Sugar is an important industry in Florida because
it channels dollars from outside the state and
generates important contributions to the regional and
state economies. Cash receipts from the sale of raw
sugar and molasses have exceeded $800 million per
year over the last decade. The revenue generated by
the sugar industry, which includes sugarcane farming
and milling, and sugar refining, has a significant
impact on the economy of South Florida and the state
as a whole. The industry generates more than $2.2
billion of annual output. When the multiplier effect is
taken into account, which includes the sales of
supporting companies (i.e., fertilizer suppliers and
equipment dealers) and the spending of income by
employees of the sugar industry on consumer goods,
the Florida sugar industry contributes more than $4.5
billion to the state's economy and influences more
than 47,000 jobs (Hodges et al. 2004).
Sugarcane production in Florida is concentrated
in areas south of and around Lake Okeechobee. Palm
Beach, Hendry, and Glades are South Florida
counties where sugarcane production is especially
important. Growers in Palm Beach County produce
sugarcane primarily on "muck" or organic soils.
Growers in Hendry and Glades Counties produce
cane primarily on "sand" or mineral soils. Acreage in
2008–2009 was divided into 309,521 acres (80%) on
organic soils and 78,610 acres (20%) on mineral soils
(Rice, Baucum, and Glaz 2009, 9).
The purpose of this report is to develop an
enterprise budget that reflects annual costs and returns