Growers have a “really good crop” this year, but trying to compare the 2009 crop with 2008 is a “tale with two endings,” said Dr. Kenneth Gravois, the LSU AgCenter’s new sugarcane specialist.

“Even with the hurricane last year, we had a very dry harvest, but this year has been a really wet harvest,” Gravois said. “I would say in 2008, our tonnages were lower, but our sugar recoveries were higher. In 2009, our tonnages are higher, and sugar recoveries are lower. They are polar opposites.”