Cora Texas Manufacturing off to strong start for 2024 sugarcane harvest season
The 2024 sugarcane harvest at Cora Texas Manufacturing Co. in White Castle looks promising after the 2023 drought, with projected yields of 2.1 million tons, surpassing last year’s 1.963 million. Harvesting started earlier this season, and the cane’s maturity is two weeks ahead of last year. Although there are some lingering quality issues from the previous drought, the overall outlook is significantly better. The company remains one of the last 11 operating sugar mills in Louisiana, employing around 1,000 people.
The start of last year’s sugarcane harvest caused major concern for Cora Texas Manufacturing Co., but the 2024 season has brought a much different scenario.
The harvest that began in mid-September looks far brighter, said Charles Schudmak, chief operating officer/secretary for Cora Texas in White Castle.
A year after one of the worst droughts the South endured in nearly 100 years, the 2024 outlook appears much brighter.
He estimated this year’s season will yield a record total of 2.1 million tons, an increase from last year’s final total of 1.963 million tons.
Those totals were worse the further north and further west of the area, Schudmak said
The White Castle sugar mill started the harvest season two weeks earlier.
Meanwhile, the maturity of this year’s cane is about two weeks ahead of where it was at this juncture last season.
“We’re probably going to have one week more worth of cane in comparison to this time last season,” Schudmak said. “This harvest looks much better than what we had last year.”
The drought stretched last year’s season to Jan. 16, about two weeks past the normal end of the harvest
“We waited to weeks later than normal to start to give the cane a little more time to grow, he said.
The 2023 drought triggered losses for sugarcane growers throughout the state and brought fears of a disastrous season.
Cora Texas went into the 2023 season with expectations of a drop in tonnage between 10% and 15%. An autumn cool-down and much-needed rain cut the loss to 5% for most of the growers in Iberville.
“It looks like we’re having some lingering issues from last year’s drought, and with as good a season as we’ve had,” Schudmak said. “The quality of the cane is not as good overall, but still better than last season.
“For people who had the worst drought conditions last season, this year has been much better,” he said. “But it’s too early to tell how much better it will be because we don’t know what the weather will be like between now and then, but it’s still a much better start this season. “
Cora Texas is the last remaining sugarcane mill in Iberville Parish and one of only 11 that still operate in Louisiana.
Between farms and drivers and mills, they have about 1,000 people — farmers included — working every day to keep the factory and the farms in operation.
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