Over the past two years, we’ve been on a mission to document the many ways that the American sugar industry has been delivering on its decades-long commitment to producing sugar, sustainably.
It’s been a tough year for sugar farmers and factory workers in the Rio Grande Valley, as first the global health crisis and then the landfall of Hurricane Hanna created new challenges. The Rio Grande Valley Sugar Growers are a critical part of these South Texas communities and we have faith that working together, they will continue to support each other during these unprecedented times.
Our friends over at Farm Policy Facts have released a new episode of their podcast Groundwork, featuring two sweet stories about how the sugar industry has stepped up during the pandemic.
“America’s sugar farmers and workers are proud to provide our customers with more than 60 different types of affordable and sustainably produced American sugar,” said Jack Pettus, chairman of the American Sugar Alliance. “This analysis confirms what our industry has long known: the price stability provided by America’s no-cost sugar policy has no negative effect on the bottom line of sugar-using companies.”
The widespread use of foreign government support and subsidies have contributed to a wildly unpredictable global sugar market. As a result, sugar exports are being dumped by dozens of countries on the world market at prices that are half the cost of producing it world-wide and well below their own countries’ internal consumer prices.
This season might look vastly different for our farmers, our factories and our families. The challenges created by the pandemic may be new, but our dedication to preserving vibrant rural communities, farm families and small businesses has long been a tenet of the industry’s commitment to sustainability and will continue to drive our efforts to aid recovery. We’re all in this together and hope will persevere.
This week marks the 78-year anniversary of sugar rationing. During World War II, sugar was so critical, and in such short supply since the U.S. was heavily dependent on foreign suppliers, that it was the first item to be rationed and the last item to be removed from the rationing list two years after the war ended.
America’s sugar farmers and producers’ mission for sustainability fuels their drive to help our nation’s recovery. The industry is focused on providing safe and affordable food and preserving good jobs and the communities that have been built around sugar. Even when disaster – or a pandemic – strikes. Because if there is anyone who knows resiliency, it’s an American farmer.
Health care providers across the country are desperately in need of personal protective equipment (PPE), such as N95 masks, to protect them as they are on the frontlines of the fight against COVID-19. Sugar companies are donating extra masks and equipment to these first responders. Michigan Sugar Company uses PPE to keep sugar workers safe, and donated a portion of their company supply to local health systems, including hundreds of masks, safety glasses, and gloves.
With their friends and neighbors facing job loss and uncertainty due to COVID-19, U.S. Sugar provided 1,000 crates of green beans as well as fresh Florida orange juice to churches, healthcare providers, and food banks across South Florida. U.S. Sugar isn’t alone in its efforts to keep the community fed by donating truckloads of food.
When the farmers at U.S. Sugar saw that many of their neighbors in the community were facing food insecurity due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, they knew exactly what to do. In total, they donated more than 120,000 servings of green beans to those who needed it most.
Even as this pandemic unfolds, we must continue to eat, which means farmers continue to farm. In fact, the federal government declared that farmers and food manufacturers are an essential workforce and a critical part of the national response to COVID-19. Despite the many challenges they currently face, rural America and the nation’s farmers continue to work tirelessly to provide us all with a safe and affordable supply of food.
Dozens of America’s beet and cane sugar farmers are once again heading to Capitol Hill this week to meet with hundreds of lawmakers and share the importance of protecting America’s no-cost sugar policy.
America’s no-cost sugar policy supports well-paying jobs and provides economic opportunities for our communities. In fact, the sugar industry generates 142,000 jobs across the country and adds $20 billion to the U.S. economy.
Sugar farmers from across the country are headed to Capitol Hill today to defend America’s no-cost sugar policy, armed with brand-new data finding consumers believe American-made sugar to be affordable. Although consumers in other developed countries pay about the same as U.S. shoppers for sugar, critics of U.S. sugar policy continue to perpetuate the myth that supporting American farmers makes sugar too expensive, but their flawed messaging does not resonate with consumers.
Next week, sugar farmers from Florida to California will be trading in their coveralls and boots for ties and suits to meet with dozens of lawmakers on Capitol Hill. They will be sharing an important message with Congress: foreign sugar subsidies distort the global market and hinder sustainability.
American sugar farmers and workers are proud to share the love by producing an affordable supply of homegrown sugar. But it’s heartbreaking that America’s sugar farmers and workers will receive just a small share of those sales.
