14 NOVEMBER 2005 - FRANKLIN, LA:  JESSE BREAUX operates his cane cutter while another cane cutter passes him on his sugar cane farm near Franklin, Louisiana during the 2005 sugar cane harvest. Breaux sells his cane through the St. Mary Sugar Co-op in St. Mary Parish. Louisiana is one of the leading sugar cane producing states in the US and the economy in southern Louisiana, especially St. Mary and Iberia Parishes, is built around the cultivation of sugar. Sugar growers in the area are concerned that trade officials will eliminate sugar price supports during upcoming trade talks for the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). They say elimination of price supports will devastate sugar growers in the US and the local economies of sugar growing areas. They also say it will ultimately lead to higher sugar prices for US consumers.  PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
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