Cane Farmers Grateful for Thanksgiving Work

American Sugar Cane League

For most of the country, November is the month that agricultural activities are winding down and producers start planning for next year. It’s a time for reflection and thanksgiving.

The earliest American thanksgiving tradition goes back to 1621 when English colonists (Pilgrims) of Plymouth, Massachusetts and the indigenous Wampanoag people gave thanks and prepared for the winter. Two centuries later, President Abraham Lincoln, on October 3, 1863, during the Civil War, proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving to be celebrated on Thursday, November 26. President Franklin D. Roosevelt later issued a proclamation in 1942 designating the fourth Thursday in November for the holiday.

But on this November 24 Thanksgiving Day, Louisiana’s sugarcane farmers and millers will be hard at work harvesting and milling cane into raw sugar. Yes, they’ll manage to squeeze in a hearty meal with their families, but sugarcane doesn’t recognize any holidays. Producers are under an unknown deadline to get the crop in before a potential killing freeze descends upon south Louisiana. A freeze, even a light freeze, can lessen sugar content.

So far this year, farmers have a lot of reasons to be grateful. They have a big crop in the field, one that might be as good or better than their record year of 2016. The weather has been mild and dry which makes cane easier to cut and deliver. Growers in Lafourche and Terrebonne suffered Hurricane Ida losses, but they appear to have rebounded and are expecting a bountiful harvest. The early numbers show a 36.4 tons per acre average which would mean more than 17 million tons of cane will be harvested. That will make a lot of raw sugar.

On the other hand, a good year is almost a necessity to offset the higher input costs producers have had to absorb this year. Diesel and gasoline prices are up. High-cost fuel is needed not only to power tractors and trucks, but also to produce fertilizer. Fertilizer costs are up drastically, even as high as 250% over last year. Inflation is also causing prices to go up.

After nine weeks of harvesting, the increased yield has forced an upward revision of the early estimates of crop tonnage and there’s a possibility a few mills may be grinding into February. Extending the harvest season because of a large crop is a good problem to have, but it will increase the stress level of farmers and millers across the cane belt. Farmers have a lot of investment in the crop and are still working to cover expenses. Remember, we are not yet to halftime of the cane harvesting game so there is still a lot on the line before we can call this season a winning one.

But none of these challenges are new for the sugarcane producers. They find a way to endure and grow sugarcane. They’ve been doing it for more than 200 years. They’re happy, they’re grateful and on Thanksgiving Day, they will be thankful.