As you sit down with family and friends this Thanksgiving, you may not realize how key our nation’s Land-grant Universities are to making sure you have a bounty of food to enjoy. Since 1887, researchers at these public institutions have been conducting research to improve the nutrition and quality of the food we eat. Learn more about NIFA-funded research on foods that may be on your Thanksgiving menu.
Read MoreFor most of the country, November is the month that agricultural activities are winding down and producers start planning for next year. It’s a time for reflection and thanksgiving.
But on this November 24 Thanksgiving Day, Louisiana’s sugarcane farmers and millers will be hard at work harvesting and milling cane into raw sugar. Yes, they’ll manage to squeeze in a hearty meal with their families, but sugarcane doesn’t recognize any holidays. Producers are under an unknown deadline to get the crop in before a potential killing freeze descends upon south Louisiana. A freeze, even a light freeze, can lessen sugar content.
Read MoreThe Louisiana sugarcane belt has seen significant expansion during the past 10 years. Because of this growth, the LSU AgCenter has begun a research project aimed at developing varieties and answering questions growers have in the northern reaches of the cane-growing region. LSU AgCenter reporter Craig Gautreaux has this report from central Louisiana.
Read MoreThe price of diesel is up again this month and according to experts and will likely continue to climb.
Right now, most of Louisiana’s harvest is already over. But sugar cane’s harvest won’t be done until around January. Catherine Floyd helps run a local Sugarmill and says more increases in diesel prices will make it even harder for business.
Read MoreThis Halloween, Americans are estimated to spend a record $3 billion on Halloween candy for a second year in a row.
Despite the inflationary rise of candy prices, the sugar in it still only accounts for a couple cents per treat.
Read MoreU.S. Congressman Garret Graves is asking the Biden Administration to prioritize the U.S. sugarcane farmers over foreign sugar supplies. Graves’ ask to rely on American sugarcane farms comes as the Biden Administration is being pushed to increase imports of foreign sugar.
Read MoreIt’s sugar cane harvesting season and you may see moving equipment on the roadways hauling sugar cane.
KATC has pulled together what you need to know when driving on the roadway this harvesting season
Read MoreU.S. Congressman Garret Graves is asking the Biden Administration to prioritize the U.S. sugarcane farmers over foreign sugar supplies. Graves’ ask to rely on American sugarcane farms comes as the Biden Administration is being pushed to increase imports of foreign sugar.
Read MoreSugar-cane farmers in Terrebonne and Lafourche are optimistic they will finish their ongoing harvest strong after last year put a hurting on their business.
A soggy 2021 was further ruined by Hurricane Ida barreling through the region.
Read MoreIn Louisiana, hundreds of loads of sugarcane need to get from field to mill each day - a task that requires the railroad.
Read MoreFarmers are optimistic this year, saying it could be another record-breaking year for the state’s sugar cane industry.
“Weather has been good so far although planning was so wet. We recovered from that and looking forward to a long harvest,” said Catherine Floyd.
Read MoreThe 2022-23 Louisiana sugarcane harvest is in full swing now and most everyone in the industry is feeling optimistic for a good harvest.
Sugarcane acreage increased again this year. In 2021, 469,000 acres were harvested but this season about 475,000 acres are expected to go to the state’s 11 sugar mills. This is the fifth straight year that cane acreage has increased. Why?
Read MoreAs the gold standard for sweetness, real sugar is worth celebrating! The real sugar we stock in our pantry and use in many of our favorite recipes is grown by sugar beet and sugar cane farmers across the United States. National Real Sugar Day is a day to celebrate the people who harvest sugar crops, learn about sugar’s role in our food and in a balanced diet, and make and enjoy food made with real sugar.
Read MoreIn October 2021, Jason Richard was doing exactly what he is doing this October. He was waking up at the same time before 5 a.m., climbing in the same John Deere, harvesting sugarcane in the same fields and hauling his crop to same place — the nearby Raceland Raw Sugar Corporation. But things looked a little different in Lafourche Parish 12 months ago.
Read MoreSugarcane farmers have begun their harvest, and that means south Louisiana sugar mills have opened their gates to accept the first loads of this year’s crop.
It also means highways are becoming busy with tractors and trucks hauling cane to be processed.
Read More
