Sugar cane crop could use more rain in Vermilion Parish

You think you are hot? Try being a sugar cane plant sitting in the middle of a field hoping for rain. To make matters worse, they are having to stand and soak up 100 degree temperatures without any shade.
That is what is happening to most sugar cane crops in Vermilion Parish over the last three weeks. While some areas have been blessed with a quick rain here and there, other areas have not gotten any rain in the three weeks or longer.
Rain fell throughout parts of Vermilion Parish dumping as much as an inch of rain over a 30-minute span.
The rain was welcomed, but it is now at a critical point for sugar cane farmer. In the next six to seven weeks farmers will begin harvesting their crop. The taller the crop, the more sugar it will contain, which means more money for farmers.
Right now, although the crop is still growing, it’s growing slower than farmers would like.
In July an average plant was around 81 inches high, and the perfect height for harvesting would be in the 110 inch range.
So, with six weeks left before harvesting, sugar cane needs to grow another 30 inches.
Dan Devenport, the assistant county agent for the LSU Ag Center, said one thing would help sugar cane grow.
“Rain,” said Devenport before the storm on Tuesday. “They could use some. having no rain is slowing down the growth if sugar cane.”
The year started out great for cane farmers in Vermilion. It rained in April and the sugar cane shot up and grew higher than the year before.
In July of 2014, some sugar canes were only 51 inches tall. Then came the rain the next two months and it almost doubled in size, just in time for harvest.
If it continues to rain over the next week, Devenport said the water will surely help the sugar cane.
“We need a slow rain,” he said. “It has been raining hard and the water drains off. Any rain will help at this point.”