Retire sugarcane farmer Harold Schexnayder Sr, 85, of White Castle, has been a public servant for his country, state, parish and community for a good portion of his life. After his tour of duty with the Air Force as a captain, Harold left the service and took his…
It was planting time when the Sugar News visited with Ronald R. Hebert Jr. He was supervising planting activities at a field just south of Highway 182 (the old U. S. 90) in Jeanerette. The soldier harvester and hand planters were dodging the August rains but Ronald…
This is the story of four brothers, Dudley, Wilson, Roy and J.C. Viator, who started their farming careers in Iberia Parish in the 1940s. They were the sons of Abara and Mae Viator, descendants of Antonia Villatore, one of the original Spanish families who settled New…
Economy of scale has always played a role in Louisiana’s raw sugar industry and sugar mills have consolidated over time to maximize production and profit. Lula-Westfield is one success story. The Lula Sugar Factory in Belle Rose and the Westfield Sugar Factory in…
L. J. Carmouche Progressive Down the Bayou Leonce J. Carmouche Jr. of Belle Rose doesn’t know exactly how long his family has been growing sugarcane in Assumption Parish but it’s a long time. He’s not really too concerned about genealogy. What’s on his mind is…
Rodney Simoneaux of Assumption Parish is surveying a wet field on the north side of Highway 38. Even though it’s late November, he’s hoping it will dry up enough to plant sugarcane. The tract was filled with spoil from a summer Bayou Lafourche dredging project. It’s…
A conversation with St. John the Baptist Parish sugarcane farmer Pierre “Pete” Lanaux slips easily between the past and the present. At 88 years old, Mr. Pete may be the state’s eldest farmer. Certainly, his farming career, which spans 68 years, is older than the…
Donald Segura of New Iberia says he’s retired but he may be busier than ever. For a man that likes to stay busy, that’s saying a lot. The 76-year-old French speaker has concurrently been a sugarcane, okra, pepper, wheat and soybean farmer while he was a dairyman…
Sugarcane farmer Dane Berard of Breaux Bridge runs his operation pretty much like the other 483 growers of the Sugar Belt. He and his partner, Glenn Thibodaux, have an investment in their sugarcane and soybean farm and have been successful for many years. The…