How can sugarcane research in the Everglades Agricultural Area enable natural land managers and farmers to work together to reduce phosphorus and restore natural hydrology?

Part 3: Conserving Organic Soils in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA)

Before the EAA was drained, its organic soils increased in depth at the rate of 0.03 inches per year. Since drainage in the early 1900's, the soils lost depth at the rate of 1 inch per year until 1978. Since 1978, the loss of soil has been reduced to about 1/2 inch per year.

Our agricultural research goal in the EAA is to provide the knowledge needed to farm profitably and conserve the soil. As such, the EAA could benefit the natural Everglades.

Charles Freeman kneeling beside the subsidence post in Belle Glade in 1969
George Snyder standing beside the post in 1979	George Snyder standing beside the post in 1989

Next: Sugarcane Physiology Research For Environmentally Sustainable Production