Day one

By Sheria Brathwaite

he historic 2024 sugarcane harvest – the first under worker-owned, cooperative management – was off to a slow start on Monday, according to several planters who supply canes to the new sugar-producing cooperative.

The Barbados Sugar Industry Limited (BSIL), representing the private sugar estate owners who ran the industry for most of its 400-year history, declared the harvest was off to the same slow start under new management as under the state-owned enterprise that once ran it.

The BSIL planters said the large, pale blue hauling trucks that transport the freshly cut canes to Portvale sugar factory were in short supply, leading to delays in the harvesting process.

While some farms were only supplied with one or two hauling trucks others did not receive any and no canes were cut on those plantations.

But in giving his first-day assessment, BSIL Chairman Mark Sealy said that while the truck shortage was a major issue it was the only hiccup of the day.

“There was a shortage of trucks [on Monday] and the truckers came in at all different times. We were hoping that everybody would have been able to get down to the factory yard early and come back but it was not like that at all.

“A lot of our farmers were waiting on truckers so it was a bit slow and hopefully tomorrow they will all come out earlier. Things could have been better, that’s the truth, but hopefully, they will come out earlier so we can get cracking early in the morning,” Sealy said.

He added that all the various players had to work together, and it took some time for that to happen every year.

“We always get a slow start. We all know that the first week or so, people have to try to get going. It is not a quick start where everybody is on board; it takes time to get going. But it is a big issue though. You cannot cut cane and just wait and wait and wait and then you don’t get any trucks at all. It’s about teamwork – the farmers have to have their equipment ready, they have to cut cane and the truckers have to get the cane to the factory. The canes have to be delivered in a timely fashion because the quicker the cane is milled the better for the sugar content and so on.

“But if there are weaknesses in the chain, then it creates challenges and inefficiencies. Hopefully, we will get over these things but we have Easter coming up this week. We started late and we are now right on top of Easter and we need to find out how the factory is going to work, what times they are going to work. All of that has to be discussed,” the BSIL Chairman said.

The hauling trucks are now supplied by the Agricultural Business Company Ltd. (ABC), based at Bulkeley, St George. It is one of the two newly established subsidiaries of the Barbados Sustainable Energy Cooperative Society Ltd (CoopEnergy Barbados), which began operations on January 15. Previously, the Barbados Agricultural Management Company Co. Ltd. was in charge of distributing the trucks.

ABC Chairman Lieutenant Colonel Trevor Browne did not respond to several attempts to request a comment up to publication time.

However, Barbados TODAY has learned that motor insurance issues led to the shortage of trucks.

Michael Gill, owner of Ashbury plantation in St George, expressed disappointment over the hauling issues, declaring this was the first time in decades that he requested to have the blue large bins deliver his canes to a sugar mill and he was not supplied with any.

Gill, the last farmer to end manual cane-cutting, usually uses his machinery to deliver freshly cut stalks. In 2022, he bought his first harvester. He said he was putting a backup plan in place to ensure Tuesday went smoothly.

Around 4:30 p.m. he said: “I am still waiting on a truck and this issue needs investigating. All the blue bins were not ready and I did not get any. I was not cutting any canes until I saw one turn up in the yard or I was phoned and told one was on its way and was given the truck number. This is a setback and I don’t expect to see any tomorrow either. Tomorrow I will pay the road tax on my trailers and fill them up with canes and carry them down the road.”

Gill, who is also one of the island’s main exotic flower producers, said his harvesting team had to refocus their energy on flower deliveries.

He said he anticipated his farm would cut 2 000 tonnes of cane. He added that he would also be cutting 2 000 tonnes at Redland Estates, which comprises Castle Grant and Industry plantations.

Over at H&G Farms Ltd, which comprises Andrews, Fisher Pond, Blackmans and Easy Hall plantations in St Joseph, farm manager Eustin Craigg said his operations started slow as the workers waited a while for two hauling trucks to arrive.

“It wasn’t too bad today; you know for the first day you get the usual wait but otherwise things weren’t too bad. The first truck came by 8:30 this morning and about ten minutes after the second truck came,” he said, adding that there were over 600 acres of cane to be cut in his fields producing 15 000 tonnes.

He started harvesting canes in Middle Field on the St George border. Craigg said this was the first time in a long time canes were being cut in that area as it was overgrown with bush.

Overseer at Edgecumbe Plantation Clifford Cox said his workers reported for duty around 6 a.m. and an hour and a half later a hauling truck was transporting canes to the factory.

Although only one truck was supplied, Edgecumbe was the first plantation to deliver canes, Barbados TODAY learned.

Cox also said the downtime waiting on the truck to return impacted operations. Edgecumbe started cutting canes in Fire Hill, St George.

The 12 BSIL planters anticipate they will deliver 85 000 tonnes of canes to Portvale this year.

Elsewhere in St George, canes were also observed being cut at Branford Field in Dash Valley, which falls under Constant plantation, one of the plantations ABC operates.

Constant, which has 300 acres of canes to cut, received two hauling trucks.

The plantation’s supervisor, who did not want to be identified, also said harvesting got off to a slow start.

sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb