Sugar farmers warn of industry collapse without pay rise

Private cane farmers on Tuesday laid down the gauntlet to the government and the cooperative firms running the sugar industry, issuing a stark warning that the industry could face collapse if their pay increase demand is rejected.

The warning from the Chairman of the Barbados Sugar Industry Limited (BSIL), Mark Sealy, came as the country prepares to begin the 2025 sugar crop, which he believes may now get off the ground towards month-end, instead of midmonth.

While all of the current payments for cane are up to date, the private farmers are hoping to get a hike on the price with which they have struggled for the past five years, Sealy said.

“I have to submit figures to government, to show that obviously, the prices have gone up considerably over the last five years. We normally get paid a total of $190 a tonne, and we looking to go to a very reasonable pay of $210,” he told Barbados TODAY.

Asked if he is optimistic of getting the increase from the government, the BSIL head replied: “If we can’t get the increase, it’s going to severely affect the industry, because at the moment, we are not really making any money, not at $190, bearing in mind that we have had that $190 since 2020, and this is now 2025.”

He argued that during those five years, the COVID-19 pandemic struck, inflicting a series of supply chain issues on Barbados, coupled with a rise in prices in the region of 40 per cent and even higher.

Questioned as to how the absence of a pay rise would impact the sugar industry, Sealy declared: “Well, if you can’t make money…nobody goes into business and can’t make money. So, if you can’t make money, after a while, you will see farmers drop out.”

With respect to the start of the crop, he said his members are doing everything possible to facilitate their delivery of canes when Portvale, the sole factory in operation, gives the go-ahead.

He said farmers who have taken over “quite a lot of equipment” are readying them for the harvest with the expectation to start late this month.

“We will be ready when they [factory] call time. We were hoping that it would have been around February 15, but it doesn’t look like that, it looks more probably like the end of February. Historically, I think the best time to start is mid- February. We wouldn’t be too upset if it…but it would need to start in February,” Sealy contended.

While Lieutenant Colonel Trevor Browne – head of the Barbados Energy and Sugar Company Inc (BESCO) – the cooperative-owned company that’s running the industry, could not be immediately reached for comment, Sealy disclosed that private farmers intend to deliver an estimated 66 300 tonnes of cane this year.

This, he said, is down on last year, but quickly added that the figure is just an estimate. (EJ)