Collaboration Secret To Sugarcane's Success
By Jim Simon
American Sugarcane League
One of the reasons the American Sugar Cane League has been so successful in improving the sugarcane industry is its ability to collaborate.
We’ve partnered with several groups over the last 100 years. Among them are the United States Department of Agriculture, Louisiana State University AgCenter and the American Sugar Alliance but we’ve especially enjoyed a close relationship with the Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation.
The League held its board of directors meeting November 30 at the Forest Inn in Franklin in conjunction with Farm Bureau’s Sugar Advisory Committee and they helped us to organize an informative meeting with presentations from specialists from across the agricultural community. It’s this type of partnership that has helped us stay abreast of the local, state and national issues that affect sugarcane and agriculture in general.
In addition to an in-person report from Jack Pettus, the League’s Washington representative, we also heard a labor report from Brian Breaux, Farm Bureau’s senior commodity and public policy director. Breaux said the wage rates paid to our guest workers will be increasing and producers should plan accordingly. They also noted that the next Congress will have many new representatives in both houses that have never voted for a farm bill and stressed that the League and Farm Bureau will have to work hard to educate the freshmen members.
Dr. Kenneth Gravois of the LSU AgCenter reported on what appears to be a record cane crop in the fields and speculated that Louisiana had a chance to be the number one sugarcane state for 2022.
Dr. Rob Johansson, American Sugar Alliance director of economics and policy analysis said inflation has influenced costs. He observed that yes, Thanksgiving dinner cost more, but wages had also risen, and the average American had to work fewer hours to pay for the traditional Thanksgiving meal. The ASA is the organization that represents the sugarcane industries of Louisiana, Florida and Texas and the midwestern beet growing states.
Perhaps the highlight of the evening was recognition of Jack Roney. Roney retired from his economics director position with the ASA in 2020 but was not able to attend any recognition ceremonies due to the pandemic travel restrictions. In his comments, Roney noted a few anecdotes about national political leaders including the late Senator Ted Kennedy and how Senator John Breaux secured Kennedy’s vote for sugar policy.
Kennedy, Roney said, was very protective of the United States Navy shipyard in Massachusetts and the Sea Wolf submarine project in particular. Roney said Breaux reminded Kennedy that Louisiana had its own “Sea Wolf” (the sugarcane industry) and was able to secure the first positive vote from Massachusetts to support sugar policy.
The League presented Roney with a special engraved cane knife commemorating his years of service to the sugar industry.
In general, Louisiana’s sugarcane industry is positioned well for 2023 and we are optimistic for the future.