(Traverse City, MI) – Immense financial pressures and predatory international trade practices are threatening American family farms and factories. Farm economy and sugar policy exports presented on the challenges facing the U.S. sugar industry at the American Sugar Alliance’s 40th annual meeting this week.
Presenters shared that farmers’ operating margins are being squeezed by falling revenue and persistently high input costs.
“Farmers around the country have been dealing with historic inflation. Farm production expenses have increased by over $100 billion since 2018. Every single input category is more expensive today than what it was five or six years ago. The challenge that we have today is that the input costs are not going back down. The input costs remain elevated, they remain steady,” said Dr. John Newton, Executive Head, Terrain.
In just the past two years, prices for sugarbeet and sugarcane farmers have fallen by 26% and 13%, respectively. Those prices continue to fall as foreign nations that subsidize their own domestic industries are expected to dump near record amounts of sugar on the world market.
“According to market fundamentals, we have a massive deficit, prices should be high. However, stock draw downs, speculative market behavior, currency movements, shifts in ethanol diversion, and broader economic factors all have contributed to weaker sugar prices,” said Jose Orive, Executive Director, International Sugar Organization.
In response to these market conditions, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act included much needed provisions to strengthen U.S. sugar policy and help keep family farms in America. Over the past year, American farmers, workers, and food manufacturers joined together to advocate for these sugar policy provisions.
“In the Farm Bill, we supported its sugar provisions, loan rates and CCC storage rates were increased, and this reflects the very real rising cost of production that you’ve all faced,” said Randy Green, Principal, Watson Green, LLC; Consultant to the Sweetener Users Association. “Sugar users value our domestic suppliers. They have a preference for domestic sugar. . .We hope to continue working together with you on policies to benefit growers and users alike.”
Dr. Rob Johansson, Director of Economics and Policy Analysis for the American Sugar Alliance, moderated several panels while speaking to the importance of U.S. sugar policy.
“Congress has repeatedly reaffirmed the importance of maintaining the farm safety net, and the sugar provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will provide our family farmers and producers with more certainty in the face of increased risk,” said Dr. Johansson. “A robust American sugar industry is critical to supporting our rural economies and maintaining our national food security.”
