Louisiana sugarcane farmers harvested most of crop before hard freeze
In Louisiana, the weather is always challenging for agricultural producers and this year was no different.
It is reported by wafb.com.
The beginning of October marks the start of the harvest season for sugarcane farmers. Coming off of days of back-to-back freezing temperatures, there were concerns about this year’s crop.
«One of the risks we deal with is a freeze at the end of the crop before we finish harvesting», — said Dr. Kenneth Gravois with the LSU AgCenter.
At the time of the latest freeze, which brought an arctic blast of unprecedented temperatures, 80% to 85% of the crop was already harvested.
«The effect of a freeze is it will kill the plant. If it is cold enough, it can split the stalk. It could serve as an entry point for bacteria to deteriorate sugar into nonsugar products», — explained Gravois.
Louisiana sugarcane is arguably the most successful crop in the history of the state and vital to the economy.
«It’s not unprecedented we get a freeze. However, this freeze was more severe than the past, but right now, factories are processing crops with normal sucrose recovery», — added Gravois.