Sugarcane Crop Expected to Rebound After Hurricane Francine

By Avery J. Davidson

Louisiana Farm Bureau News

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 confident the state’s sugarcane farmers will not see major losses due to the storm.

“We've been growing sugar cane in Louisiana for some 200 years,” Simon said. “We've faced every kind of calamity you can imagine and this is just another one of them. I feel certain that the impacts of the storm will be minimal. Some will be affected a little more than others, but we're resilient.”

Simon said one reason he is so optimistic is because of the condition of the cane across the state.

“We had moisture during the summer, which is really needed to get cane growing well,” said Simon. “And then we needed it to dry up starting in August so that we could plant next year's crop, we had this dry spell in that allowed us to get the vast majority of our acreage planted.”

Sugarcane harvest is set to begin next week, according to Louisiana Sugar Cane Cooperative President Mike Melancon. Both Melancon and Simon agreed that Francine likely caused some cane to lodge, but that good weather in the following days would allow the stalks to right themselves and not cause problems at harvest.

“Our growers and millers are very resilient,” Simon said. “And I'm certain that we'll be able to manage through Hurricane Francine without any significant difficulties or effects.”