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…
Ronnie Gonsoulin: Insuring Sugarcane’s Future South Louisiana land is good for many things, but it’s especially good for growing sugarcane…and it’s good for Iberia Parish farmer Ronnie Gonsoulin. Gonsoulin and his cane farming brethren can grow sugarcane in just about…
Many Louisiana sugarcane farmers say their farming operation is just a little ol’ family-owned farm, but the Mitchel J. Ourso family of Iberville Parish takes it to an extreme. There are no less than seven families involved in the operation of Ourso Farms….
Ted Broussard: A Farmer’s Farmer To suggest that St. Mary Parish sugarcane farmer Ted Broussard enjoys farm management is an understatement. He is, in fact, driven by a deep desire to continually test his knowledge, his skills and his equipment to be the best…
Do it yourself — that’s the only way that sugarcane farmer Lane Blanchard and his brothers, Harvey and Brant know how to make things happen down at their Iberia Parish farm. “We do everything ourselves,” Lane said. “From tire repair to oil changes — very seldom does…
Grower Profile: The Bubenzer Family Sugar News, July 2014 As a colony for the French and Spanish, Louisiana was pretty much a bust. The only thing Louisiana had going for it prior to 1795 was New Orleans. Whoever controlled New Orleans controlled the commerce of the…