Since October 1, Glades residents have once again been smothered in the smoke and ash that will plague us through the entirety of the six-to-eight-month sugar cane pre-harvest burn season.

Harvesting sugar cane by cutting is labour-intensive, causing many farmers to resort to burning. Burning worsens the air quality in the cool season, leading to high levels of PM2.5.

While the true extent of damage won't be known for a few weeks, promising signs point to a healthy sugar cane harvest season.

“What I was happy to hear today in our meeting with the farmers and the harvest committee is that Frome is now saying to farmers, invest in farming. Go back into sugar cane production because ...