WAFB-TV reporter Cheryl Mercedes report from St. James Parish that the Sunshine Bridge closure will have an effect on the sugarcane industry. WATCH THE REPORT.
Sunshine Bridge closure takes a toll on sugarcane farmers
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Louisiana sugarcane
Ronald Hebert
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…
Viator Family
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…
Louisiana Sugarcane News Podcast: The Viator Family of St. Mary Parish
Welcome to the Sugarcane News Podcast brought to you by the American Sugar Cane League, the voice of the Louisiana sugarcane industry. I’m your host, Sam Irwin, and today we are visiting with the descendants of Abara and Mae Viator, a family who has made their living…
U.S. sugar supplies expected to be tight for 2018-19
NEW ORLEANS — The United States Department of Agriculture is expecting sugar beet production to be reduced about four percent and sugarcane about three percent from 2017-18 levels for the 2018-19 crop years, said LSU AgCenter economist Michael Deliberto. Deliberto…
Lula Westfield: A Sugarcane Family
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
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’s Gold Standard
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…
Pierre “Pete” Lanaux
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…