Usina Alta Mogiana was founded in 1983 with the firm purpose of building a vital company for the development of São Joaquim da Barra and region. The first harvest, in 1985, had 228 thousand tons of sugarcane crushed and 17.8 million liters of hydrated alcohol produced. It currently has an installed capacity for crushing more than 6,700,000 tons of cane, producing about 10,500,000 bags of sugar, more than 240,000,000 liters of ethanol and co-generated energy of 250,000 MWh.