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These cane fires don't last long and as I watched this one I saw a headlight approaching and then a splash of sun lit up this dramatic scene that was the culmination of a fabulous two and a half days in the canelands.
I'm standing at the Airport Road grade crossing looking compass north (railroad east) in the Prewitt Block at MP 31 along along US Sugar Corporation's mainline sub as USSC 3802 highballs with a trainload of sweet smelling fresh cut cane. 3802 is a rebuilt GP38-2 that used to be USSC 405 but began life as a GP40-2 blt. Nov. 1979 for the Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad, as DTI 422.
This is the private cane hauling mainline and Bryant yard is about 10 miles distant while Sugar Junction and the Clewiston mill are 10 miles behind. Prior to 2021 this would have been about MP 9.9 on the stub ended Prewitt South Line (and in fact the signal cabinet still has the old mileage on it not matching the new lines side milepost seen here) but late that year the Bryant Connector also known as the Southeast Extension Project opened when the Wetherald Line was extended east via 22 miles of newly built track and bridges to connect with this existing Prewitt South Line. This created a 60 mile long private mainline connecting both halves of the USSC routes and eliminated the need for many of the Bryant Turns that were operated by the SCFE to forward cane cars gathered up on the eastern lines to the mill on the west.
The massive smoke plume rises from a cane field being burned in preparation for harvest. This centuries old technique is done to burn off the leafy material (about 20% of the plant) which contains virtually no sugar so the remaining stalks can be harvested more efficiently. During harvest season, sugarcane fields are burned in contained, small areas—40 acres at a time—with fires lasting 15 to 20 minutes on average. The dramatic smoke plume seen in the distance was over almost as soon as it started but was quite the sight to witness.
In many parts of the world cane burning has been severely restricted or outright banned but in the US more than 50% of cane is still harvested in this manner.
These articles describe the reasons and benefits for doing so if you're interested:
www.ussugar.com/harvesting-practices/
www.houmatoday.com/story/news/2014/12/01/burning-sugar-ca...
www.lsuagcenter.com/nr/rdonlyres/c3f0ae0a-fc91-48ea-bc50-...
But of course there are opposing views to this controversial practice and here's one:
www.sierraclub.org/florida/loxahatchee/blog/2021/09/benef...
Prewitt Village
Belle Glade, Florida
Sunday March 15, 2025
Potentilla indica
Edible but bitter is seen the Indian Mock Strawberry growing wild. They comprise a small beautiful red fruit, but are considered invasive.
more information:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potentilla_indica
And here: www.lsuagcenter.com/profiles/bneely/articles/page15765157...
photo by Louis Dutrey
The glory of the Japanese Magnolia Tree's flowers. Certainly it brings joy to the soul.
Information about them: www.lsuagcenter.com/profiles/rbogren/articles/japanese%20...
Japanese Magnolia Tree, and these are so beautiful this time of the year.
some information of these trees: www.lsuagcenter.com/profiles/rbogren/articles/japanese%20...
Testing the Sony 100mm Stf GM lens on a tree that I had photographed with another lens. These trees are abundant here in New Orleans. This is their time of the year to shine.
Some Information: www.lsuagcenter.com/profiles/rbogren/articles/japanese%20...
Link to photo using Sigma 70mm Macro Art lens: www.flickr.com/photos/194576891@N02/52631642149/in/dateta...
Japanese Magnolia blossom as it is about to transition to fullness.
Information about these trees: www.lsuagcenter.com/profiles/rbogren/articles/japanese%20...
US Variety: "L 01-299"
Hendry, Glades and Okeechobee counties are the major Sugarcane growers in Florida, USA.
There's sugar!
Sometimes you don't need a train for a great photo, and this dramatic scene captures the essence of the south Florida canelands that I'm so enamored with. I'm standing at the Airport Road grade crossing looking compass north (railroad east) in the Prewitt Block along along US Sugar Corporation's mainline sub. This is the private cane hauling mainline and Bryant yard is about 10 miles distant while Sugar Junction and the Clewiston mill are 10 miles behind. Prior to 2021 this would have been about MP 9.9 on the stub ended Prewitt South Line (and in fact the signal cabinet still has the old mileage on it not matching the new lines side milepost seen here) but late that year the Bryant Connector also known as the Southeast Extension Project opened when the Wetherald Line was extended east via 22 miles of newly built track and bridges to connect with this existing Prewitt South Line. This created a 60 mile long private mainline connecting both halves of the USSC routes and eliminated the need for many of the Bryant Turns that were operated by the SCFE to forward cane cars gathered up on the eastern lines to the mill on the west.
The massive smoke plume rises from a cane field being burned in preparation for harvest. This centuries old technique is done to burn off the leafy material (about 20% of the plant) which contains virtually no sugar so the remaining stalks can be harvested more efficiently. During harvest season, sugarcane fields are burned in contained, small areas—40 acres at a time—with fires lasting 15 to 20 minutes on average. The dramatic smoke plume seen in the distance was over almost as soon as it started but was quite the sight to witness.
In many parts of the world cane burning has been severely restricted or outright banned but in the US more than 50% of cane is still harvested in this manner.
These articles describe the reasons and benefits for doing so if you're interested:
www.ussugar.com/harvesting-practices/
www.houmatoday.com/story/news/2014/12/01/burning-sugar-ca...
www.lsuagcenter.com/nr/rdonlyres/c3f0ae0a-fc91-48ea-bc50-...
But of course there are opposing views to this controversial practice and here's one:
www.sierraclub.org/florida/loxahatchee/blog/2021/09/benef...
