Sugar Industry is Under Pressure. Congress Can Help.

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This op-ed was originally published in Inside Sources

By Clint Hagen and Travis Medine

Rural America is in crisis. What is at stake goes well beyond the future of American farms; it’s blue-collar manufacturing jobs, small businesses on Main Street, and the homegrown, made-in-America food on our grocery shelves and kitchen tables.

We were on Capitol Hill recently sharing our stories as sugar beet and sugarcane farmers, proud to grow an essential ingredient in the food we eat; as fathers, stewarding the way for the next generation in the field; and as businessmen, cognizant of the unsustainable financial pressures squeezing family farms.

Producing America’s sugar has always taken hard work, dedication and a little bit of luck. It also depends on strong federal farm and trade policies because the global sugar market is among the most distorted. Foreign governments pour billions into subsidies, then dump surplus sugar at artificially low prices, forcing American sugar beet and sugarcane farmers to compete on an unlevel playing field. India subsidizes its sugar industry by $17.6 billion, according to U.S. government reports.

Those foreign subsidies increase world sugar production and lower the world price. Surplus cheap, subsidized sugar has made it easier for highly subsidized foreign sugar to enter our market, taking away sales from our companies and causing the price of domestically produced sugar to fall precipitously. Over the last two years, U.S. sugar prices have dropped by more than a third. American sugar beet and sugarcane farmers have lost $2 billion in potential income due to highly subsidized foreign sugar.

The drop in U.S. sugar prices is challenging enough on its own. However, the squeeze is tightening: our costs on the farm, and the costs in the factories, mills, and refineries that process our crops, have risen sharply.

Like other farmers, we are bearing the increased costs of diesel fuel, crop protection and nutrition inputs, farm equipment, and the highly specialized machinery required to cultivate sugar crops. For example, the price of a 340-horsepower tractor has increased by more than $200,000 in the last five years. Tractors are essential tools on the farm, and we put hundreds of hours of heavy work on those machines every year; a breakdown on a used machine that has become too costly to replace means lost hours in the field and potentially negative effects to the crop.

On-farm costs for sugar beet and sugarcane producers have increased by more than 30 percent over the last five years. America’s farmers, including sugar crop farmers, were already operating on thin margins. Even with higher yields in the field, the year-over-year decline in prices has led to a substantial decrease in profit margins. Nationally, sugar beet and sugarcane farmers are forecast to suffer nearly $680 million in economic losses for crop year 2025, equating to a range of losses on a farm-by-farm basis. On average, sugar beet farmers lost nearly $500 per acre.

For farmers with significant losses, it means tapping into their equity just to keep the lights on and the tractors running. It’s untenable.

Finding adequate labor for our farms and the factories that extract sugar from our crops has also become increasingly difficult and more expensive. The reality is that the population in rural America is shrinking, and our farms and factories need an available and reliable workforce to plant, tend to, harvest and process our crops and move American-made sugar to food production lines and grocery store shelves. 

However, the workforce programs our farms and factories depend on have been left virtually untouched since the 1980s, and their complexity is making them unworkable for our farmers. Increased costs and capital investments required to run our factories and mills efficiently have further eaten into our bottom lines.

Congress has repeatedly recognized the important role that American-made sugar plays in supporting our national food security, and we are grateful for its bipartisan support for strong farm and trade policies. Ensuring that we as a nation can feed ourselves is not a red versus blue or rural versus urban issue; it’s an American issue.

Over the next few weeks, more than 75 sugar beet and sugarcane producers nationwide will take valuable time away from their farms to meet with members of Congress. We want lawmakers to understand firsthand what happens when a farm goes under or a factory is shuttered, such as when we lost the last sugar beet factory in California last year. 

It is a hopeful sign that the House Agriculture Committee will consider a new Farm Bill, providing rural America with greater certainty. We appreciate the Agriculture Committee leaders from both sides of the aisle and hope to see a new Farm Bill become law this Congress.

We also hope that timely and meaningful economic aid will provide a lifeline as farmers head into the fields for spring planting. In January, the American Sugar Alliance co-signed a letter led by the American Farm Bureau Federation to House and Senate leadership, highlighting the alarming situation in farm country and asking Congress to provide immediate economic assistance.

We know that farming is never easy, but the challenges abroad and at home represent a threat to American sugar production that requires immediate action. The strength of our homegrown food supply, our rural communities and our family farming legacies relies on the continued bipartisan support for strong farm and trade policies.

Congress needs to act to support farmers. Here’s why.

