The Sugar Beat
A String of Unfortunate Events
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Gravois spoke of a storm of imports putting American sugar farmers out of business. But then the real storms came. Hurricane Katrina slammed into the state in August 2005, crippling the nation’s biggest sugar refinery and slamming the southeastern corner of the Louisiana sugarcane industry near New Orleans. Hurricane Rita blew in one month later, pushing a wall of seawater some 15 miles inland, burying a huge chunk of the state’s crop in a salty stew of propane tanks, trees, aluminum siding, barges, boats, houses, and wasted wildlife.
Federal disaster assistance following the storms helped, but it was tough going for everyone as sugar prices dropped and fuel and fertilizer costs soared. The financial pressure mounted and Gravois, who had worked the family farm for more than 30 years, made a painful decision to leave an industry he dearly loves. Others in the business were barely hanging on by a thread. “It has become painfully obvious that, even though the 2007 sugarcane crop was a good one in most areas, most growers showed little or no profit,” a well-respected agricultural consultant in southern Louisiana told local ag leaders in an April letter. According to Dr. Calvin Viator, the letter’s author, the situation had become so severe that he advised growers to ask their landlords to explore lease agreements to look for ways to help them survive this difficult period. Little did Dr. Viator know, that difficult period was about to turn catastrophic. Hurricane Gustav came roaring ashore on August 31, as most of the country enjoyed a relaxing Labor Day weekend. The nation’s news media cheered as the storm spared New Orleans. But Gustav was a direct hit on Louisiana’s cane fields.
“There is certainly damage to the crop, but it is much too early to tell the extent of the damage,” explained Jim Simon, the executive director of the American Sugar Cane League (ASCL), which represents the Louisiana industry. “We really need a few weeks of good weather before we can begin to determine the full impact on our industry. “What is clear is that the costs of harvesting our cane will increase sharply... harvesting twisted cane, for re-planting or for delivery to raw sugar processors, requires farmers to slow the harvesters down, which will increase the fuel costs and time requirements for each acre harvested,” he continued. Dean Gravois, who still worries about his friends and neighbors in cane country, said that Hurricanes Gustav and Ike will not keep Louisiana farmers from harvesting and delivering sugarcane this fall. “The growers will see higher costs no matter how much sugar they bring in from the fields, but they will bring it in,” he explained. “The big question is whether they will be able to return to those fields next year. Escalating input costs and falling raw prices at this juncture could force many of our sugarcane growers, or their lenders, to close the books on their farms. This crisis threatens to tear apart the economic fabric of our communities.” Before announcing any market-altering actions in response to recent storms, the sugar farmers still in business certainly hope the government remembers Gravois’ words of caution back in 2005: “If cane goes away, the only thing we’ll grow in south Louisiana is our unemployment rate.” |
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