Great Storms of Florida · FLH-0037

The Storms That Changed the Everglades Agricultural Area

Written by Wm. E. McMullen II · Florida History Mini

Black Gold, Crying Cows, and the Farmland Two Hurricanes Helped Create

Dark muck-soil fields beside a straight canal with a row of farm buildings, a few cattle standing in shallow water and a bright sky clearing behind. — AI-generated illustration of a muck-soil field and canal south of Lake Okeechobee after a flood, 1940s. Created with OpenAI for Florida Learning Hub, 2026. Conceptual illustration; not an archival photograph.

In 1947, widespread flooding across Central and South Florida became the subject of a report remembered for its cover illustration of a cow standing in floodwater. The “Crying Cow” report helped make the need for regional flood control visible. Congress authorized the Central and Southern Florida Project the following year.

A Century of Trying to Drain the Swamp

Proposals to drain the Everglades grew into a long sequence of land purchases, canals and drainage works. Removing water exposed dark organic soil, often called muck. Turning that soil into dependable farmland required more than digging canals: growers also had to understand nutrients, water levels and seasonal conditions.

A Discovery Made Despite the Hurricanes

Researchers at the Everglades Research and Education Center studied why crops sometimes failed in apparently rich organic soil. Micronutrient deficiencies, including copper, were one problem. Crop trials and soil research helped growers adapt farming methods to a landscape that behaved differently from ordinary mineral soil.

The Same Storms, a Second Time

The 1926 and 1928 hurricanes devastated communities around Lake Okeechobee. Dike construction and later regional water-control works reduced risks and supported existing farming, but did not make the area free of floods. Belle Glade, Clewiston and nearby communities developed within that managed-water landscape.

A Pamphlet That Built a Farming Region

The 1947 floods showed that lake protection alone could not address the region’s water problems. The 1948 project expanded flood-control infrastructure across South Florida. UF/IFAS describes the Everglades Agricultural Area as approximately 700,000 acres south of Lake Okeechobee, rather than the smaller acreage in the source draft.

Matching Crops to the Seasons

Sugarcane is a major EAA crop, alongside vegetables, sod and rice. South Florida’s commercial vegetable production often takes advantage of the cooler winter season. Rice can be grown as a summer rotation crop in flooded fields. These are different crop systems, rather than a simple alternation of dry-season sugarcane and wet-season lettuce.

What Protecting the Farmland Costs the Glades

Excess nutrients from farms and other sources can alter the naturally nutrient-poor Everglades. Agricultural best-management practices and stormwater treatment areas are part of efforts to reduce phosphorus before water moves south. Water operations must balance flood protection, supply, ecological conditions and water quality; lowering the lake is not simply a step taken to protect farmland before every forecast hurricane.

Quick Facts

What it is	Approximately 700,000 acres south of Lake Okeechobee (UF/IFAS)
Founding farm towns	Moore Haven, Belle Glade, Clewiston
Crying cow booklet	1947 report documenting regional flood damage
1948	Central and Southern Florida Project authorized
Crops	Sugarcane, vegetables, sod and rice