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This op-ed was originally published in the Advocate Baton Rouge

By Chad Hanks

March 13, 2026

Sugar cane is an inextricable part of the culture and economy in South Louisiana. Our state is the northernmost location in the world where sugarcane is grown, planted across more than 25 parishes and supporting nearly 20,000 jobs and more than $4 billion in annual economic impact. As a sugar cane grower, my family depends on the sustainability of the sugarcane industry, but today we face serious challenges from labor shortages and stubborn inflation.

That’s why I spent a week in February in Washington, D.C., pressing for policies that will keep farms like mine alive.

I’m a first-generation sugar cane grower, having switched from rice 35 years ago. Even as our industry has adopted new technologies and modernized operations, the nature of sugar cane planting, cultivating and harvesting still requires significant human labor.

For example, sugar cane is a tropical grass. You can’t neatly drop seeds into furrows — you must plant parts of the grassy stalk, called billets, to grow. While most planting operations are mechanized, many farms still rely on workers to ensure those billets are correctly planted.

Throughout the season, there are many reasons to require farm labor and, similarly, harvest season requires boots on the ground. On my farm alone, we have 3,500 acres of sugar cane that must be cut every fall, either for planting new seed cane or to feed the sugarcane mill. It’s a lot of work to keep harvesters and carts running smoothly while delivering cane on a timely schedule to ensure the mill can run efficiently.

Even with farm wages amounting to more than double the minimum wage, it has become increasingly difficult to secure the help we need to plant and harvest our sugar cane. Simply put, most Americans don’t apply to work on a farm during a hot and humid Louisiana summer.

While we always prefer to hire American workers, our farm does rely on migrant workers who legally come to work in the U.S. through the H-2A visa program. Many return year after year, determined to work hard and create a better life for their families back home. These workers are taking time away from their families to help plant, tend and harvest the crops that feed American families. It is a responsibility none of us takes lightly.

Unfortunately, the programs that we rely on for these workers have become increasingly complex. Congress must act to make these programs truly workable for American agriculture.

Labor is one pressure. Inflation is another. The costs for farm inputs, such as new machinery, repairs, fuel and fertilizer have increased significantly in recent years. The U.S. Department of Agriculture forecasts that other expenses will continue to rise over the coming year, as well. Meanwhile, only about 24% of each dollar spent at the grocery store goes to farms, and less than that for the food you purchase in a restaurant. Farmers receive only a fraction of the food dollar spent by consumers.

John F. Kennedy once said, “The farmer is the only man in our economy who has to buy everything he buys at retail — sell everything he sells at wholesale — and pay the freight both ways.” That was true in 1960, and it is true today. The price we receive for raw cane sugar has fallen steadily over the past few years and now barely covers our costs.

Louisiana’s sugar cane farmers continue to do more with less. We do it because we love agriculture and we want to preserve this way of life. We do it because we value providing jobs to our communities and contributing to the economy. Importantly, we do it because a strong America must be able to feed itself and American-made, all-natural sugar is a vital part of our food supply.

We in the Pelican State are blessed to have a congressional delegation that recognizes the strategic importance of the Louisiana sugar cane industry, and I was proud to share our message with other federal lawmakers from across the U.S. to build support for American agriculture.

It is my hope that Congress will help ensure American farms will sustain many more generations to come.

Congress must act now to save Idaho sugar beet farms

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This op-ed was originally published in the Idaho Statesman

