Miami Herald websites. According to one article, there are 400,000 acres of sugar cane in Florida. Wow!
DuPuis Management Area, Canal Point, FL.
My first stop was the DuPuis Management Area where I went on a short hike. When I got there the parking lot was empty but upon leaving there was a gentleman resting against the map and information stand. Was not expecting to meet a retired motorcycle enthusiast taking a rest on his daily ride out in the country. We had a nice conversation and he recommended that I check out “the lock” just down the road. The lock helps maintain the water level for Lake Okeechobee, Florida’s 730 square mile Inland Sea, as boats leave or enter the canal to and from the lake. There’s a canal cut across the entire state to allow small boats passage. Turns out the Port Mayaca Lock & Dam is one of the few places you can get a good look at the lake since it is mostly hidden by a 40 ft. dike of earth and rock all along its perimeter. A historical sign next to a cemetery on the road to the lake gave a clue as to why such a large dike is necessary. In 1928 a storm surge broke through the then 6.6-foot dike and as many as 2500 people were killed.
Lake Okeechobee as seen from just south of the Port Mayaca Lock & Dam.
Being a farm photographer for so many years I now have a decent fascination for agriculture and get interested when I see farms and crops outside of my bubble. My route driving back toward the coast was somewhat random and it showed me two new types of farming I had not seen before. The sugar cane I mentioned already being the first. Found myself following a few semi-trucks with big caged trailers full of just harvested, and probably burned, sugar cane. The full ones heading towards a large industrial looking plant in the distance, and the empty ones heading back out for another load. No doubt a monolithic business.
The second type of farm I saw and was surprised by was turf. So many times I have seen a new housing development getting a delivery of pallets of grass to create someone’s new yard. Can’t say that I ever really thought about where it came from. As you can see from the picture below, there are literally 100’s of acres of mowed grass right next to the sugar cane fields. I watched as a specialized tractor cut up the strips of lawn and a few workers stacked it on pallets. One company’s website states they “offer muck-grown St. Augustine sod farmed on our fields throughout Western Palm Beach County.” Who knew!
Turf Farm along Old Conner’s Hwy heading southeast from Canal Point, FL., with a burning sugar cane field far in the distance.
Photos below: Top left- My trusty Mazda 3. Top right- Sugar cane field. Bottom right- The soil in this area is so very dark! Bottom left- If you’ve been to FL. you’ve seen the canals literally everywhere. They might be the reason this place is not all swampland.
