Sugarcane Appears to Have Survived Barry with Little Damage

By Don Molino, The Voice of Louisiana Agriculture Radio Network

Hurricane Barry didn’t turn out to be anywhere near as devastating as was being predicted when the storm was churning in the Gulf of Mexico. Barry made landfall as barely a Category One hurricane and was quickly downgraded to a tropical storm.

Most crops in Louisiana also dodged another bullet in terms of damage from the rain and high winds.

“Sugarcane is a tropical crop so we need tropical weather to make a tropical crop,” said Jim Simon, General Manager of the American Sugarcane League in Thibodaux. “Unfortunately, sometimes tropical weather brings some damaging weather. But this was minimal for us.”

Simon said while the cane is leaning a bit it’s not laying down flat. “When cane lays down flat and it has to start righting itself, that causes a little bit more trouble. But just the leaning cane like it is we feel pretty certain it’s gonna right itself.”

Simon also pointed out some areas of the sugarcane belt in Louisiana actually needed some moisture. “Up in the northern reaches they got some nice soaking rain. So all in all we’re hopeful this is gonna be another good crop for Louisiana.”

The storm had some wider bands that were a bit more damaging from a wind perspective. “So probably the area from New Iberia a little bit east toward Franklin was where the worst hit areas were located and some low lying areas took on some water.”

“But when you’re talking about 450,000 acres of sugarcane, a thousand acres throughout a broad region is not terribly difficult. It can be significant for specific farmers. But overall, for the industry, we should be in pretty decent shape,” said Simon.