Delta Biofuel’s $100 million sugarcane bagasse plant in Iberia Parish is almost complete, as it looks to sustain renewable energy for the state of Louisiana.
This facility is the first to be used in North America for its use of bagasse, a byproduct of sugarcane production. By using a fuel-powered system, it will have the ability to convert the bagasse into over 340,000 metric tons of biomass fuel pellets every year.
Read MoreFunding for agricultural research — which helps protect the livelihoods of countless American farmers, ensure national security and promote economic development — is critical, U.S. Sens. Bill Cassidy and John Boozman said during a July 12 visit to the LSU AgCenter Sugar Research Station in St. Gabriel.
Cassidy, of Louisiana, and Boozman, of Arkansas, toured the station, where they saw the fields and facilities where scientists develop new, higher-yielding sugarcane varieties as well as strategies to help farmers manage pests and improve other aspects of production.
Read MoreOn July 20 2024 the staff of Sugar Journal will celebrate the winners of the 2024 Sugar Notables. “We have so many outstanding individuals in our sugar industry that have done so much to improve and move the industry forward, that we felt we should celebrate the ‘best of the best’ that were selected,” said Romney Richard, publisher and editor of Sugar Journal.
Friday evening Charley and I welcome the Notables, friends and family to our home for cocktails and a meet and greet. That will be at 6pm, 125 South Cortez St. From the hotel it is a short Uber or streetcar ride.
Read MoreAs a first-generation sugar cane farmer and a fourth-generation cattle producer, Amanda Duhon has intimate knowledge of how the nation's meat, grains and produce make their way to grocery shelves and homes.
The food that her family farms on their 800 acres, spread between Lafayette and Maurice, is worked daily by Amanda and her husband, Kelsi Duhon. Often she's working with a baby strapped to her chest, or caring for the Duhon's three sons while her husband is out late during planting season.
Read MoreOn May 28, 2024 bipartisan legislation passed both the Louisiana House with 99 Yeas and 0 Nays and the Louisiana Senate 31 Yeas and 0 Nays. LA HCR-42 (2024) places focus of bagasse utilization and was generated by testimony provided by Dr. Clyde (Pat) Bagley and Agricultural Commissioner, The Honorable Dr. Michael Strain.
Read MoreThe LSU AgCenter will hold its sugarcane field day Wednesday, July 17, at the Sugar Research Station in St. Gabriel.
The day will begin with a field tour covering multiple topics from AgCenter specialists.
Read MoreLandowners need to be very careful when approached by solar power developers and do their due diligence before signing on the dotted line, advised an energy expert attorney at the June 29 sugar commodity meeting at the 102nd Annual Louisiana Farm Bureau convention at the New Orleans Marriott Hotel.
Only about 25 percent of all the proposed solar projects will ever come to fruition said Emory Belton, an energy attorney from Baton Rouge.
Read MoreThe USDA recently released its annual Acreage Report which provides markets a more accurate idea of spring planting progress and what potential supply implications may be in store for the 2024 crop year. On the demand side, USDA also released its Quarterly Grain Stocks report which shows usage rates between March 1, 2024 and June 1, 2024. These changes in supply levels will impact 2023/24 ending stocks and 2024/25 beginning stock levels which will subsequently be reflected in the July World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report.
Read MoreSugarcane varieties are the lifeblood of the Louisiana sugar industry. Therefore, variety selection is one of the most important decisions on the farm. This decision has long-term consequences. The goal is to maximize profitability on every acre of the farm for each year of a long crop cycle.
Read MoreEvery five years, Congress takes up the sprawling farm bill, a laden piece of legislation that impacts millions of Americans nationwide and has broad ramifications for agricultural and other policy.
Many Louisianans are anxiously awaiting congressional action.
The state's more than 400 sugar farmers are at the top of the list. Since 1981, the bill has provided a number of supports to Louisiana's two-century-old sugar industry through subsidies, price-floors and loans that protect local farmers from inexpensive imported sugar.
Read MoreIt is critical to consider the relationship between macroeconomic forces and the balance of global sugar supply and demand when examining sugar markets.
Global economic expansion, along with a world population that is growing at approximately 1% per year (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2024), supports strong sugar demand globally, which typically also supports world prices.
Read MoreLouisiana is a leading American producer of sugarcane. Sugarcane is a tropical plant that typically has a growing season of 12 months or longer, but our enterprising sugarcane growers and millers have learned how to grow a top crop in just nine. Because we can grow a commercial sugarcane crop in such a short time, we are regarded as “heroes of the sugarcane world” by the international cane community.
What do we make of our sugarcane? The main products are raw sugar and molasses. We make those two products really well and we make a lot of it. In 2023 we produced nearly two million tons of raw sugar and 100 million gallons of molasses. Another product made from sugarcane is rum.
Read MoreGillian Eggleston, director of the LSU AgCenter’s Audubon Sugar Institute, has become only the third woman to win the prestigious Crystal Award for Achievement in Sugar Technology since its inception in 1961.
Read MoreSugar, soybean and rice growers, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the crop insurance industry on Monday issued statements praising the farm bill discussion draft released Friday by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., but the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition vigorously criticized it.
Neil Rockstad, a Minnesota sugarbeet grower who is president of the American Sugarbeet Growers Association, and Patrick Frischhertz, a Louisiana sugarcane grower and eighth-generation farmer, said, “We thank the House Agriculture Committee for the strengthened U.S. sugar policy contained in this bill which will help ensure that America’s 11,000 sugar beet and sugarcane farmers and our workers can continue producing an essential ingredient in our food supply, maintain resilient supply chains, and meet the needs of American families and all of our customers.”
Read MoreU.S. Congresswoman Monica De La Cruz introduced legislation designed to help farmers and ranchers in South Texas impacted by Mexico’s failure to deliver the water it owes the United States under the 1944 Water Treaty.
The lack of water and uncertainty led to the closure of Texas’ only remaining sugar mill earlier this year as sugarcane growers cannot produce a crop without irrigation water.
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