Prewitt Village
Belle Glade, Florida
Sunday March 15, 2025
Students from Belle Chasse Middle School in Plaquemines Parish join representatives from the Louisiana Office of Coastal Protection and Restoration, ConocoPhillips and the LSU AgCenter Tuesday to plant native grasses on a recently completed marsh restoration project located approximately 25 miles south of New Orleans.
This was a difficult one to identify. It took me about an hour but I found an obscure reference. This gall is formed by the fungus, Exobasidium symploci. Galls form on the leaves, buds, and flowers of horse sugar: plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=SYTI This one formed on a flower. The bottom of the gall has remnant flower parts. I noticed old galls from previous years so it is not detrimental to the shrub. Most of the horse sugar shrubs in the immediate area were infected. For more information, read page 5 of this document: www.lsuagcenter.com/NR/rdonlyres/C3C28B35-6F94-4986-8BDA-...
Called the Mississippi River Sediment Delivery System – Bayou Dupont, the project built more than 500 acres of wetlands using sediment mined from the Mississippi River and pumped more than five miles via pipeline to the project site. The area where the grasses were planted was open water in November 2009.
This was a difficult one to identify. It took me about an hour but I found an obscure reference. This gall is formed by the fungus, Exobasidium symploci. Galls form on the leaves, buds, and flowers of horse sugar: plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=SYTI This one formed on a flower. The bottom of the gall has remnant flower parts. I noticed old galls from previous years so it is not detrimental to the shrub. Most of the horse sugar shrubs in the immediate area were infected. For more information, read page 5 of this document: www.lsuagcenter.com/NR/rdonlyres/C3C28B35-6F94-4986-8BDA-...
It is a charming little flower, but the plant is "widely considered the most invasive weed infesting turfgrass in the South."
www.lsuagcenter.com/profiles/lbenedict/articles/page14695...
© All Rights Reserved. Please do not use or reproduce this image on Websites/Blog or any other media without my explicit permission.
My trip to Baton Rouge ended on Sunday at Windrush Gardens on the grounds of the LSU Rural Life Museum. Azaleas and camellias were in bloom all over. I love this statue of Young Hermes in the middle of the garden.
I had an awesome time with my son, visiting family, hearing funny stories about relatives from days gone by. Our family is not perfect, but I realized that even with the imperfections our uniqueness is something to be celebrated. We are so very blessed.
Since I'm running out of time and ideas, I went ahead and submitted this to Focus 52. Sorry, Jan, the last couple of weeks have been hectic!
Feeding the world has become an issue in today’s world. A large part of the population is suffering from a lack of clean water and an adequate amount of food. India suffers most from a lack of water. According to the documentary, Home. There are 21 million wells in India that have to be dug deeper because water is drying out. Five thousand people are dying everyday because of dirty drinking water. It is also proven that water shortages can affect two billion people by 2025, and currently one billion people do not have access to safe drinking water. There are also a billion people who are going hungry, a large part is because of the massive deforestation occurring around the world. Much of the greenland suffers from emissions in other parts of the world. What many people do not realize is that our actions affect areas all over the world. Forests have turned into something used to raise livestock as 95% of soy goes to Europe to feed them, and 50% of grain is traded to feed animals or for fuel. According to Essential Environment, 925 million people world-wide suffer from malnutrition; and every five seconds, a baby starves to death. Many people are undernourished because they are too poor to purchase food and also the inefficiencies in distribution leads to hunger. Recently, there have been good intentions to promote renewable energy, but they come with some consequences. For example, in the US, ethanol, which is produced from corn, is the primary biofuel. Ethanol production nearly doubled, and farmers began selling their corn for ethanol instead of for food. This is especially relevant in Iowa.
Although the world faces many environmental problems due to people’s actions, there are changes being made. The US government has now cut the subsidy for corn ethanol. C. Ford Runge, an economist at the University of Minnesota, has been trying to push for this law to pass for the past five or six years. It is proven that corn ethanol is not healthy for the environment since it leads to pollution, causes deforestation, and pollutes our water. One downfall is that the subsidy caused gasoline prices to increase. And also, when corn was being used for ethanol, the price of food increased. However, the law encourages environmentally-friendly ways of creating biofuels using waste, algae, and plant materials.
Malnutrition is an issue that faces the globe, in some places more than others. Some shocking news is the large number of people in the US who are malnourished. There are 13 million children in the US who have a limited access to food supply. In many mid-American cities like St. Louis and New Orleans, “half the children get good stamp (SNAP) benefits” (LSUAgCenter). In the Bronx, 46% of children are on food stamps, and 40% of low-income children live in homes that do not have access to nutritional diets. About 20,000 people per day are receiving aid from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; the number has gotten bigger as the recession dragged on. Malnutrition is also common amongst the elderly who are aged over 70. This is due to them eating too little, the inability of absorbing nutrients, or digestive problems. UNICEF works hard to help those who are malnourished. According to UNICEF, 21,000 children die everyday from malnourishment. UNICEF works towards offering lessons and examples of good eating practices that could be practiced and implemented around the country. There are also UN relief camps throughout Africa and Asia to help the people in those areas. Many mothers trek across desserts with their children to reach one.
www.physorg.com/news/2012-01-ethanol-subsidy-expires.html
www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/story/2012-01-03...
www.lsuagcenter.com/en/family_home/family/childcare/Child...
thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2010/06/02/malnutrition-killing-el...
foreignpolicyblogs.com/2011/10/27/political-will-a-must-t...
Students from Belle Chasse Middle School in Plaquemines Parish plant native grasses on a newly constructed wetland restoration project about 25 miles south of New Orleans. Vegetative plantings are the final steps in the construction of wetland restoration projects and help the areas become functioning habitats.