November is a season of gratitude, a time when most farmers across the country have wrapped up their harvests and turned their attention to winter and next year’s plans. It is very different in the cane belt. For Louisiana’s sugarcane producers, November means one thing, the hardest push of the year.
While families gather around their Thanksgiving tables, sugarcane farmers and mill workers will be out in the fields and at the mills harvesting and processing cane into raw sugar. The crop does not take holidays off and neither can they. Timing is everything in this business and when it comes to harvest its 24/7 for the 100 plus day harvest season.
This year’s harvest is more thant 50% percent complete. The early part of the year brought concern after a rare snowfall across the cane belt along with two freezes. The good news is that those cold snaps were followed by ample rainfall this summer and, so far, a relatively dry harvest season. After a slow start, sugar levels have been encouraging, and producers are watching to see if that trend holds through the final stretch without any heavy rainfall, late hurricane or early freeze to put a damper on what could be an above average crop.
Every year tells a different story from the sugarcane fields. Some seasons test the patience of even the most experienced growers while others reward them with record yields. No matter the outcome of the previous year, sugarcane farmers approach each harvest with the same steady commitment and optimism that have sustained this industry for more than two centuries.
The work is demanding. It takes 100 days straight of cutting, hauling and milling. It is also deeply rewarding. Sugarcane farming is not a solo act. It is a family affair and during the holidays that family extends from the growers in the fields to the factory crews keeping the mills running around the clock.
Louisiana’s 11 mills and hundreds of growers make up a network of resilience and pride. Their work supplies the sugar that sweetens millions of tables across America. So, this Thanksgiving, when you stir sugar into your coffee or bake that pecan pie, take a moment to be thankful for the people behind that sweetness.
Speaking of pecan pie try this try Louisianan favorite only made possible by our sugarcane farmers and millers.
Cane Syrup Pecan Pie.
Mix 1 cup cane syrup, 3 eggs, 1 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons melted butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in 1½ cups pecans, pour into an unbaked 9-inch pie crust, and bake at 350°F for 60 to 70 minutes. Let it cool two hours before serving.
For Louisiana’s sugarcane families, Thanksgiving is not a day off. They’ll find a little time in the day to celebrate with their families before going back out to work in the fields, knowing their labor makes the celebration sweeter at dinner tables across the country.
For everyone at the League, I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving!