And one crop that always benefits from rain at this time of year is sugar cane - and more than just coming rain, tonight there is a lot to celebrate in that industry.
ASR BSI today reported what they call record breaking prices - for the third and final payment. It stands at $86.28 per ton of cane, topping the previous 2015 record by $15.50 per ton. Their director of Finance Shawn Chavarria spoke with us today about the conditions that colluded to produce this sweet price point:
Shawn Chavarria, Director of Finance
"As we issued earlier today a press release advising of our record came Price that was issued today to all cane farmer associations. The price of $86.28 per ton of cane for us is a new record, the previous record high was in 2015 and it's some ten dollars per ton of cane higher than that price in 2015. So I think it signals a lot of positivity in the industry. The record price is really due to a combination of factors. One the global market prices for sugar has been on the higher end but combined with that we have been making as we highlighted in previous years, strategic investments to improve the value of our sugar, these value added or direct consumption sugars as well call them attract a better price compared to raw sugar and so we get a better value for the sugar that we produce. And similarly the investment in big creek to modernize our logistics systems have been resulting in savings for Ocean freight and another shipping cost. And so the added value plus the savings in logistics costs are also helping to improve the value for the sugar and therefore cane prices to farmers given the fact that per our commercial agreement, if we can get a higher value for sugar or lower logistics costs the farmer share in that so for us it's really a proud moment and we are really pleased with the record breaking price that is going out we are also encouraging farmers at the same time to use the funds to make investments in the fields to improve cane yields cause that will result in a lower production cost."
