14 NOVEMBER 2005 - FRANKLIN, LA: Smoke rises from a fresh cut cane field near Franklin, Louisiana during the 2005 sugar cane harvest. The fields are burned during the harvest to clear shuck and waste from the fields and to facilitate the growth of the next crop. 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