By Zach Patterson
Every spring, Idaho growers are the first in the country to plant sugar beets. As a farmer, I’m looking forward to getting into the fields to plant seeds for one of the two crops used to make the real sugar you use in your kitchen.
The weeks before planting are busy as we repair equipment, finalize crop rotations and planting schedules and complete groundwork. But instead of getting to work on my third-generation farm, I just spent the week in Washington, D.C., in my role as president of the Snake River Sugarbeet Growers Association, telling Congress that Idaho’s family farms are struggling under crushing financial pressures.
If Congress does not act — and soon — some of Idaho’s sugar beet farmers might not have a future in farming at all.
Sugar beets are just one of several crops on my farm, but for years the stability of sugar prices helped us weather the ups and downs of other farm commodities. But in the past two years, the U.S. sugar market has been overwhelmed by an oversupply of foreign subsidized sugar, pushing down the prices American farmers receive by more than a third.
Can you imagine suddenly receiving only two-thirds of your paycheck? Even as sugar prices drop, the cost of land, inputs, labor and other critical expenses remain high or continue to rise. As growers, we also cooperatively own the Amalgamated Sugar Company, which means that increased costs at the factory level trickle down to us at the farm level.
Spring planting normally represents a time of excitement and hope as we look forward to another growing season.
This year, however, in my conversations with sugar beet growers across the state, I am hearing an increased sense of concern. Some are even tapping into farm equity to try to keep the farm afloat for another year.
Sugar is an incredibly important food ingredient, and we need to produce it in America, but farmers can’t do that if they are losing hundreds of dollars an acre multiple years in a row, as foreign sugar overwhelms the U.S. market.
As farmers, we are used to lean years — but this is unsustainable.
We are grateful to have such strong agricultural champions in Congress who recognize the severity of the strain we are under.
My representative, Congressman Mike Simpson, is the co-chair of the Congressional Sugar Caucus and advocates for policies that allow us to maintain sugar production here in the United States.
Both Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch voted in favor of the strengthened sugar provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last summer.
These members are working alongside their congressional colleagues to secure financial assistance and stronger trade policies so we don’t have to confront the growing questions of what would happen to Idaho’s rural communities if we were to lose the farms and factory jobs associated with sugar production — or the impact to our national food security if we had to rely completely on countries like India, Brazil or China for sugar.
While my time in D.C. this week was well-spent, I’m glad to be back on the farm. I hope Congress acts soon to preserve the farming legacies of Idaho’s sugar beet farmers.
Zach Patterson is a third-generation sugar beet grower in Paul, Idaho, where he also grows wheat, corn and hay. He serves as the president of the Snake River Sugarbeet Growers Association, representing 700 sugar beet growers across Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.

 

America’s farmers need continuous support

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This op-ed was originally published in The Detroit News

By Rita Herford

September 7, 2025

Farming runs deep in my family’s blood. Five generations have worked the soil and passed down the tools of the trade on our land in Huron County. Farming is a family job. I’ve worked on this farm my entire life, and every day I think about what I need to do to pass down this legacy.
But in Michigan and across the country, I’ve seen how much harder that has become. From soaring input prices to unpredictable weather to unfair foreign trade practices, farming is in many ways tougher than ever. While we’re no strangers to hard work or tough seasons, even the most resilient farm families need a fair shot.
On our farm, we grow sugarbeets, wheat, dry edible beans, corn and rye. My great-grandparents began growing sugarbeets, and they have since become the cornerstone of our farm.
That’s why it meant so much to have the 40th International Sweetener Symposium held in Michigan, home to many of the sugarbeet farms, families and workers who power America’s sugar industry. The meeting in Traverse City showcased the challenges and opportunities facing growers across the country.
Sugarbeets are one of two crops used to make sugar in the United States. Real sugar is a natural and essential ingredient in countless everyday foods. It’s important we continue to support the American farmers and American workers who produce our food; we can’t become completely reliant on other countries.
The American sugar industry supports more than 151,000 jobs across the country. In Michigan, every year we grow more than 4.5 million tons of sugarbeets across 140,000 acres. This is a real engine of growth for our rural communities, and we want to keep it running.
Yet, our sugar producers have faced increasing financial pressure in recent years.
Presenters at the International Sweetener Symposium noted that several sugar processing facilities have had to close in recent years as the cost of doing business has increased while sugar prices have decreased.
We are grateful that our sugar facilities in Michigan remain strong, but we cannot take our food security for granted. As farmers, we must shine a spotlight on how hard it has become to sustain our operations in light of these financial pressures and the ongoing threat posed by foreign subsidies.
I was thankful to hear that during the Sweetener Symposium U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden reaffirmed the Trump Administration’s commitment to putting America’s farmers first, saying “every action that we’re taking is with an America-first and farmers-first philosophy.” We also have advocates like Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Romeo, in Congress to put forward policies that give us the certainty to plan and invest in our farms and factories.
My children are now at the age where they can come along with us in the field to learn the responsibilities that come with growing our nation’s food. It’s my hope that the Trump Administration and Congress will continue to support our farmers so we can feed the country and preserve the legacy we’ve built, generation after generation. My children are counting on it.
Rita Herford is a sugarbeet grower in Huron County.

