If you have been anywhere near a cane field lately, you can feel it. The trucks are on the road before daylight, steam from the mills is back in the air and harvest season is officially underway. After a long summer of waiting, planning and watching the weather,…
Louisiana sugarcane grower Travis Medine approached the 101st annual Agricultural Outlook Forum, hosted by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in Washington, D.C., with mixed feelings. “It’s difficult to leave because you’re always thinking about what…
If there’s one thing that transcends borders, languages and generations, it’s the shared experience of farming. That bond was evident when Kevin and Kayla Veenstra, a farming couple from Alberta, Canada, swapped the icy grip of a Canadian winter for an unseasonably…
As we move into the holiday season, we have much for which to be thankful when we look at the broader picture of the Louisiana sugarcane industry. The final report for 2023 shows that the industry remains strong as it enters its third century of sugar production….
It will be weeks before the LSU AgCenter and Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry can make a full assessment of the damage Hurricane Francine inflicted upon Louisiana agriculture. However, American Sugar Cane League General Manager Jim Simon said he is…
There is more optimism in the Louisiana sugarcane industry this year compared to last year as near-normal rain patterns have the crop in good shape. LSU AgCenter correspondent Craig Gautreaux has this report from the cane fields of south Louisiana. (Video 07/24/24)…
In Louisiana, we have many seasons. There is summer, of course, which seems to last all year sometimes. Then there’s football season, duck hunting season, Mardi Gras and crawfish season. In the Louisiana sugarcane agricultural world, we are entering into the field day…
Louisiana is a leading American producer of sugarcane. Sugarcane is a tropical plant that typically has a growing season of 12 months or longer, but our enterprising sugarcane growers and millers have learned how to grow a top crop in just nine. Because we can grow a…
The Louisiana sugarcane industry has persevered for more than 225 years, even though it is a tropical crop is growing in a temperate environment. Growers regularly face a challenging climate, which includes the threat of early winter freezes before the crop is…