Sugarbeet and sugarcane growers made their annual visits to Capitol Hill in late February and early March to educate and discuss with congressional members and staff key issues of interest for our industry.

First, the farm bill has been written. . . farmers have made business decisions based on the contents of the bill. . . and now it must be defended. Attacks on farm policy against sugar policy, crop insurance and other important tools used by farmers are likely to come through the appropriations process that will play out in the coming months. Our request of everyone we visited was to vote against any attack on any of the farm policies. We are reminding offices that with a resolution of the Mexican trade problem, our policy is predicted to cost “$0” for the next 10 years by USDA. While the sugar users argued that they were paying substantially higher prices for sugar during the farm bill consideration, prices were driven by global shortages and not by the U.S. sugar policy.


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Grower leaders have just met in Long Beach, Calif., for the 2015 ASGA Annual Meeting to dig deep into several key issues facing our industry in 2015 and beyond.

The ASGA Board of Directors spent one very long and intense day studying the North American sugar and sweetener market from a variety of perspectives. A better understanding of the beet industry’s customers and competitors in the U.S. and Mexico will be very beneficial in every cooperative board room. It will also help clarify key issues that drive and impact domestic sugar policy and negotiations of pending trade agreements. This was a unique educational opportunity that keeps the industry leaders thinking ahead of the curve.


Read our entire issue and back issues. Click here.