Hendry County Sustainable Bio-Fuels Center (HCSBC) is introduced and its main components are explained. These primarily include (1) farming systems, (2) sustainability analysis, (3) economic analysis and (4) educational components. Each of these components is discussed in further details, main researchers and their responsibility areas and introduced. The main focus of this presentation is a new farming concept. The proposed new farming concept is an alternative to the current "two sides of the ditch" model, in which on one side are yield-maximizing, input-intensive, commodity price-dependent farms, while on the other side are publicly-financed, nutrient-removing treatment areas and water reservoirs trying to mitigate the externalized costs of food production systems and other human-induced problems. The proposed approach is rental of the land back to agriculture corporations during the restoration transition period in order to increase water storage (allowing for greater water flow-through and/or water storage on farms), preventing issues such as nutrients removal, using flood-tolerant crops and reducing soil subsidence. Various pros and cons of the proposed agricultural eco-services are discussed - the advantages include flexibility for participating farmers to achieve environmental outcomes with reduced costs and using innovative incentives
the minuses include the fact that the potential markets are not developed yet or that existing regulations may prevent agricultural producers from selling their services.