BSIL farmers ‘geared up’ for the sugar crop despite official start uncertainty

Barbados Sugar Industries Limited (BSIL) cane farmers declared on Monday they were ready for the 2026 sugar harvest, saying they were better prepared than last year, but continuing delays in confirming the harvest date have left the industry waiting for the signal to begin cutting, amid lingering uncertainty about the industry’s long-term management.

“We are ready for the start of crop,” chairman Mark Sealy BSIL told Barbados TODAY. “I think everybody’s working hard. Obviously last year was the first year that we had all the various equipment, so we were a little bit late last year, but this year I think everybody’s far more prepared.”

The BSIL represents the remaining members of the traditional planter class in the near 400-year-old industry that has evolved from enslaved labour for most of its history, to free peasantry tied to plantations, to unionised workers in mills and fields in a largely mechanised industry. Today, no canes are cut by hand.

Farmers were now focused on ensuring operational readiness: “They’re working on insurance, making sure all the trailers and the tipping bins are all maintained and ready, making sure all the harvesters are ready, so when the start is called I think we’ll be very ready.”

Cane farmers under the BSIL umbrella are expected to produce about 66 000 tonnes of cane this year, Sealy said. He also confirmed that payments for last year’s output have been fully settled. “Yes, all the payments for last year have been cleared,” he said. “We really appreciate that, which was paid by the factory [which is owned by the Barbados Agricultural Management Company].”

He stressed the importance of timely payments once harvesting begins. “We’re looking forward to being paid obviously on time because that makes a big difference,” Sealy said.

“It makes a big difference to the cash flow of all the farms and makes sure everybody can buy fertiliser at the correct time and apply it and make sure we keep the fields clean so that the sugar quality is good.”

But no indication has yet been given on when the harvest will officially start. Asked about the condition of the canes, Sealy said that assessment would only become clear once cutting begins. He noted that recent rainfall may help slow deterioration but maintained that an earlier start remained preferable.

He said: “We still stand by the fact that we really would like to start early in the future for sure. Obviously they have the election and all these different things, but yes we still believe and continue to believe that the best time is around the middle of February.”

Last year’s harvest began on Monday, March 3.

Barbados Agricultural Management Company chairman Dr Clyde Mascoll did not immediately respond to Barbados TODAY’s request for comment. Every year a Brix survey is done to determine the best time to harvest the canes.

Last year, Mascoll said the data from the Annual Brix Survey – a measurement of the sugar content in canes –  had informed the decision to start harvesting in March. The survey, prepared by Agronomy Research Department research manager Jacklyn Broomes, showed Brix levels rising steadily from 15.1 in December 2024 to 20.2 in February 2025, placing the crop at the lower end of the optimal harvesting range of 20 to 24 degrees.

Broomes also noted that rainfall continued to influence ripening, with higher precipitation delaying sugar accumulation, as reflected in the higher Brix reading of 20.8 in the intermediate rainfall zone compared with 19.7 in the high rainfall zone, underscoring the need to align cutting schedules with field conditions rather than fixed dates.

The start of this year’s crop comes amid ongoing uncertainty following the restructuring of the sugar industry. The restructuring, completed in 2023, was described at the time as a historic shift that would see sugar workers become shareholders and co-owners of a revived, cooperative-run, industry. The Barbados Sustainable Energy Cooperative Society Ltd, known as Co-op Energy Barbados, and the state-owned BAMC entered into an agreement for the cooperative to take over the milling business and assets of BAMC.

Two firms were created as part of that process. The Agricultural Business Company Ltd, based at Bulkeley, St George, oversees more than 4 000 acres of farmland, while the Barbados Energy and Sugar Company Inc (BESCO) would manage the island’s last operating factory at Portvale. In January 2024 Co-op Energy was supposed to take full control of the industry.

That arrangement later unravelled amid a series of charges and counter-charges between Co-op Energy chair Lieutenant Colonel Trevor Browne and then agriculture minister Indar Weir. The memorandum of understanding between Co-op Energy and BAMC was terminated last August, leaving questions about governance, operations and the long-term direction of the industry. 

Last Monday after being sworn-in as the new agriculture Minister, Dr Shantal Munro-Knight said she would be meeting with stakeholders across the sector. In direct response to a question about the start of the cane harvest, she said: “Once I’m able to meet with the stakeholders, make sure that we identify any challenges and come to a consensus, for sure, that will be one of my first key orders of business in terms of deliverables”.