Last night, we told you how the low international prices of sugar may threaten the local industry. The cane farmers are heavily invested, and they have loans at the bank to service.

Today, our News team travelled to Orange Walk to speak with a few of the farmers to get a first-hand perspective on the loss of earnings that could come out of the next sugar season. Daniel Ortiz has that story:

All these sugar cane stalks, tall and numerous, belong to cane farmer Marcel Gutierrez, They're about ready to be harvested, and Guiterrez and his family have been preparing for the opening of the new season which should take place later in this month.

This is a huge investment for him and his family, and the only way of life he's known for the past 22 years.

He says the problem with the 21% pay cut that's been announced is that he won't get a return which will allow him to pay his loan to the bank which financed his cane fields.

Marcel Gutierrez - OW Cane Farmer

"I made a loan this year the differential price will be good and not be good. For approximately the next year I will can't clean my cane fields, not fertilize, nor pay my workers to clean the cane because it will be a very low reduction of price. And it's very hard with me and family to survive on this low price of cane."

Reporter

"If this price continues into the following crop, do you see yourself continuing as a farmer?"

Marcel Gutierrez - OW Cane Farmer

"Well actually it's very hard because I will not have the privilege to borrow from the banks because I am already in debt to the bank and I cannot pay all my debt to the bank. I will stay with an amount of loan from the bank and I actually will not want to go sort again in the bank and go a loan because my loan will be up very high and I will not afford to pay that."

Reporter

"Some farmers are saying that they may have to depend on other sources for income; probably other family or their sons, daughters working it out as a family. Do you have any other means to be able to meet your debt?"

Marcel Gutierrez - OW Cane Farmer

"Well to pay my debt, nope. Because this is the only way I pay my loans to the bank. I do not have any other kind of source to pay my debt."

Daniel Ortiz

"So you are a career farmer who's about to lose his business."

Marcel Gutierrez - OW Cane Farmer

"That's right."

According to the chairman of his branch, Alfredo Ortega, the area of impact due these reduced sugar prices will be widespread within the Cane Farming Community.

Alfredo Ortega - Chairman, BSCFA OW Branch

"The situation is that after the second payment the farmers go and make their loans with their different institution they work with. And based on assumptions that the institution believe will be the upcoming price for the upcoming crop; then based on that commitments are made by the farmers on what will be their repayment potential. The burden on this situation will affect highly mostly the biggest farmers because they are the ones more indebted to the commercial institutions. Across the board it has a negative effect but it has a huge, very huge upon those farmers that are highly indebted to the commercial institution."

Daniel Ortiz

"Is there any fear that farmers might lose their farms? Might not be able to support themselves because the prices are so low?"

Alfredo Ortega - Chairman, BSCFA OW Branch

"Yes there is a situation that can happen. What this price is doing is pushing the farmers five steps further to poverty. We have been in poverty and with this situation it's chasing the farmers. And not only the farmer but also those people who are depending on the crop. Those people who are there doing the necessary husbandry at the cane field level. This situation will really put a negative impact to the cane farming community and it will chase us to a poverty situation if nothing is being done."

Yesterday, one of the spokespersons for factory owners made the point that everyone within the industry - including the BSI/ASR - stand to lose money for this crop.

As we told you, the cane farmers and the factory owners are debating a decision to approach the government and ask for an increase in the local prices for sugar. This would provide some relief to the farmers – but you'd have to pay for it – and successive government's have been reluctant to increase the price of such a basic necessity.

Still, the chairman of the Orange Walk Branch of the Sugar Cane Farmers Association says that he hopes that this time around, the Government will decide in the farmers favour and grant this price increase:

Alfredo Ortega - Chairman, BSCFA OW Branch

"This is an issue that has been placed on the table from long before in regards to the increase seeking and the increase for the local price. We have been asking for that increase because we have seen that most of our sugar; our local sugar has been smuggled between Mexico and Guatemala through an illegal form. Because of the prices we have here and we can also say to produce 1 ton of white sugar it really takes more than 1 ton of raw sugar. So the farmers are subsidizing the creation of white sugar. When we see the price of pound of rice increase, the price for beans, for flour, everything has increased. But we have remained at this price for the past 15 to 20 years; 50 cents on the shelf because buying from BSI is about 42 dollars per bag of sugar. We have been asking the government to increase this price so that farmers can have at least a little bit of pillow in regards to dollars per ton of cane. A math was made that if the price for a pound of sugar is increased of 25 cents, farmers are able to get 5 dollars per ton of cane delivered; so that is something that was charged to the chairman of the board 2 years ago; the SICB board. That he look forward into garner all the information and present it to the cabinet and it was done. When it reach to the cabinet, the information that was send over to us that cabinet was not prepared to give an increase to the ton of sugar."

We'll have more on this issue in tomorrow's newscast, when another veteran cane farmer will explain why he is in jeopardy of losing his cane field as well.

And while the sky does seem to be falling in cane country – for context we note that last year the price per tonne started out at fifty three dollars and ended up at a robust 75 dollars per tonne.