New York, September 03, 2008 - The extent of Hurricane Gustav's damage to Louisiana's sugar cane crop was still unknown as rain continued to fall, the American Sugar Cane League (ASCL) said Wednesday.
Continued rain in the region triggered flash floods, making it difficult to know the root conditions of the crop, Jim Simon, general manager of the ASCL said in a statement.
"There is certainly damage to the crop, but it is much too early to tell the extent of the damage," he said.
Louisiana produces about 20 percent of the sugar grown in the United States, according to the ASCL.
In the aftermath of Gustav, which hit Louisiana on Monday as a Category 2 hurricane, Simon expected costs of harvesting the cane to increase.
"Because of the rainy weeks that preceded Gustav, we only had approximately 15 percent of the new cane planted before the storm, so farmers will be working to complete the bulk of their planting in less-than-ideal conditions, which will drive up the fuel component of their planting costs," he said.
Additional costs will stem from harvesting twisted cane for re-planting or for delivery to raw sugar processors. That requires farmers to slow the harvesters down, and will "increase fuel costs and time requirements for each acre harvested," Simon said.