Posts in Sugarcane
Field Stop Highlights Soil Conservation Practices

This year’s annual field day at the LSU AgCenter Sugar Research Station featured a stop that highlighted several conservation practices.

Kenneth Gravois, AgCenter sugarcane specialist, joined Brenda Tubaña, AgCenter soil scientist, and Bruno Nicchio, AgCenter postdoctoral researcher, to explain how sugarcane farmers can benefit from implementing these practices. The July 16 event drew a record-breaking audience of more than 300 people.

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Growing Sugarcane in Coastal Louisiana Challenges Farmers in 2025

Farmer Clint Judice represents the seventh generation of his family to farm sugarcane in the heart of southern Louisiana. Challenging soils and proximity to the coast, along with this year’s blizzard bringing 10 inches of snow, make producing nature’s sweetest crop a challenge.

St. Mary Parish, where Judice farms around 4,000 acres of sugarcane, is one of Louisiana’s top sugar-producing parishes. In January, it also was home to the county’s southernmost blizzard warning.

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Louisiana Sugarcane Farmers Hopeful as Coca-Cola Considers Real Sugar Shift

An announcement from President Donald Trump has sparked excitement among sugarcane farmers and processors in South Louisiana. Coca-Cola is reportedly considering a switch from high fructose corn syrup to real cane sugar in its US-manufactured beverages.

President Trump stated that the Atlanta-based Coca-Cola, which has a facility in Lafayette, has agreed to this change. The potential shift is creating a buzz in the local sugar industry, as it could boost demand for cane sugar.

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Louisiana Sugarcane Farmers Hopeful After Trump Claims Coca-Cola Will Switch To Real Sugar

Sugar cane farmers and agriculture experts from Louisiana say President Donald Trump’s recent announcement that Coca-Cola had agreed to switch from using artificial sweeteners to real cane sugar could be good news for the industry.

Patrick Frischertz is a farmer at St. Louis Planting, a sugar cane and soybean farm in Plaquemine. He is getting everything ready at the farm, which has been operated by the same family for eight generations, for the start of sugar cane planting season.

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Sugarcanedon molino
Trump’s Bid to Add Cane Sugar to Coke Could Cost America Thousands of Agricultural Jobs, Trade Group Warns

U.S. corn producers are sounding the alarm on President Donald Trump’s efforts to switch Coca-Cola products away from using corn syrup in favor of cane sugar, claiming the change will wreak havoc on the agricultural industry.

Changes in demand for corn syrup, such as that used in Coke, would increase demand for cane sugar in Louisiana and Florida, as well as from Central and South America, where the sweetener is heavily tariffed.

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2025 Sugarcane Variety Performance

Sugarcane varieties are the lifeblood of the Louisiana sugar industry. Therefore, variety selection is one of the most important decisions on the farm — a decision with long-term consequences. The goal is to maximize profitability on every acre of the farm for each year of a long crop cycle.

Sugarcane variety choices for planting in 2025 are many. L 01-299 and HoCP 14-885 will continue to be widely planted by producers across the Louisiana sugar industry. L 15-306 and HoL 15-508, new variety releases from 2022, should occupy a moderate portion of your planting acreage because of excellent stubbling ability and yield potential.

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Sugar Industry Leaders Tackle Federal Food Policy, Farm Innovation at Louisiana Farm Bureau Convention

Federal food policy changes and a homegrown farming innovation that’s improving water quality in Acadiana highlighted this week’s Sugar Conference at the Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation’s 103rd Annual Convention.

The two-hour session drew growers, processors, and policymakers from across the state to hear updates on issues shaping the future of Louisiana’s $4 billion sugarcane industry. While several speakers focused on farm policy and economic conditions, two key topics stood out.

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Fewer Farms Produce More Sugar

Like many other agricultural sectors, there has been consolidation in United States (US) farm-level sugar production. Sugar is a unique commodity because about 56% of the domestic production of sugar originates from sugarbeets and 44% originates from sugarcane.  

The US domestic production of sugar has increased from 8.02 million short tons raw value (STRV) in 1997 to 9.31 million STRV in 2024, an increase of 16%.

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A New Variety and a New Chapter for Louisiana Sugarcane

In Louisiana, sugarcane isn’t just a crop, it is part of who we are. And this summer, the people who grow it, grind it and study it will come together once again for a tradition that keeps this industry strong: field days.

Hosted by the United States Department of Agriculture, LSU AgCenter, and the American Sugar Cane League, these gatherings give growers a chance to visit research farms, hear the latest updates and talk directly with the scientists working on their behalf. It is where new ideas are shared, old ones are tested and the future of Louisiana sugarcane takes shape.

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Sugar 101: Putting American Jobs First

Farm policy is about much more than just the farm – it affects countless jobs from the field to the factory. Sugar is the main engine of economic growth in dozens of communities across the country, and much of the sugar made in America is done so by a union workforce. Supporting a strong U.S. sugar policy means supporting good, American manufacturing jobs.  

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