FAMU joins Tuskegee University, U.S. Sugar to study sugarcane farming in the Glades

Florida A&M University is partnering with Tuskegee University and U.S. Sugar to study the impacts of sugarcane farming across the Glades region in Florida.

The joint partnership with the HBCUs (historically Black colleges and universities) will launch an environmental study that assesses the impacts of farming methods — such as sugarcane burning — and will also allow FAMU to help analyze more sustainable practices throughout the project.

“We’re always looking to make sure that agricultural processes are environmentally safe while trying to come up with ways to make them even safer,” FAMU’s interim dean for the College of Agriculture and Food Sciences Garlen Dale Wesson told the Tallahassee Democrat this week.

U.S. Sugar is a Clewiston-based farming company that grows sugarcane, citrus and fresh vegetables to provide locally grown food to individuals across the country. Its main business, however, revolves around sugarcane.

“We are committed to strengthening partnerships and highlighting the role we play in our communities and our environmental stewardship,” U.S. Sugar Community Relations Director Brannan Thomas said in a statement. “This collaboration marks a significant step toward a more comprehensive and inclusive understanding of our rural communities and sustainable agricultural practices.”

The project comes as Florida's pre-harvest sugar cane burning season, which typically lasts from October to March every year, remains an issue in the Glades — a region anchored by the cities of South Bay, Belle Glade and Pahokee.

Sugarcane undergrowth such as weeds are burned to make the harvesting process easier, but the method leads to billows of smoke rising into the air. Critics say the aftermath contributes to climate change and harms the health of workers and residents.

The burning of sugarcane fields has been challenged in South Florida — where the soot and pollution it produces predominantly affect Palm Beach County’s most impoverished communities — and it continues to be a topic of concern as the impacted communities are largely made up of residents of color, according to The Palm Beach Post.

More from The Palm Beach Post: Sugar companies said our investigation is flawed, biased. Let’s dive into why that’s not true.

Tuskegee University, a private HBCU in Alabama, had an initial partnership with U.S. Sugar to work on the project before FAMU.

“With its long history and legacy of promoting environmental stewardship, Tuskegee University is committed to promoting sustainable agricultural practices as we work together to feed a growing population,” Tuskegee University’s College of Agriculture, Environment and Nutrition Sciences (CAENS) Dean Olga Bolden-Tiller said in a prepared statement.

Wesson says FAMU joined the initiative after discussions with Bolden-Tiller during a recent conference, where Bolden-Tiller thought FAMU would be a great addition to the project because of its similar agriculture school.

U.S. Sugar gave the HBCUs a $100,000 grant — which is being managed by Tuskegee University — to cover travel costs and instrumentation purchases for the purpose of the project.

The grant will not be spread over a certain amount of time, but Wesson predicts that the project could last up to two years.

In April, a few faculty members from FAMU and Tuskegee University placed air monitors around sugar farms in the Glades to measure particulates in the air before, during and after the burning process as a part of the joint project. The information will then be used to predict where the smoky particulates will go based on different weather conditions.

“We’re mostly interested in monitoring the effects on the surrounding communities of concern,” Wesson said. “A lot of our African American or minority communities don’t get these kinds of studies done, so we’re placing an emphasis on supporting minority communities.”

The initiative is also expected to lead to the assessment of the agriculture industry’s economic and ecological impacts in the Glades region.

A FAMU faculty member is currently working on the U.S. Sugar initiative in the Glades along with three faculty members from Tuskegee University, and the plan is to also get students involved in the project in the future, Wesson said.

In addition, the collaboration places emphasis on community engagement to listen to and integrate local perspectives in order to address community concerns, according to a project summary report.

Contact Tarah Jean at tjean@tallahassee.com or follow her on X: @tarahjean_.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU partners with Tuskegee, U.S. Sugar to study sugarcane farming