Farmers’ efforts improve water quality
Florida farmers are being recognized for their efforts to help restore the Everglades and improve water quality, verifying that their on-farm cleanup programs are making a big difference. The South Florida Water Management District recently announced a 79 percent reduction in the annual level of phosphorus flowing from Florida sugar cane and vegetable farms south of Lake Okeechobee, one of the nation’s most productive farming regions, known as the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA).
Even as debates regarding Everglades restoration have continued over the past two decades, farmers in South Florida have been actively working every day to help clean up our ecosystems. This good news about 2015’s phosphorus reductions is just the latest measure of this success.
As a former chairman of the Governing Board of SFWMD, I congratulate the region’s farmers for taking an active role in protecting our environment. As a result, nearly 95 percent of the Everglades today is meeting the 10-parts-per-billion water-quality standard. A common misconception is that farm fertilizers are the source of phosphorus on sugar cane farms. The rich, organic “muck” soils south of Lake Okeechobee naturally are high in phosphorus. Therefore, the main strategy since the start of the program to reduce phosphorus has been to keep soil sediments the farms rather than discharging soil with water flowing off of them.
Local sugar cane and vegetable farmers have played a major role in cleaning the water flowing south through a program of innovative best management practices (BMPs). These on-farm practices — paid by the farmers — were researched and developed in conjunction with scientists at the University of Florida and its Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
EAA farmers were the first in Florida to implement extensive BMP programs. In fact, their on-farm water- and soil-management techniques have served as the model for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ BMP program, which now covers farms, ranches, nurseries and other agricultural operations.
Farmers are clearly making a difference in water quality. Everyone with a stake in Everglades restoration should be encouraged by the sustained, 20-year success of the EAA’s on-farm programs. It’s further proof that farmers have a stake in helping the region solve its water problems.