Much of the area is used for hunting, fishing, and other recreation activities. About 13 percent is cropland. Winter vegetables are the main crop, but some citrus fruits, avocado, and papaya are grown on better drained sites. Sugarcane is an important crop on the organic soil south of Lake Okeechobee. The acreage of improved pasture, about 6 percent, is decreasing.
Beef cattle are the principal livestock, and dairying is an important enterprise locally.
Urbanization is extensive along the eastern coast. The dominant soils are Saprists and Fibrists. They are very poorly drained, organic soils that have a hyperthermic temperature regime and an aquic moisture regime. The more shallow soils are dominant in the southern part, and the deeper soils are dominant near Lake Okeechobee. Especially important in Dade, Monroe, and Collier Counties are soils that are shallow and very shallow to limestone and marl.