As sugarcane planting nears completion across south Louisiana and growers prepare for the start of harvest season, farmers are facing an additional challenge in their fields in the pasture mealybug.
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Sugarcane farmers across Acadiana are wrapping up this year’s planting season, but a dry spell, high fuel prices, and pest problems in the fields have some growers bracing for a smaller harvest than last year.
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One topic seemed to be on everyone’s mind as Louisiana’s sugarcane field day season got underway this summer: the pasture mealybug.
The invasive insect, first identified in a handful of Louisiana sugarcane last year by crop consultants, has quickly become one of the industry’s top research priorities.
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) announced today that it does not expect to purchase and sell sugar under the Feedstock Flexibility Program for crop year 2026, which runs from Oct. 1, 2026, to Sept. 30, 2027.
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We finally got the data back from the LSU Ag Chemistry lab evaluated imidacloprid residue in/on leaves collected 2 and 6 days after application using drop tips from a hiboy, overhead with a CO2 backpack sprayer or untreated control plants (where the hiboy went through but did not actively spray in that area). We then collected leaves (n=5 per treatment) with no visible symptoms (green), those with partial symptoms (yellowing either at the tip or along half of the leaf), and those fully yellowed.
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Sugarcane farmers from across the country gathered in Colorado for the American Sugar Alliance’s 41st Annual International Sweetener Symposium to address pressing industry challenges.
Growers focused on the combined impacts of recent drought, invasive pests and foreign trade pressures affecting domestic production.
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U.S. sugar producers and policymakers are pressing for changes to what they say is an outdated tariff structure that is contributing to record-high sugar stocks.
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Sugarcane diseases are managed primarily through varietal resistance, which is an inherent trait that is selected by breeders with the help of plant pathologists. Resistance can be described as the ability that a variety has to fight diseases. Our sugarcane varieties in Louisiana were selected over the years to resist diseases, however, sometimes pathogens change and are able to overcome these resistant traits. Additionally, some of our varieties cannot completely resist diseases, therefore, we need to manage these diseases in an integrated way, by incorporating new management strategies in our farms.
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U.S. sugar demand remains firm, but wider use of GLP-1 weight-loss medications and growing health concerns could weaken the market over time. CoBank food and beverage economist Billy Roberts says producers should focus less on current stability and more on how consumption patterns may shift.
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Almost across the board this past week, we were still seeing mostly (and many) young nymphs and few adults.
A new insecticide test just put out (7/31) on last year’s infested cane comparing imidacloprid impregnated potash, soil treatments, and foliar treatments. This field has previously been treated this year, but yellowing has increased dramatically in the past few weeks.
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If you ask Denise Wright how she found her way into agricultural research and consulting, she won’t tell you it was part of some carefully planned career path. She’ll simply tell you she grew up in Bayou Jacque, loved being outdoors and loved agriculture.
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Louisiana sugarcane producers are expecting another strong crop, but the spread of the invasive pasture mealybug is becoming a growing concern for the industry.
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Entergy Louisiana’s proposed Cypress Harvest Solar project is drawing opposition from residents who say converting productive sugarcane fields along Highway 75 into a solar farm is inefficient and harmful to local agriculture.
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Sugarcane growers learned about a fertilizer management tool designed to improve efficiency and reduce input costs during a field day July 22 at the LSU AgCenter Iberia Research Station.
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Louisiana's sweetest crop is under attack from an Australian native insect that arrived in the United States last year.
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