2020-2021 Sugar Cane Crop Season Commences…

The 2020-2021 sugar cane crop season commenced on Monday, December twenty-eighth, but, unlike previous years, it was without festivities and fanfare. There was, however, growing tension between cane farmers and the miller over production estimates. As we reported on Thursday, A.S.R./B.S.I. was prepared to received cane delivery on December fourteenth, but farmers had expressed concerns on their abilities to deliver cane given the floods. The quality of the cane was also a concern. The date was pushed back to Monday, despite the concerns of hundreds of cane farmers who believe that under the agreed production estimates more than two thousand, seven hundred cane farmers would be negatively affected. An intense meeting was held on Sunday where the associations indicated that they were not willing to start the crop season with the estimates as previously presented. In fact, the farmers had warned that they would hold protests to make their concerns heard. That open discussion was held by the Sugar Industry Control Board and was attended by six of the eleven directors, constituting a quorum for the meeting.

Neither A.S.R./B.S.I. nor the Progressive Sugar Cane Producers Association or the Corozal Sugar Cane Producers Association sent representation to the meeting. During the special session a motion to discuss and review the production estimates was tabled and passed, and as a result, the chairman of the Sugar Industry Control Board, Marcos Osorio, has instructed the manager of the Sugar Cane Production Committee to implement the adjustments agreed on during the meeting. The adjustments to the production estimates approved ensure that cane farmers will not be impacted as negatively as before with the same losses in tonnage of cane delivered to the factory. A.S.R./B.S.I.’s Vice-President of International Relations, Mac McLachlan says that all they wanted is to start the crop as soon as possible given the positive impact of improved weather conditions over the previous prolonged drought and the expected increased cane production.

Mac McLachlan, VP, International Relations, A.S.R./B.S.I

Mac McLachlan

“For some time now there has been a scientific verification f how much cane there is and where it is and going n. There have been a number of meetings in recent months about that, trying to ascertain exactly what the estimate should be. The reason that is important is because you need to have a clear and accurate idea of the amount of cane so you can program the crop. So you get the freshest best cane in at the right time and everybody gets a chance to deliver their cane. So there are number of difference in opinion I believe among associations about how that process should be taken. As far as I am aware there has been a compromised position that has been accepted and is basically based on the 2020 estimated looking at some f the differential from that estimate. It is unreasonable to think that there wouldn’t be any impact from the drought from the following year. We know there has been and we are anticipating a much lower delivery of cane and perhaps already in the estimate. But as things stand, my major concern right now is the mill is started, but it is pretty much standing idle right now waiting for cane supply to arrive. My message to farmers and to those in the industry, let’s make this a great crop. Let’s get our cane in there. Let’s deliver. Let’s take advantage of the fact that we have had much better weather this year and therefore there has been a rebounding cane supply. It is not going to be anywhere near what it was two years ago. We’ve had a rebounding cane supply. We are ready to go. In fact we are going. We have been ready to go since the fourteenth of December.”

HipolitoNovelo

“The Sugar Industry Control Board says that ASR/BSI did not sent representation on Sunday, why is that?”

Mac McLachlan

“Well, first of all you know the crop estimates being set for a while the start date being set for while and I think when we last met there was a discussion about bringing forward for the rationalization for the way the production estimates had been calculated and that was going to take a few days and while we were waiting for that to happen it shouldn’t interfere with the start of the crop.”