When farmers put their mind to something, the work gets done. That’s how St. Mary Sugar Co-Op sugarcane mill got started. “The growers got together then and decided they wanted to control their own fate and destiny, so they invested and built their own sugar mill,”…
Dan Duplantis Jr.’s job search pretty much ended the day he was born 51 years ago. It seems he was destined to work in the sugarcane industry and it’s no surprise he ended up being the general manager of Raceland Raw Sugar, the sugarcane mill in Lafourche Parish just…
Pierre Simeon Patout came to Louisiana from France with a dream of becoming the premier vintner of the South. He started his vineyard in 1825 in the community which came to be known as Patoutville. He quickly learned that Louisiana, despite sharing the same French…
Lafourche Sugars Changing with the Times Lafourche Sugars, the sugarcane mill in Thibodaux, represents the changing nature of Louisiana’s 224-year old sugarcane industry. Many folks in the industry are the latest in a long line of sugarcane growers and millers, but…
Louisiana’s sugarcane industry has been a top economic driver in the state for more than 221 years and is celebrating the family farmers who have been farming cane for generations in a series of television ads this harvesting season. The ads will feature three farming…
In medieval times, noble families had specific rules for inheritance. The oldest son inherited the noble title, and more importantly, all of the lands. The best bet for the second son was to become a scholar and learn to make a living by his wits. The third son was…
A lot has changed in southeastern Lafayette Parish since Eddie “Boss Man” Lewis Sr., 72, was a young man. Pinhook Road east of the Vermilion River was a two-lane highway all the way to Broussard. Sugarcane occupied the real estate populated by oil field support…
Nicholls State University, Office of Continuing Education offers two cane sugar institutes each year during the summer. They include the International Sugar Cane Refiners’ Institute, which began in 1978, and the International Raw Cane Sugar Manufacturers’ Institute,…
Each year, the Louisiana sugarcane harvest tells a story. Sometimes that story is defined by adversity. Other times, it is shaped by resilience and a little bit of grace from Mother Nature. This year, the preliminary harvest data shows several records were set with…