Mixed Results From The Sugar Harvest

Louisiana sugar cane farmers are reporting an uneven 2014 harvest, one that produced weak yields in the southeastern section of the state but stronger results in lands lying westward.

Sugar brokers are going into 2015 selling the commodity at a price that has rebounded somewhat from last year's low levels.

"It's hard to figure out Mother Nature," said Denny Lanaux, who in the past year grew sugar on 4,827 of his 7,000 acres in St. Charles, St. James and Lafourche parishes.

The results were disappointing, said Lanaux, a third-generation cane farmer.

He said he couldn't put a finger on exactly why his land yielded far fewer tons of cane on each acre.