While B.S.I. was dropping their bombshell this afternoon, the directors of the sugar-cane branches of the B.S.C.F.A. were holding their own emergency meeting. They received the letter from B.S.I. today and it took them completely by surprise, so they’re still in the process of coming up with a formal response. Just before news time, we […]
For months, we’ve been reporting on the impasse in the sugar industry between the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association and the American Sugar Refinery. Both sides have been unable to reach any agreement on prices for bagasse and other hurdles. While the past season was delayed, sugar production targets were met, but another season is […]
Around the world today, World Food Day was celebrated. In Belize at the ITVET, activities took place to highlight the importance of family farming which is a main component of this year’s theme: Family Farming, Feeding the World, Caring for the Earth. Duane Moody joined in the activities. Duane Moody, Reporting Various stakeholders and […]
On Thursday the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association met with representative of Belize Sugar Industry/American Sugar Refinery to finalize the new sugar-cane purchase agreement. That agreement has been delayed because the parties have been unable to agree to core facets of it. Of course, perhaps the most glaring issue of contention is the quantum of […]
B.S.I. has stated that because the farmers are fixated on bagasse, an agreement seems unlikely. The 2014-2015 sugar cane crop season is set to start in the next six to seven weeks, and BSI has stated that any delay like last year would be destructive to the industry. In that opinion, at least, both parties […]
There was quite a scare in the sugar industry last week, when it was announced that there would be a considerable reduction in the quantity of fair-trade sugar to be purchased by Tate & Lyle for the European market. Farmers, for whatever reason, were of the impression that the change would abruptly come into effect […]
Prime Minister Dean Barrow lashed out at the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association, the body which administrates the eighteen cane-farming branches. ASR has maintained that the decision to reduce quota of fair-trade sugar purchased is because of EU markets. But the B.S.C.F.A. has taken some hits because that Association was recently cited for serious non-compliances […]
Last week, Tate and Lyle dropped a bombshell on cane farmers when it wrote to say that it will be buying a minimum of ten thousand tons of fair-trade sugar from the farmers. That’s a whopping fifty-five thousand tons less than they did last year. Well tonight, there is sweet news for the farmers because […]
Prime Minister Dean Barrow spoke today on a number of hot-button issues of national importance including developments in the sugar industry. Eighteen branches of the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association convened in emergency meeting on Thursday in Orange Walk Town after Tate and Lyle made the surprise announcement that it would be buying far less […]
A letter from Tate & Lyle delivered to the B.S.C.F.A. on Tuesday has sent shockwaves through that Association, which governs eighteen branches in Orange Walk and Corozal. Citing the fluctuating EU market, the company proceeded to inform the B.S.C.F.A. that it would be purchasing fifty-five thousand tons less of sugar from them under the Fairtrade […]
While the impending Fairtrade disaster has taken center stage with the B.S.C.F.A. and the five thousand plus cane farmers in the north, there is plenty of turmoil in the industry even without it. Bagasse payment remains the ten thousand pound gorilla in the room which nobody wants to touch. The Sugar Industry Control Board, G.O.B.’s […]
Sugar cane farmers have been dealt a crippling, and completely unexpected blow by Tate and Lyle sugars, a member of the ASR group. The terrible news came by letter dated August twenty-sixth – one day ago – and is broken down into bad news and worse news. First the bad news…the company informs the B.S.C.F.A. […]
That was the really bad news, but it gets worse. Traditionally farmers received payment for Fairtrade sugar when it was received by the company. But that’s not happening this time. The letter from Tate and Lyle informs the B.S.C.F.A. that payment will be made not when the sugar is received, but when the sugar is […]
The impasse between B.S.I./A.S.R. and the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers’ Association continues to thrive. At a general meeting of sugar cane farmers in Orange Walk and Corozal recently, it was decided that the intervention of the government would be sought in terms of what they feel would be a fair payment for bagasse. According to […]
There is no sign of flexibility in the current bagasse impasse between B.S.I. and the B.S.C.F.A. Cane farmers met in San Roman, Corozal District, on Sunday to decide on a way forward where the payment for bagasse is concerned. With the farmers opening request at ten dollars per ton, and BSI refusing to back away […]
Between the end of 2012 and April 2014, several employees of the B.S.C.F.A. collaborated to steal money from the association. They did it by targeting the payroll system and paying themselves increased salaries. It was a prolonged scheme, to the tune of about seventy-eight thousand dollars stolen in just over a year. On Sunday, the […]
The Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association is meeting on Sunday at the Escuela Secundaria Mexico school grounds to discuss, among other issues, a position on a recent counterproposal made by Belize Sugar Industries on a payment for bagasse. In its initial offer, the B.S.C.F.A. was seeking a payment of ten dollars per ton of cane. […]
According to Ortega, they have requested to see BELCOGEN’s books in order to come up with a practical formula but that request has fallen on deaf ears. Isani Cayetano “B.S.I. is saying that your request or demand for ten dollars per ton of cane is unreasonable and is not sustainable over a long term […]
The Belize Sugar Industries Ltd. and the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association remain at odds over the proceeds of bagasse which is being used by BELCOGEN to generate the energy being sold to Belize Electricity Limited. An interim agreement, which was met by both parties on January thirteenth, expired a week ago. The objective of […]
A meeting of the B.S.C.F.A. will be convened on Sunday, when the membership will decide on the proposal offered by B.S.I. Meanwhile, Carballo told News Five today that once B.S.C.F.A. agrees to the terms laid down before them, B.S.I. is prepared make an initial payment for the 2013-2014 crop season which came to a close […]
The 2013-2014 crop season that almost wasn’t, will come to a close on Tuesday, July eighth. It started two months late, a delay caused by a combination of incessant rains, impassable roads and a near-strike situation over bagasse payment to farmers. But better late than never…and today we can report that this year farmers actually […]
The crop season started with an uneasy truce between BSI and the BSCFA, based on commitments in good faith to immediately commence negotiations on bagasse payment. Those negotiations were to have concluded by the end of the season. Now the season ends in a few days, so that will not happen. The farmers asked for […]
Earlier this year, there was a threat that the sugar production target of one point two million tons would not be met because of a dispute between cane farmers and the Belize Sugar Industries over bagasse. The crop season normally in late November, but because of the dispute, the mills did not crank up until […]
C.E.O. in the Ministry of Agriculture Jose Alpuche has scheduled a meeting today with representatives of Green Tropics and the Valley of Peace Farmers Association. The meeting became necessary after peaceful negotiations between both parties broke down last week. On Monday, thirty-two farmers were served with an eviction notice from Green Tropics, ordered that they […]
The 2013/2014 sugar cane crop season was two months delayed due to a bagasse impasse. Both B.S.I. and the B.S.C.F.A., representing cane-farmers, agreed to start the crop in good faith, with a commitment that the quantum of bagasse payment to farmers would be finalized by the end of the season. That season is now winding […]