It’s time for a new farm bill — no more extensions

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This op-ed was originally published in the Toledo Blade

By Clint Hagen

April 5, 2025

If you are traveling south of Toledo on I-75, you’ll pass two white storage silos emblazoned with the words “Pioneer Sugar.” Those silos are filled with sugar made from sugar beets some of which may have come from my Michigan farm. I’m proud to play a small role in feeding Michigan, Ohio, and surrounding states, which is why I recently traveled to Washington to ask lawmakers to pass a new Farm Bill … now.
Congress has passed two one-year Farm Bill extensions instead of a larger five-year package. It’s no longer an option to keep kicking the can down the road. We need a long-term solution to provide stability for our farmers and ensure the future of family farms like mine.
I am the fifth generation of my family farming in Michigan, working alongside my brother. I know firsthand the challenges of farming in today’s world. We grow sugar beets, edible beans, and wheat, and our farm supports not only my family, but also 20 employees and the broader local economy. The sugar industry, especially, is the lifeblood of our rural communities, providing jobs and supporting local businesses.
The sugar beets we grow are harvested and sent to Michigan Sugar Co., a farmer-owned cooperative, where the sugar made by the plants is extracted and packaged for delivery to food manufacturers and store shelves. Much of that sugar is sent to Ohio storage facilities in Findlay, Fremont, and Toledo.
American-made sugar is an essential ingredient used by Ohio food manufacturers.
At one time, Ohio was also home to sugar beet farms and processing facilities. But as the economics of farming sugar beets has become harder, the industry has contracted. The last Ohio sugar beets were harvested 20 years ago. It’s not just sugar beets; it’s harder and harder for farms to stay in business. American farmers are facing a growing crisis, and we cannot afford to lose any more of the farms and farm families who grow the food we eat.
Farming is more complex and costly than ever, and U.S. farmers are shouldering significant costs to maintain our position as the best, most efficient farmers in the world. Without U.S. sugar policy, our farms could be driven out of business by subsidized, foreign sugar from unreliable suppliers overseas.
The failure to pass a five-year Farm Bill has left us in a constant state of limbo. This affects more than just sugar beet farmers; row crop and dairy producers in Ohio also need the long-term certainty of a five-year Farm Bill.
I’m not just thinking about today — I’m thinking about the next generation. My wife, Melissa, and I have five children and my brother has two, ranging from eighth grade to 24 years old.
My son Dylan is already working with us, and now his son could one day be the seventh generation on the farm. I have high hopes that the next generation will carry the family legacy forward, but the uncertainty around the Farm Bill makes it difficult to move forward with confidence.
We’re calling on Congress to move beyond temporary extensions and deliver the stability our farm families need. The future of our farms, communities, and local economies is at stake. This isn’t just about today; it’s about securing a sustainable future for generations to come.
I strongly urge Congress to pass a Farm Bill … now.
Clint Hagen has been farming in Huron County, Michigan, for over 25 years. He and his brother operate Atwater Farms in Ubly, where they grow white wheat, navy beans, and 3,500 acres of sugar beets. He was in Washington for the annual American Sugar Alliance fly-in.

Sugar policy sweet deal for U.S. taxpayers, Red River Valley farmers

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This op-ed was originally published in The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead

By Brent Baldwin
March 26, 2025

Sugar is incredibly important to the Red River Valley. Sugar beets support our family farms, supply our factories, provide good jobs and power our local economy.

That’s why I was disappointed to read a recent column in The Forum written by out-of-state authors that peddled false claims about U.S. sugar policy that, if taken seriously by policymakers, could devastate my farm and our rural communities.

It’s important to set the record straight: U.S. sugar policy doesn’t cost taxpayers a dime.

I’m a fourth-generation farmer from St. Thomas, North Dakota, and sugar beets are an essential part of my farming operation. Like farmers across the country, I am proud to grow my crops and support my sugar beet cooperative while also providing for my family. My farm runs on hard work — not government handouts.

So, when political pundits in Washington, D.C., wrote an article claiming that sugar beet and sugarcane farmers rely on subsidies and that “farmland currently devoted to sugar could be shifted to more productive uses,” it was clear they haven’t stepped foot in the Red River Valley.

I do not receive a sugar subsidy check from the federal government. That’s because sugar subsidies don’t exist. U.S. sugar policy is built on a system of loans that are repaid with interest. Because our farmer-owned sugar cooperatives are not paid until a customer buys sugar — which can be several months after harvest — the federal government offers our cooperative the opportunity to take out loans. These loans provide our cooperative with the financial security to plant, grow, and harvest sugar beets, and the opportunity to process and store sugar.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. sugar policy has not cost taxpayers anything for the last 10 years, and it’s not projected to cost taxpayers anything for the next 10 years.

More sugar beets are grown here in the Red River Valley than anywhere else in America. We are among some of the most efficient sugar beet farmers in the world. And those sugar beets do more than help feed America. Across North Dakota and Minnesota, sugar production contributes more than $6.1 billion in annual economic impact and supports more than 16,000 jobs. Many of the people we employ in our factories would not be able to find another good, American manufacturing job as manufacturing jobs are increasingly shipped overseas.

