Sugar cane and strawberry harvesters in Louisiana seem to have plenty of reason for optimism despite damage from the 2016 floods, the LSU AgCenter says in a post published today.
Even though floods, wind and recent freezing temperatures were destructive, some Louisiana strawberry producers are optimistic about the season, the AgCenter says,
“Some of our [strawberry] growers here in Tangipahoa did sustain some damage with the freeze, but overall it’s not too bad,” says LSU AgCenter agent Whitney Wallace in Tangipahoa Parish.
Natalie Jones, farm manager of Faust Farms in Amite, says a combination of tornado-force winds damaged her packing shed, and heavy rains and cold temperatures have also presented challenges. She says she sustained some minor strawberry damage, mainly around the edges of her fields, but expects to be back in the fields picking berries within the next two weeks.
“We do have some berries and blooms that were burnt, and they have to be discarded. But the damage was not that extensive,” Jones said.
Strawberry farmers start planting their crop in late September or early October and finish harvesting by mid- to late May.
Meanwhile, the 2016 Louisiana sugar cane season ended with a record amount of sugar obtained per ton of cane, the LSU AgCenter says.
“Tonnage was really light, but we blew the roof off sugar recovery,” says LSU AgCenter sugar cane specialist Kenneth Gravois.
The average sugar recovery was 246 pounds of sugar per ton of cane, beating the previous record of 232 pounds, Gravois says. The harvest produced an average of 31.5 tons per acre, down 2 tons from last year. Prices held steady around 26 cents a pound, he says.
Weather cooperated for the most part. “It was excellent through the first week of December,” Gravois says.
Jimmy Flanagan, LSU AgCenter county agent in St. Mary Parish, says the year was better than average. “All in all, I think everybody is breathing a sigh of relief,” he said.
Read the LSU AgCenter’s story on strawberry farmers’ optimism, as well as the record sugar cane harvest this year.
