Planting Cane

[tbradsim1]

Every 4 yrs cane is replanted, stalks 2 to 4 ft long laid length wise in middle of row, labor intensive. Men walk behind and make sure it's in the middle of row.

 

[mso489]

Then the stalks right themselves and root? I had no idea cane had to be re-planted so often. With the labor that goes into crops, U.S. food prices are a miracle. A five pound bag of sugar costs so little. We pay extra for soft drinks with cane sugar rather than corn syrup, and it is way worth it, though cola is a treat not a regular thing. Thanks for the photo. The farming population is such a small percent, the know-how is a scarce commodity. My in-laws run beef cattle, and it is often an expense rather than income. They laugh and say they work jobs to support their farming habit.

 

[tbradsim1]

MSO, Stalk has a nodule at each joint that sprouts up, it doesn’t raise up

 

[mso489]

brad, forgive my amazement. That is really cool. I wondered how they spaced the stalks, but the stalks space themselves. One of my first paid articles that I place when I was in college (which raised my grade to an A) was on agricultural research. A suburb kid, I am in perpetual awe of where the food supply arises. Great photo.

 

[josephcross]

I grew up in Hawaii. It was part of everyday life watching sugar cane( and pineapples) grow around us. For most of my early life they harvested cane by burning the leaves to lighten the load. Do they do this in your area Brad?

 

[tbradsim1]

They got flak from environmental groups, then supposed they invented a cutter that cut cane in 3 ft sticks and they didn’t need to burn anymore, but they still burn. That’s why I have a yard full of cats, mice run for the hills during the burn.

 

[pitchfork]

That's really interesting. Thanks for posting this, Bradley.

 

[josephcross]

I bet the cats love that!

 

[scloyd]

I had no idea this is how cane was planted. Never really gave it any thought. Very interesting. Thanks for posting.

 

[mso489]

Most farming has all kinds of detail and inside knowledge that makes it work, and even then, it is a casino gambling operation with the weather. I hope the economics work out so that enough young people are drawn to farming and rewarded by it to keep the knowledge base alive. Though it is lucrative, agribusiness loses a lot of the family attachment and personal attention to the locality and conditions and maintaining the land. I'm not a farm kid, but I'm echoing what farm families I know say. A kid who grows up on a farm has a far better chance of succeeding. No one ever suggested I farm, and they were right.

 

[weezell]

Good stuff Brad. I'm in Ohio so corn/beans/tomato/soy I grew up with. Cane??? a different story...

 

[weezell]

PS: would give my eye teeth to visit you and sit on the porch, smoke a pipe,have a beverage and bullshit for a day...(Bet we would solve the worlds problems by God!)...

 

[sparroa]

Appreciate the post! Sugarcane is the last thing you could ever grow in my neck of the woods. lol

 

[mikethompson]

I was on a sugarcane plantation in Cuba a few years ago, and pressed a cane through a roller. The juice was incredible! It was a little cloudy, but sweet and refreshing.