VERMILION PARISH — Sugarcane fields across Acadiana may look quiet during the summer months, but farmers are closely monitoring what is happening beneath the surface as the crop continues to develop.
The season marks an important stretch for growers as they work to protect the crop, manage challenges in the field and prepare for harvest later in the year.
LSU AgCenter agent Blair Hebert said summer is a key time to evaluate the condition of the sugarcane crop.
“We're entering what we call the grand growth stage. You'll see the cane around me is getting nice and tall and green and what we're usually doing at this time of the year is checking for any kind of weed or insect or pest pressure,” Hebert said.
That monitoring comes as growers continue watching for threats like sugarcane borers and the pasture mealy bug, which was detected for the first time in Acadiana in 2025 in Iberia and Vermilion parishes.
For Austin Domingues, a farm supervisor at Domingues Farm, managing those challenges has become a major part of the growing season. The farm, which was started by his great-grandfather in 1919, is now working with researchers to better understand how to protect the crop.
“Last year, I was spraying about 500 acres a week just for boars, and now with this new pasture mealy bug, we're up to 1200 acres a week. So it's more than doubled,” Domingues said.
Domingues is working with the LSU AgCenter and the USDA Sugar Research Station on field testing that uses drone technology to apply treatments and collect information on how different approaches perform.
Researchers are tracking the results of those tests as they look for ways to help farmers make decisions that could improve crop protection against species like the pasture mealy bug.
Hebert said the early outlook for the crop has been encouraging, but there is still a long road ahead before harvest. “What we're finding is that our younger cane, our plant cane in our first year stubble is really doing well,” Hebert said.
Along with pests and field conditions, farmers are also keeping an eye on the weather. With hurricane season underway, Hebert says growers are hoping for a quiet season without major storms that could disrupt the crop's progress or create challenges heading into harvest.
For now, farmers and researchers continue monitoring the fields, knowing the work happening during the summer months could play an important role in the final outcome of this year's harvest.
“Overall, minus the pasture mealy bug, we feel we have a really good crop. We've got a long way to go before we get this crop in the barn, if you will, or get it to the mill— get it, you know, turn that into raw sugar. But right now, we feel like we have a really good crop,” Hebert said.
