Burning the 'Cane

In an earlier post, I mentioned that farmers in the Rio Grande Valley normally burn sugar cane fields before harvest. The purpose is to kill spiders and other insects and make the sugar cane easier to harvest. "Burning the 'Cane" just burns the leaves and apparently does not harm the sugar content of the stalks.

I have also been told that law requires the farmer to notify people in the area on a bull horn when he is going to set fire to the field. The reason for the law is to give any illegals hiding in the sugar cane a chance to get out. In the past, some illegals have been found burned in the field.

We have had the black ash fall on our patio and we have seen the smoke in the distance, but I have never been in the area of a "burn". This morning, however, I was driving through the countryside when a farmer set fire to a sugar cane field nearby. I quickly drove in that direction to get a closer look.

The field being burned looked to be about twenty acres and it didn't take long to burn . . . maybe fifteen or twenty minutes. They set the fire on the upwind side of the field and let the wind carry it to the other side of the field. Adjacent fields were cultivated ready for planting, so there was no danger of the fire jumping to another field.



The roar of the fire and the crackling of the sugar cane leaves was quite loud. The smoke, as you can see in these pictures, was pretty intense, but it was rising rapidly because of the heat and a slight wind carried it away . . . along with the black ash.

I understand Texas is the only state in the country which still allows farmers to burn sugar cane fields. After witnessing "Burning the 'Cane" up close, I can see why some environmentalists might be a little upset at the practice.

All in all, it was educational to see the process of "Burning the 'Cane" up close. Fortunately, the wind was not blowing in the direction of our RV Park, so I didn't need to sweep the black ash off the patio when I returned to "The Bus".