Fertilizer prices are on the rise. Make informed nutrient management decisions based on soil testing and following these guidelines.
Attached are the 2022 sugarcane soil fertility recommendations.
Read More
Andre Reis was born and reared n the big city of Sao Paulo, Brazil, but at 16, he decided he wanted to go to the countryside and study agriculture. His career path has taken him to many places, the latest being the LSU AgCenter Dean Lee Research and Extension Center near Alexandria.
Read More
Orders have been pouring into Andrew Schuman's candy cane business this year, but business has been anything but sweet.
"We're not taking new orders from new customers," said Schuman, chief executive officer of Hammond's, based in Denver, Colorado. "We can't keep up with demand."
Candy makers, like retailers and farmers, have been slammed during the pandemic with high commodity prices, labor shortages, and transportation and supply chain snarls, preventing them from fully cashing in on the holiday season.
Read More
The US Department of Agriculture in its Dec. 9 World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report lowered from November its estimate of 2020-21 and 2021-22 US sugar ending stocks and stocks-to-use ratios with the current year reductions mainly due to lower production in Louisiana.
Read More
After a near all-time record crop last year, Louisiana sugarcane growers can’t help but be a little bit disappointed with the 2021 crop. Growing conditions were challenging throughout the year, leading to a lighter crop. LSU AgCenter reporter Craig Gautreaux has this report from Assumption Parish.
Read More
Sugarcane producer Keith Dugas of Assumption Parish loves farming. He loves everything about it.
He remembers watching his father, the late Lloyd Dugas, on the tractor and he couldn’t wait for his turn.
“My father came from a family of ten brothers and one sister,” Dugas said. “Four of the brothers farmed and then went on to other things as they got older.”
Farming during the elder Dugas’s time was different. It was certainly labor intensive, and
took a lot of hands to bring in a sugarcane crop. Other crops and livestock were grown as well. Moss picking was still a thing in Assumption
Read More
In the wee hours of the morning, as his train rumbled through sugar cane fields in central Louisiana, Union Pacific Locomotive Engineer Cory Van Mol watched in disbelief as a farm tractor failed to yield at a private crossing.
The tractor made it across, but Van Mol didn’t let the close call end there. He wanted to do something to try to prevent more close calls or potential tragedies during the sugar cane harvest in Louisiana.
Read More
The LSU AgCenter hosted a sugarcane field day at Dugas Farm, Inc. on Oct. 20 in Assumption Parish. The field day was supported by the Patrick F. Taylor Foundation.
The Taylor Foundation awarded a grant to the LSU AgCenter to fund a four-year research project on reducing nutrient runoff from crop fields. Forty-two event attendees were provided with unique learning opportunities and hands-on demonstrations that highlighted the benefits of the best management practices being researched on this project.
Read More
A few weeks of dry weather are giving St. Mary sugar cane farmers a break, although it's a working break.
After what experts called a great 2020 cane crop, farmers have worried their way through a hard freeze in February, pushed machinery through mud created by months of heavy rain and watched with trepidation while tropical weather approached.
The US Department of Agriculture in its Oct. 12 World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report raised from September its estimate of 2020-21 sugar ending stocks but lowered its forecast for 2021-22 ending stocks as lower imports and lower cane sugar production more than offset higher beginning stocks and higher beet sugar production.
For 2020-21, which ended Sept. 30, the USDA lowered domestic cane sugar production by about 20,000 tons, raw value, as a late start to the sugar cane harvest in Louisiana pushed more sugar into the new marketing year. Beet sugar production was unchanged from September.
Read More
The sugarcane crop is ready to harvest, and Louisiana’s 11 sugar mills are grinding cane 24 hours a day.
About 15.5 million tons of cane is expected to be harvested this year. Based on past performance, the United States Department of Agriculture’s World Agricultural Supply & Demand Estimates is predicting we’ll produce about 1.8 million tons of raw sugar from that 15.5 million tons.
Read More
The LSU AgCenter will host a Sugarcane Field Day on Oct. 20 at Keith Dugas Farm in Assumption Parish.
The forum is supported by the Patrick F. Taylor Foundation and Natural Resource Conservation Service. The Foundation awarded a grant to the LSU AgCenter to fund a four-year research and demonstration project on reducing nutrient runoff from crop fields.
Read More
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has directed the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to aid recovery efforts for farmers, ranchers and residents affected by Hurricane Ida. USDA staff in offices across the country are ready to respond with a variety of program flexibilities and other assistance to producers and communities in need.
Read More
In February 2021, after sugarcane was made eligible for the USDA- Quality Loss Adjustment (QLA) program, many Louisiana sugarcane farmers applied for Quality Loss Adjustment (QLA) payments for the 2018 and/or the 2019 crop year(s) with many Louisiana sugarcane producers receiving Quality Loss Adjustment (QLA) payments for one or both crop year(s).
Read More
Sugarcane is a tall perennial grass of tropical origin that is cultivated for its ability to store sucrose in its stalks. Attempts to grow sugarcane in Louisiana began in the early 1700s. In the 1750s, the French Jesuits were among the first to successfully grow and harvest several crops of sugarcane at their New Orleans plantation. However, it was not until 1795 when Étienne de Boré, aided by experienced “sugar makers” from Haiti, successfully granulated about 100,000 pounds of sugar that Louisiana farmers recognized sugarcane as a potential cash crop.
Read More