News - Page 43 of 51 - American Sugar Cane League

DOC Announces Action to Stop Mexican Dumping of Subsidized Sugar with Duties, Unless Deal Reached

The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) yesterday announced that it would end the anti-dumping and countervailing duty suspension agreements in place with Mexico and impose duties on Mexican sugar beginning June 5, unless the two countries can reach an accord before then to stop Mexico's unfair trading practices. Phillip Hayes, a spokesman for the American Sugar Alliance, released the…

The ‘zero-for-zero’ policy on sugar could be a roadmap forward for the US on trade

Louisiana's sugarcane farmers are among the most efficient in the world so why do they need trade protection? Because the world sugar market is a dump market. Read this story from The Hill about the bold "zero for zero" trade policy proposal. The 'zero-for-zero' policy on sugar could be a roadmap forward for the U.S. on tradeby Mario Lopez,…

Sugar Producers Seek Trade Protection After One State Ends Production

It was a sad day when Hawaii's sugarcane industry closed up shop last year. Why did Hawaii go out of business? For many reasons but low prices had a lot to do with it. Here is a video report on the United States sugarcane industry from Iowa Public Television's Market to Market show. Story by Josh Buettner.Chris Benjamin/President &…

The issue with a visa cap

Louisiana's sugarcane industry is unique. It produces a top flight sugar harvest that is the envy of the world but if the the state's mills cannot get the guest workers it needs to make raw sugar from cane juice our 221-year-old industry may be in jeopardy. Read Baton Rouge Business Report's April 11, 2017 on the trouble with the…

Weather is weather

Folks who are prone to quoting old adages like "Everybody complains about the weather, but nobody does anything about it,” often incorrectly attribute the famous saying to Mark Twain, but it was Twain’s contemporary, writer Charles Dudley Warner, who coined the phrase. Twain, a gifted speaker, quoted the saying in a speech and got the credit for an interesting…

Louisiana sugarcane farmers support “zero-for-zero” policy

Gary Gravois, 51, a third-generation sugarcane farmer in Louisiana’s Assumption Parish, cultivates nearly 2100-acres along with his older brother, Laurent. They are efficient family farmers and believe they can compete with any cane farmer in the world. "Louisiana’s total sugarcane production is worth about $3 billion to our state economy but it can be drastically affected by Brazil’s huge…

Louisiana sugarcane farmer addresses National Farm Bill Summit

A fifth-generation Louisiana sugarcane farmer and the president of the American Sugarbeet Growers Association were among the speakers invited to address legislators, Administration officials, and reporters about the upcoming Farm Bill debate at the Farm Bill Summit in Washington D.C. The Farm Bill summit, organized by Agri-Pulse, was held March 20 at the National Press Club. Travis Medine, a…

Sugarcane farmers head back to school for LSU AgCenter program

Twenty-six farmers and others who work in the Louisiana sugar industry have begun a six-month program that will help them learn about important scientific and economic topics. The LSU AgCenter Sugarcane Production School held its first session on March 16 and 17 on the LSU campus. The school will hold monthly two-day sessions until September. "It is designed to…

League elects new officers

The American Sugar Cane League selected a White Castle sugar mill operator as president of the organization at the group’s annual meeting at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel February 7. Charles Schudmak of Cora Texas Manufacturing Company will serve two years as president of the 95-year-old organization. He previously served as the League’s vice president. He holds a Master…

Bittersweet: Is it sugar vs. the world?

Courtney Gaine believes in her product so much she eats M&Ms for breakfast. Gaine is the president and CEO of the Sugar Association, a trade association based in Washington, D.C. Peculiar diet aside, she nonetheless looks fit enough to step back on the basketball court for the University of Connecticut, where she played four seasons for legendary coach Geno…

Sugar school to begin this year

A new school for Louisiana sugarcane farmers will begin classes this year on the LSU campus, the manager for the American Sugar Cane League said at a series of grower meetings. Jim Simon announced the plan at LSU AgCenter meetings in St. Martinville and Jeanerette for sugarcane farmers. The school will be patterned after the LSU AgCenter Ag Leadership…

Louisiana sugar harvest sets record

The 2016 Louisiana sugarcane season has ended with a record set for the amount of sugar obtained per ton of cane. "Tonnage was really light, but we blew the roof off sugar recovery,” said LSU AgCenter sugarcane specialist Kenneth Gravois. The average sugar recovery set a record at 246 pounds of sugar per ton of cane. The previous record…

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