U.S. sugar policy is of vital importance to our livelihoods and to the lifeblood of our communities. Fargo is surrounded by sugar beet fields, and our farms and factories support our economy. Importantly, U.S. sugar policy bolsters the domestic supply chains that keep a steady supply of sugar flowing to grocery store shelves. All without costing the taxpayer anything.

My son is already farming alongside my dad and me as the fifth generation. I want to be able to leave him a strong and sustainable farming operation. Our ability to do that depends on strong farm and trade policies. U.S. sugar policy isn’t some unnecessary government giveaway – it’s a critical part of keeping family farms in business.

Let’s not risk our farms or American jobs based on misinformation. We know sugar matters to the Red River Valley.

Brent Baldwin is a resident of St. Thomas, N.D.

Pride alone won’t keep our family farms alive

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This op-ed was originally published in The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead

By Tim Deal

March 20, 2025

As a fourth-generation Minnesota farmer, I take great pride in the work I do every day to help feed this country. But pride doesn’t pay the bills.

Across rural America, family farmers are struggling to stay afloat as costs skyrocket while prices for our crops remain stagnant. If we don’t act now, the future of American agriculture will be at risk.

That was the message I brought to Washington last month when I testified before Congress on behalf of America’s sugarbeet and sugarcane growers about some of the challenges we’re facing back home on the farm. What we do isn’t just about supporting our families — it’s about ensuring a reliable, sustainable food supply for all Americans. Congress can help support our rural communities and secure our food supply by passing a strong five-year Farm Bill now. It’s already two years overdue, and farmers cannot wait any longer.

Sugarbeets are a critical crop here in Minnesota. The Red River Valley produces more sugarbeets than anywhere else in America. Our farms and our factories are an essential part of our rural communities, sustaining nearly 21,000 jobs in Minnesota — many of which are union jobs and manufacturing jobs in towns where they are needed — and driving more than $3 billion in annual economic impact.

But more and more, the economics of farming simply don’t add up.

As part of a cooperative of 450 sugarbeet growers in Minnesota and North Dakota, I see financial strain every day. In the past year, the price of sugar has dropped more than 10%.

Meanwhile, our costs for the inputs we need to grow our crops are only now coming down slightly from record highs. Because we as farmers also cooperatively own the factory that turns our sugarbeets into sugar, we also have to cover those operational costs and invest in constant capital improvements to stay competitive.

All of these costs — higher labor, fuel, fertilizer, and equipment prices — are piling up, and they’re falling squarely on the shoulders of farmers like me as well as the next generation of farmers.

As things stand, the Farm Bill safety net hasn’t been updated since 2018 and is woefully out of sync with today’s economic realities. If Congress does not pass a Farm Bill that provides a meaningful update to these policies, including U.S. sugar policy, many of us will struggle to continue financing our operations.

Soon farmers from Minnesota and other sugarbeet and sugarcane states will head to Capitol Hill to share with Congress the stark reality our farmers are facing and encourage them to put America’s farmers first by passing a strong Farm Bill.

For sugarbeet farmers in the Red River Valley, we are fortunate to be represented by Sens. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Tina Smith (Minn.), John Hoeven (N.D.) and Kevin Cramer (N.D.). I appreciate Sens. Klobuchar, Smith and Hoeven for giving me an opportunity to speak before the Senate Agriculture Committee and share the story of my farm and my family.

All four of these members understand the pressures facing our farm families and that if we want to continue to feed America, we need a Farm Bill that supports the people who make it all happen. We are counting on their leadership to move this conversation forward.

The closure of sugar processing facilities — like the one in northeastern Montana two years ago or the last remaining sugar mill in Texas last year — should be an urgent wake-up call that we cannot allow U.S. sugar policy to be weakened. When these facilities shut down, communities lose jobs, farmers lose a valuable part of their livelihoods, and America loses domestic food production.

Right now, the stakes couldn’t be higher — not just for family farmers like me, but for every American who depends on the food we produce.

Let’s make sure that the Farm Bill reflects the true needs of family farmers and ensures that we can continue to feed this country and have the opportunity to pass our farms on to the next generation. Because right now, pride alone won’t keep our family farms alive.

Tim Deal is a fourth-generation farmer from Doran, Minnesota. He has served on the MinnDak board since 2012 and the American Sugarbeet Growers Association (ASGA) board since 2016.