TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet (Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and Attorney General Ashley Moody) agreed Tuesday to pay $1,940 an acre to New Hope Sugar Co., a subsidiary of Florida Crystals, for early termination of a 1,234-acre lease of state-owned land.

New Hope Sugar Company currently leases 1,234 acres located in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) in Palm Beach County under Board of Trustees’ Lease No. 3433 for agricultural purposes. The property is surrounded by land owned by the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) which is also leased and farmed by New Hope.

New Hope and the Internal Improvement Trust Fund Board of Trustees entered into the original lease for the property in 1995 as part of a land exchange that allowed SFWMD to acquire other lands owned by New Hope for the construction of projects associated with the Everglades Forever Act. In 2014, the parties agreed to amend and extend the lease for a 30-year term as part of another land exchange to implement Everglades restoration strategies.

Special to the Lake Okeechobee News
This map shows the area designated for the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) reservoir. The land owned by SFWMD is in light blue. The 560 acres that SFWMD took back as part of the 2018 lease extension are in purple and bright green. The trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund (IITF) lands — 1,251 acres under the control of Florida Department of Environmental Regulation — are shown in light orange.

“Florida Crystals has advocated for the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) reservoir since its authorization as part of Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Project in 2000,” explained Gaston Cantens, vice president of corporate relations, Florida Crystals. “When we saw the governor’s expedited schedule, we knew our support would be integral to the success of the EAA reservoir project’s new time line. We then contacted the state with a solution, offering to waive the state’s contractual obligations to a three-year termination notice in order to facilitate immediate access to the land needed to move the project forward early. Agriculture has been an active partner in Everglades restoration for more than 25 years, and we are proud to continue our successful collaboration with today’s action.”

According to the terms of the lease with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the contract had a three-year notice of termination but that termination could only be sent after the EAA reservoir was permitted by the Army Corps of Engineers. So, without Florida Crystals voluntarily terminating, the state could not get the land at the earliest until three years after the federal permit is approved. According to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Lt. Col. Polk, the permitting process is underway and the earliest it could be completed is May 2020. Florida Crystals waived both requirements.

The termination fee is because the state is taking the land early with zero notice.

The fee helps to compensate Florida Crystals for the crops lost. Depending on the type of cane grown, sugar cane is usually harvested two to four times annually after the initial planting.