The American Sugar Alliance recently hit the road, traveling from farm to factory to see sustainable sugar production in action. Along the way, we met farmers who care passionately about being good stewards of the land and workers who utilize cutting-edge manufacturing technology to produce high-quality American sugar.
Deep in the heart of Texas, approximately 112 farmers grow sugar cane across 41,000 acres along the banks of the Rio Grande river. These farmers and their farmer-owned cooperative, Rio Grande Valley Sugar Growers, are important members of the Rio Grande Valley community and a critical part of the Texan economy. Unfortunately, they are all that is left of the once-booming sugar industry in south Texas.
Duane Grant never set out to be an agricultural pioneer. He just wanted to continue the family farm and make his dad proud. Grant grew up on his father Douglas’s farm in Southern Idaho and contributed from an early age, eventually joining the operation full-time after high school.
The American industry employs 142,000 people in 22 states in mostly rural communities. Direct annual wages and benefits for the industry add up to nearly $1.2 billion – a figure that increases to $4.2 billion when economy-wide impacts are included.
The sugarcane fields of south Florida are home to more than just high-quality sugar. The tall stalks provide a habitat to countless creatures that call the region home. Farmers in the area, by nature, love the environment and the animals it sustains. The soil, sun and rain in Florida bring to life the crops they raise. Protecting that environment is just as important to sugarcane farmers as the crop that flourishes in Florida.
Farmers of the Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative have taken action to help stamp out the effects of phosphorus – a naturally-occurring nutrient that is essential for plant life. But, it can be bad for our waterways by causing algal blooms which results in depleted oxygen in the water, which in turn harms plants and wildlife and can disrupt the ecosystem.
Today the American Sugar Alliance launched SugarSustainably.org to highlight the commitments that our industry has made over the last several decades to preserve our natural resources, family farms and rural communities for future generations. “America’s sugar industry is proud to be on the front lines of securing a more resilient and efficient future for agriculture,” said Brian Baenig, chairman of the American Sugar Alliance.
Faced with the volatility of the world market, America’s no-cost sugar policy helps level the playing field for our farmers and secures a stable supply of high-quality sugar for food manufacturers and consumers. We will continue to call on Congress to seek the elimination of all foreign sugar subsidies by passing Congressman Yoho’s Zero-for-Zero legislation.
The chairman of the House subcommittee with jurisdiction over farm commodity programs said yesterday that the unique perspectives and bipartisanship of his panel help it function well for U.S. farmers and ranchers. “The demographic and geographic diversity inside the House Agriculture Committee make it special,” Congressman Filemon Vela (D-TX) said at yesterday’s International Sweetener Symposium.
After more than a decade of transition, Europe’s sugar policy reform is finally complete, and it is transferring $2.5 billion a year in wealth from farmers and EU taxpayers to food processors, with no discernible benefit to grocery shoppers.
Congressman David Rouzer (R-NC) predicted significant turnover during the 2020 congressional election, and he encouraged agriculture to use the opportunity to work together to educate new lawmakers about the industry’s importance to America’s future.
America’s farmers and ranchers were blessed during the last Farm Bill debate to be represented by Congressional leaders who worked well together and were determined to pass a farm bill on time and get it signed into law. Sens. Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Reps. Collin Peterson (D-MN) and Mike Conaway (R-TX) were emblematic of how much Congress can achieve when people come together for a common cause.
Hudson, who co-chairs the Agriculture and Rural America Task Force, said America’s sugar industry supports thousands of U.S. farmers, thousands of U.S. workers, and billions in goods and services to the U.S. economy. So, supporting a strong U.S. sugar policy was an easy decision for him in the last Farm Bill.
The average rate of return for U.S. farmers is 1.3 percent this year, marking the fifth straight year of returns below 2 percent, Dr. John Newton, the chief economist for the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), said today at the International Sweetener Symposium.
Congressman Glenn “G.T.” Thompson (PA), the second highest ranking Republican on the House Agriculture Committee, kicked off the 2019 International Sweetener Symposium this morning by telling sugar producers that his vision for the Committee’s future is to “achieve a robust rural economy.”
The world sugar market, which has been battered by low prices, may soon get a reprieve, according to the head of the International Sugar Organization. Jose Orive, the group’s executive director, addressed the International Sweetener Symposium today and said, “World sugar prices have hit bottom, and signs are pointing to a recovery.”
