Glades farmers again bear brunt of reservoir efforts
Hastily created anti-farming attack groups like BullSugar.org ... sent out propaganda vowing to continue their ‘war’ against farmers.
When state Sen. Joe Negron’s Senate Bill 10
— a plan to take 60,000 to 150,000 acres of Palm Beach County’s most fertile farms — was unveiled in January, it immediately caused turmoil among farm families like mine in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA). Besides being our home, the EAA is one of Palm Beach County’s largest economic drivers.
The devastating consequences of the initial version of SB 10 would have reached across our county, state and even nation. For private landowners, we would have lost our farms and businesses. Our communities would have been deprived of the good jobs that support thousands of local families. And gone from Americans would have been the trusted source of homegrown fruits, vegetables and grains EAA farmers supply to markets across the nation. This was personal for me, because I am a fourth-generation Glades farmer and, like my family before me, I take pride in the sustainably grown, carefully cultivated foods my farm delivers to American tables.
The price tag on the economic devastation of the bill’s initial land buy would have been nearly $700 million and it would have cost the state 4,100 jobs.
The overwhelming economic and social costs led our EAA community to band together. We took the time to educate our legislative leaders on the importance of EAA farmland and reminded them that the government had already taken more than 120,000 acres of fertile farmland out of production south of Lake Okeechobee, including the land for this southern storage reservoir.
EAA farmers were encouraged by the response from our leaders in Tallahassee. Ultimately, lawmakers saw through the ill-intentions of antifarmer lobbyist groups, like the Everglades Foundation, who were exposed by state environmental experts for manipulating modeling and fudging numbers in their scheme to have the government take our farmland. Fortunately, Senate leaders, like the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island, worked closely with scientists to craft a plan that accomplishes the same environmental goal as the original intention but causes no harm to generational farmers, protects working families in rural communities. It also keeps our farms supplying fresh foods that feed millions each year. It was common sense.
Unfortunately, before the ink had even dried on the bill signed by Gov. Rick Scott, the same suspects who pushed the original anti-farmer bill revealed their true colors. Hastily created anti-farming attack groups like BullSugar.org along with the lobby’s usual suspect, the Everglades Trust, sent out propaganda vowing to continue their “war” against farmers.
The sad truth is this was nothing new to local farmers. We have endured the vitriol and very personal and repugnant attacks lobbed at us by these political activist groups for more than 20 years. We know the playbook: They hijack a real environmental crisis and instead of working with stakeholders to find real solutions, they use it to mislead the public and malign farmers in order to advance their political agenda.
Fortunately, farmers are resilient and optimistic by nature.
We look forward to a day when these lobbyist groups stop distracting Florida’s leaders so the state can get back to building the scientifically researched, carefully synchronized, systemwide suite of environmental projects found in the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan that will restore the entire Everglades system.
We can accomplish so much if we all work together to support these real solutions. We have now finalized the water-storage plan south of Lake Okeechobee. Let’s build upon this momentum to provide real solutions for all Floridians north, south, east and west of Lake Okeechobee.