Home > Crops & Livestock > Crops > Sugarcane > Harvesting & Processing > Sugarcane harvest better than expected [Image: sugarcane harvest] (Distributed 11/07/08) The Louisiana sugarcane harvest is in full swing and with some of the best weather conditions to get the job done. Boiling Optimization Program This is to report on the activities related to the boiling program from August 2000 to February 2001. A brief account is given of the accomplishments as well as comments where the actual work deviated from the tentative plans. Sugarcane Rind Shows Promise As Potential Building Material Component [Image: Dr. Qinglin Wu (left) and Dr. Richard Vlosky examine a piece of oriented strand board Wu fabricated in his laboratory at the LSU AgCenter. The OSB is composed of 50 percent sugarcane rind, and the researchers say it is significantly stronger than OSB made from wood alone.] LSU AgCenter researchers recently completed a study that examines the marketing and economic feasibility of using sugarcane rind as a supplemental raw material for manufacturing oriented strand board (OSB) and similar products. Sugarcane Harvest Better Than Expected [Image: Sugarcane Harvest] Hurricanes Rita and Katrina were not good for the already struggling Louisiana sugarcane industry, but the storms did not do as much damage as growers first anticipated. (TV News 12/12/05. Runtime: 1 minute 25 seconds)  more articles... Optimization of Sugar Crystallization Processes OBJECTIVES: 1. Make use of well-automated and controlled pilot plant vacuum and cooling crystallizers to establish fundamental information on factors affecting crystallization rate, color and impurity transfer from mother liquor to crystal, and exhaustion of molasses. 2. Compare different methods of measurement and control, to establish the most cost- effective techniques for practical application, and so establish the optimal control strategy for batch crystallization. 3. Use the information.