India has a massive sugar problem. It will have 17-million-metric-tons more sugar than what it consumes this year, according to a recent USDA report. USDA notes the 17 million tons is more than double India’s minimum annual stock requirements. And India’s sugar mills are finding it difficult to sell this surplus sugar at a profit.
After more than half a century as a highly regulated sugar policy, with minimum prices and domestic sales’ quotas, the European Union’s Sugar Regime was liberalized from October 1, 2017. From then on, producers would freely decide how much to supply, a large amount of duty-free imports were available and prices were to be determined by supply and demand. “Market forces” would rule. Click here for the full report.
This week marks 13 years since the EU first began tearing down its sugar program after the World Trade Organization found it to be in violation of its international trade commitments. Since that time, Europe’s sugar industry has faced an uncertain future – 83 sugar mills closed and 120,000 jobs were lost – and subsidies remain prevalent as prices plummet below the cost of production.
India’s latest export subsidy scheme blatantly flouts international trade rules, and it’s been receiving lots of attention lately. Australia, Brazil, and Guatemala have all recently initiated formal proceedings against India under the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) dispute settlement mechanism. Leaders from Alvean, the world’s biggest sugar trader, singled out Indian subsidies for suppressing global prices. And…
The International Center for Agricultural Competitiveness (ICAC) at Texas Tech hosts and maintains a database of subsidies and trade policy information for public use. The report summarizes the information obtained and housed in the database relating to sugar in key producing, consuming, exporting, and importing countries. Click here for the full report.
The U.S. sugar industry has publicly endorsed a concept introduced by Congressman Ted Yoho (R-FL), known as the Zero-for-Zero sugar policy, which would end America’s no-cost policy in exchange for other countries eliminating their trade-distorting programs and letting a true free market form.
Farm Policy Facts debuted a new podcast called Groundwork yesterday, and two sugar farmers were the first guests on the show. John Snyder, of Wyoming, and Travis Medine, of Louisiana, discussed the importance of sugar farming in rural communities with Groundwork host Tom Sell.
As 2018 came to a close, the USDA published a report about the global sugar market. It noted that the world’s dominant sugar producer (and subsidizer) Brazil was decreasing production because of “unfavorable weather and more sugarcane being diverted towards ethanol,” where prices are stronger.
Today might be April Fool’s Day, but it’s no joke that federal sugar policy once again cost taxpayers $0 last year. Even better, the USDA predicts sugar policy will continue to operate at zero cost for the next 10 years. That means that federal sugar policy cost taxpayers absolutely nothing in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Protecting a no-cost program that ensures a sustainable supply of sugar and supports 142,000 American jobs is a no-brainer. Thank you to the sugar farmers who recently made their voices heard by taking to the halls of Congress and educating lawmakers about the importance of U.S. sugar policy.
Fifty-seven sugar factories have closed since the 1980s due to low prices, contributing to the loss of 100,000 sugar jobs. In fact, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics stopped tracking “sugar manufacturing” as a job category in 2008 due to the industry’s shrinking size. Thankfully, there are still 142,000 hardworking men and women employed by sugar across 22 states.
For most of the farmers, it’s their first trip back to the Capitol since the Farm Bill was approved, and given the bill’s overwhelming support, there will be many members to thank. There will also be a lot of new members to educate about the importance of maintaining the no-cost sugar policy in the face of a struggling rural economy.
From record product launches to multimillion-dollar expansions, what a sweet year it was for candy manufacturers. As consumers’ demand for candy products continues to surge, America’s confectioners are gladly taking advantage of this growing market. And America’s 142,000 sugar farmers and workers are thankful to be a part of their success story.
The global sugar market remains in turmoil, plagued for years by a subsidy-fueled oversupply. And as foreign sugar businesses struggle to stay afloat, governments around the globe are taking action. Unfortunately for the market, the action being taken by most governments is to increase subsidies, which further depresses prices. Last week saw two governments – both big and small – intervene.
Sugar is widely considered the world’s most distorted commodity market. Global sugar prices have fluctuated more than 200 percent since 2008 alone and often fall well below the cost of producing sugar. Why? Because of the actions of a few government-dependent producers….
Members of the American Sugar Alliance (ASA) praised Congressman Ted Yoho (R-FL) for taking decisive action against foreign sugar subsidies with today’s reintroduction of the Zero-for-Zero sugar policy.
Brian Grunenfelder will work alongside veteran ASA Trade Adviser Don Phillips in helping analyze the complex global trade issues that impact U.S. sugar farmers and shape America’s no-cost sugar policy.
