BATON ROUGE - Sugarcane harvesting season is underway across Louisiana, but farmers say unpredictable weather patterns are shaking up their plans. More than a month ago, Hurricane Francine swept across the southern part of the state; the wind and rain damaged crops.

Troy Canella’s sugarcane farm dealt damage after the storm. The influx of water logged some of the crops, and the wind pushed the crops completely flat in spots. Now, the ground on the farm is dried and cracked.

“I asked for dry weather and we sure got it,” Canella said. “We like a little bit of everything - a little bit of rain, a little bit of dry, but we can’t seem to get that.”

Farmer Stephen Simoneaux dealt with a similar issue during last year’s drought. Simoneaux says the dry and windy days can make it difficult to burn the crop, which is a part of the harvesting process, but he says there’s an upside.

“With the dry conditions, we're actually able to lift it up, without sending any mud to the factory. We're sending good quality cane," Simoneaux said.

Compared to the 2023 drought, Simoneaux says this one is less likely to affect the overall growth.

“Last year's drought, really affected us in the grand growth -- when the cane is really growing an inch a day and we're trying to put on as much growth as we can. An October drought I would personally take it every year. Harvesting conditions are excellent," Simoneaux said.