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U.S. Congressman Garret Graves (South Louisiana) has secured$10 million in federal funding for the Louisiana-based U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Research Service Sugarcane Program. The funding will support the agricultural workforce and modernize sugarcane research to create efficiencies – yielding even greater results for one of Louisiana’s top agriculture products.
“Agriculture is critical to the economy of the state of Louisiana and sugarcane is one of the most valuable crops, boasting receipts with an overall economic value of $3 billion annually and supporting 16,000 Louisianans’ jobs. It is also the biggest crop in our district,” Graves said. “Unfortunately, our sugarcane farmers are competing against unfair, subsidized foreign producers, and confronting astronomical input costs that are exacerbated by skyrocketing energy prices and inflation. In response, this investment helps to use innovation to create a level playing field.”
Background:
The USDA Sugarcane Research Unit supports this critical industry by researching and developing improved varieties of sugarcane, expanding the cropping range, developing environmentally friendly production strategies, and combatting a constantly evolving pest complex that includes diseases, insects, and weeds. The funding will construct a joint office and laboratory building as well as two greenhouse facilities. The new buildings will allow the Sugarcane Research Unit to complete the consolidation of its operations from an out-of-code, structurally and mechanically inadequate, 80-year-old building to a state-of-the-art facility that maximizes existing taxpayer investment.
