It’s often said that life is sweet. We know it’s made even sweeter by the farmers who grow sugarbeets and sugarcane right here in America.
Not sure what sugarbeets and sugarcane are? Check out our first installment of Sugar 101.
Now that we’ve covered where real sugar comes from, it’s time to learn more about how exactly sugar policy keeps it sweet in America. Congress backs America’s sugar producers through programs in the Farm Bill. U.S. sugar policy ensures we always put America’s farmers – like the families in this story – first.
How Does U.S. Sugar Policy Work?
When sugar is extracted from sugarbeets or sugarcane by one of our cooperatively-owned, employee-owned, or family-owned factories, mills and refineries, we store that sugar until delivery - at our expense! That means that until our customer needs a rail car of sugar, or a pallet of bags, that sugar is held in a distribution center within our nationwide network of strategically located facilities.
Because our producers are not paid until a customer takes delivery of the sugar, which could be several months after harvest, the U.S. government offers short-term loans on the sugar held in storage. These are not subsidy checks. Once the sugar is sold, delivered, and paid for by a customer, producers with a loan repay the government with interest. There is no cost to taxpayers.
These loans provide our producers with the financial security to plant, grow, and harvest sugarbeets and sugarcane, as well as to process and store sugar.
Three Things To Know About U.S. Sugar Policy
- U.S. sugar policy puts America’s farmers first. American farmers supply about 75 percent of the U.S. demand for sugar. American sugar producers are efficient and meet some of the highest labor and environmental standards in the world.
- U.S. sugar policy puts American consumers first. Our strong and resilient supply chain keeps manufacturers and consumers supplied with sugar. Our sugar producers have invested heavily in a strong domestic supply chain to ensure that our customers – from food manufacturers to everyday Americans stocking their pantries – always have sugar available.
- U.S. sugar policy is contained in the Farm Bill. Sugar policy is designed to cost taxpayers $0 and is a critical component of the farm safety net for our producers. That’s because sugar producers are provided access to government loans that are repaid with interest. America’s sugarbeet and sugarcane farmers and workers are advocating for a five-year Farm Bill that strengthens the sugar safety net. Extensions of the 2018 Farm Bill do not provide the certainty that sugar producers need, and all farmers need a new five-year Farm Bill now.
U.S. sugar policy is a common-sense policy that ensures our family farmers can keep producing this essential, natural, and made-in-America food ingredient.
Stay tuned for the next edition of Sugar 101.
For more sweet facts about sugar visit our website at sugaralliance.org or follow us on Instagram.