The holidays got a little happier for farmers and ranchers today as President Donald Trump officially signed the 2018 Farm Bill, and with it, extended U.S. sugar policy for another five years. Sugar producers have been vocal supporters of the new Farm Bill, which they say will help rural America cope with slumping commodity prices and extreme weather.
We want to thank Senators Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Congressmen Mike Conaway (R-TX) and Collin Peterson (D-MN), and all of the Conference Committee members for working tirelessly to produce a bipartisan bill that will keep America’s farm safety net strong.
“I really believe in sugarbeets because they are the one crop that will always pull the farm out,” Herrera says. “It always seems to be the crop that will withstand that hail storm and provide some kind of an income.”
For far too many years, big sugar exporters around the globe have been embroiled in a subsidy arms race by one-upping each other with egregious handouts. But now, the biggest producer and a major subsidizer itself, Brazil, has had enough as prices reach ludicrously low levels.
Outsourcing U.S. sugar jobs to subsidized foreign producers was a top legislative initiative for the industry – and Big Candy was willing to claim no-cost U.S. sugar policy was causing them irreparable economic harm in order to win. It didn’t work. Confectioners lost all five congressional votes taken on sugar policy during the debate.
These are interesting times in the world sugar market as sugar stockpiles rise by nearly 20-million tonnes around the globe and prices crash to levels that cover barely half the cost of producing the crop. In short, it’s a horrible time to be in sugar.
With America’s farm economy in the doldrums, leaders from the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) and the National Farmers Union (NFU) today said that smart policies are needed to weather the storm.
As Congress works to complete the 2018 Farm Bill, bipartisan members of Michigan’s Congressional delegation showed their support for America’s sugarbeet and sugarcane producers at this week’s 35th International Sweetener Symposium.
Tearing down trade barriers and holding our trading partners accountable to their World Trade Organization (WTO) obligations top the priority list, he explained. Doud singled out China and India among the biggest subsidy abusers in agriculture and said reform is needed.
Prices continue to fall on the world sugar market as overproduction, fueled by government subsidies, further depresses what has long been considered to be the world’s most distorted commodity market.
On the heels of the latest Farm Bill debate, which saw attacks against America’s no-cost sugar policy soundly rebuffed, Roney questioned whether interest in outsourcing U.S. production to foreign subsidizers had finally fizzled.
Leaders from America’s sugar industry just arrived in Michigan and will begin their annual convention this week in Traverse City. Officials from the Trump administration, members of the state’s congressional delegation and renowned market analysts are here, too.
The box John Snyder’s mother-in-law brought to his office in Worland, Wyoming had been sitting at her house for decades. He opened the old carboard top and rifled through farm records dating to 1980-81. And there, amid the stacks of paper, he found a report of the sugarbeet farm’s net income that year. He read it…
The House of Representatives likewise continued the current sugar policy in its version of the Farm Bill after overwhelmingly rejecting a proposal by agricultural critics to depress sugar farmers’ prices with subsidized imports.
The Farm Bill passed today contains a strong sugar policy that will give sugar farmers and workers a fighting chance to survive in a market that is plagued by low prices and ever-increasing foreign subsidies.
As Congress continues debate of the 2018 Farm Bill, the U.S. Department of Agriculture recently updated its backgrounder on sugar policy, which made this new observation about sugar prices around the world.
Sugar, which had become a staple of high-society diet, was in short supply. When French scientists gave Napoleon sugar made from beets, he directed farmers to plant a massive crop and provided government money to help build processing factories.
Sugar policy will likely come under attack when the bill moves to the Senate floor. Farm policy opponents have signaled support for a legislative proposal that would exclude sugar producers from loans available to other crops, mandate market oversupplies with subsidized imports, and send sugar farmers’ prices back to 1980s levels.
At nights, she’d gaze at the iconic Domino Sugar refinery that has long illuminated the city’s Inner Harbor. But, she never realized just how close her home was to the refinery until she came to work there decades ago.
On the eve of a pivotal vote, which could have effectively cut America’s sugar producers out of the Farm Bill, the Wall Street Journal editorialized against U.S. farmers and in favor of subsidized foreign industries.
Agriculture’s opponents were dealt a stinging defeat on the House floor today as an amendment targeting America’s sugar farmers was rejected by a whopping 141-vote margin.
