Average, but sweeter than average, cane harvest expected

Sugar cane producers expect an average crop this year due to adverse weather conditions, but say the sugar content in the cane is higher than normal.
Farmers ideally prefer a dry spring and rainy summer for sugar cane, and Louisiana had just the opposite in 2015. The spring was wet, followed by a dry period in July and August, said Jim Simon, American Sugar Cane League general.
The league is a nonprofit organization of Louisiana sugar cane growers and processors.
July and August are considered the “grand growth period” where the cane can grow an inch or more per day, Simon said.
“During that grand growth period, we had some dry weather that kind of set the tonnage of the crop back.”
Most areas throughout the state encountered the similar issues during growing season, though some parts may have had better growing seasons than others, Simon said.
“We expect a decent crop, kind of average. But sugar content in the cane is good right now, so we’re looking to have a good, efficient harvest season,” Simon said.
LSU AgCenter St. Mary Parish Agent Jimmy Flanagan said it’ll take another week or so before industry analysts will have an idea of how the season’s yield may turn out.
St. Mary Parish experienced the same negative weather that the rest of the state went through during much of the growing season, Flanagan said.
“We got some late summer rains that really helped the cane get jumpstarted and gain some additional growth,” Flanagan said.
“Whether or not that’ll give us a better than expected yield remains to be seen.”
Farmers are getting around 23 to 24 cents per pound for raw sugar at the mills.
The price is slightly better than 2014 prices and “substantially better” than 2012 and 2013 when prices fell to the 20-cent range, Simon said.
The earliest mills started processing cane around Sept. 25 and will continue to process sugar cane until the Dec. 20 to Jan. 7 timeframe.
Simon encouraged the public to be cautious with the number of sugar cane trucks on the road this season and plan accordingly in case they get behind a cane truck.
This year marks the 220th sugar cane harvest in Louisiana in what has become an industry with a $2.8 billion economic impact to the state.
In 2014, there were 42 sugar cane producers in St. Mary Parish on 45,846 acres of land. They produced more than 329 million pounds of raw sugar with a gross farm value of over $41 million, said American Sugar Cane League spokesman Sam Irwin.

This story was written by Zachary Fitzgerald of The Daily Review staff. Reach him at zfitzgerald@daily-review.com.