Sugarcane farmers’ yield less the previous years after record drought
YOUNGSVILLE, La. (KLFY) — Sugarcane farmers have been experiencing a record-breaking drought.
Eddie Lewis III, the operator of Eddie Lewis Cane Farm, LLC, mentioned that the harvest season had started rough. He said he started harvesting in September and October, and the cane was coming out 15 to 20 tons to the acre, which is below average.
“Just looking at the overall crop. We won’t know anything until early January, but we’re probably looking at about a 35 to 40% loss,” said Lewis. “This {drought} is something that’s never happened in Louisiana or American history. So it’s something that we can learn from as an industry. But right now, everyone’s hands are in the air.”
However, he has been seeing an improvement with the rain. Lewis said the season has prepared him for next year, where he is thinking about irrigation, which means he would dig water wells and pump some water just in case.
“The hardest, you know, March, April, May, the crop looked like a bumper crop, and it looked like we had a pretty good crop out there. Then we went three months in the drought, and it kind of killed the cane,” Lewis explains. “While out in the sugarcane field, while seeing some workers in action, Lewis showed how the plant cane was doing well, but he said it is only 25% of the crop they harvest. The other 75 % is older stubble, which needs a lot of rain.
Stuart Gauthier, the county agent with LSU AG Center, said there are some pros to having a dry harvest season, where harvest fields are done rapidly.
“The good thing about a dry harvest season is that you don’t mess up your fields. You’re not rotting the fields; you’re not damaging the stubble or cutting it. You’re not creating drainage problems in the field,” said Gauthier. “So, very often, your crop the following year benefits from that. So, you often will have a strong crop the next year when you have a dry harvest season of the preceding year.”
He explained how in St. Martin Parish, farmers will be wrapping up in early January, but most farmers are over halfway done.
“The good thing is the price of sugar is good, and that’s going to help, but unfortunately, when you take a 25% to 30% reduction in your yield, that’s going to take a big bite out of any profit you’d hope to make,” said Gauthier.
Furthermore, the hope is the weather works in farmers’ favor.
“If we would have a very hard freeze, that could add insult to injury. So we’re just hoping that we can dodge a bullet in terms of any cold weather in the next few weeks,” he said. “The good thing is that we’re getting later in the year, and sometimes, even if we do get a freeze, if we can go another, you know, maybe three weeks without a freeze, you know, even though we get a really late freeze, sometimes it is not near as devastating.”
Lewis encouraged the community to watch out for the 18-wheelers and tractors on the road.
“It’s getting a little wet. We are putting a little more on the road. We’re cleaning it up right after we finished,” Lewis said. “What’s next is putting this crop behind me and getting started with the 24 crop and see if we can do a little bit better next year.”
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