Thursday, October 14, 2010

Sugar Cane

Clementine is about 20 miles away from Clewiston in one direction and 15 miles away from Labelle in the opposite. In between are sugar cane fields and it's harvest time in southwest Florida. We kept seeing dark clouds of smoke in the sky and learned that farmers burn their crops prior to harvest in order to remove leafy material and help push out any poisonous snakes that might be lurking about.

1 comment:

Danine Cozzens said...

In Northern California around Lodi the farmers stopped burning rice stubble due to air pollution, and started flooding the fields in winter. It got rid of bugs and provided a feeding ground for thousands of migratory birds, including Sandhill Cranes, White Swans, and Canada Geese. The Sandhill Cranes are now a winter tourist attraction for Lodi. Win for everyone including the birds.