This is the American dream. But the dream of workers and farmers in the sugar industry are under attack on Capitol Hill. Opponents of agriculture want to gut the no-cost U.S. sugar policy in the Farm Bill. They want to flood the market with highly-subsidized foreign sugar instead of providing a level playing field for American sugar producers.
Sugar producers, who are embroiled in a contentious Farm Bill fight, just received a ringing endorsement from CoBank, one of the largest lenders in farm country.
U.S. sugar farmers took aim at attempts to gut America’s no-cost sugar policy in a new advertising campaign today, calling the anti-farmer efforts “discriminatory,” “America-last,” and “bankruptcy” inducing.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) yesterday sent Democratic members of the House of Representatives a letter urging them to “oppose the Virginia Foxx and Danny Davis anti-sugar farmer and sugar worker amendment.”
Agricultural critics are looking to cut U.S. sugar farmers out of the Farm Bill, effectively leaving them vulnerable to a new slew of foreign trade abuses and falling prices.
The American Sugar Alliance sent a letter to leaders of the House Agriculture Committee yesterday, thanking the panel’s members for supporting sugar policy and asking for support in defeating possible Farm Bill amendments.
Today, Michigan Sugar pumps hundreds of millions of dollars into the local economy each year. Sugar is a seasonal product with busy periods during summer and the fall baking seasons. But retailers and food-makers don’t take delivery of an entire season’s worth of sugar all at once. They expect the sugar producing industry to warehouse the product until its needed.
Sugar doesn’t come from the grocery store. It comes from American farms and American factories that support American jobs. Congress: please don’t cut America’s sugar families out of the Farm Bill.
Clewiston is proudly called America’s sweetest town. But for the families that grow sugarcane in Florida, life hasn’t been too sweet lately. They’ve felt the impact of Mexico illegally dumping highly subsidized sugar on the U.S. market, sending prices into a tailspin.
Nearly 60 banks and Certified Public Accountants sent Congress a letter opposing the Sugar Farmer Bankruptcy Bill.
Sugar prices tanked when Mexico broke U.S. trade law and flooded the market with subsidized imports years ago. While that problem has been addressed, the aftereffects are still lingering.
America has had a sugar policy in some form since the country was founded. And Louisiana was the first place where the crop was planted – tracing its roots back more than 200 years.
Sugar is widely considered the world’s most volatile commodity market because of widespread subsidization. The Rutherfords, like other American sugarbeet and sugarcane farmers, rely on a U.S. sugar policy comprised of import limits and producer loans to cope.
ASA launches new campaign to show lawmakers what’s at stake for cane and beet farmers across the country as they debate the future of sugar.
Union workers joined farmers on Capitol Hill this week to help spread the message, “Don’t cut my family out of the Farm Bill.”
Sugar farmers from across the country descended today on Capitol Hill for two weeks of meetings with lawmakers. And their message is crystal clear: “Don’t cut my family out of the Farm Bill.”
Carolyn Cheney was a pillar in the world of agricultural policy – a testament to doing things the right way and building relationships that stand the test of time. Today, her colleagues, friends, and family laid Carolyn to rest and celebrated a cherished life and career.
All four members of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees’ leadership took time to address the annual meeting of the American Sugarbeet Growers Association in D.C. – a testament to the importance of the sugar industry to our nation’s agricultural economy.
ASA released an infographic noting that sugar producers see just 2 cents from a $7.99 heart-shaped box of chocolates.
In candy-coated Washington-speak, the terms “modernize” and “reform” are synonymous with “weaken” and “eliminate.”
Sugarbeet farmers in Montana ended January on a high note with the publication of three op-eds from key leaders in the Sidney Herald this week.
When sugarbeet grower Kendall Busch learned of a scathing attack on his U.S. Senator for supporting an industry that has meant generations of reliable, good-paying, jobs in Nebraska, he was pretty upset.
Two weeks after President Trump made a bold promise to farmers to produce an on-time Farm Bill, his Department of Agriculture (USDA) took the next step and introduced a list of legislative principles to guide the upcoming debate.
Sugar producers’ biggest concerns heading into 2018 revolve around the Farm Bill and trade – specifically keeping America’s no-cost sugar policy strong.
While most folks were spending the holidays with friends and family and ringing in the New Year with confetti, foreign nations were busy doubling down on sugar subsidies.
ASA releases final installment in four-part “Sugar Shorts” video series that explains how U.S. sugar policy works.
Sugar has been called the world’s most distorted market. Our third “Sugar Shorts” video explains why.
