NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Sugar cane is on the rise in Louisiana, with a good crop and decent prices encouraging more farmers to plant the tall tropical grass.

  

LSU AgCenter sugar cane expert Kenneth Gravois says the big reasons are that sugar prices have been stable and the crop has been resilient. He says that in spite of a soggy harvest season, 2018 set records for tons of cane sent to mills and tons of sugar produced.

  

Gravois says he doesn't know if this year's increase will be as big as last year's.

  

Farmers harvested 459,000 acres (185,750 hectares) of sugar cane between late September and mid-January, an increase of 19,000 acres (nearly 7,700 hectares) from the previous season.

  

Sugar cane is a perennial crop: one planting can produce up to five harvests.