More Sugar Facts Print
  • America's sugar producers support 142,000 U.S. jobs.
  • Sugar farmers don't receive government subsidy checks.
  • Sugar producers generate nearly $20 billion a year for the U.S. economy.
  • Sugar policy is predicted to cost taxpayers $0 in 2012.
  • Sugar is produced in 18 states.
  • Sugar producers' fuel costs have skyrocketed by 251% since 1985.
  • Two-thirds of Americans believe sugar in the U.S. is inexpensive.
  • Food manufacturers pocket lower sugar prices to boost profits instead of sharing the savings with shoppers.
  • Sugar policy didn't cost taxpayers a dime in '02, '03, '04, '05, '06, '07, '08, '09, '10, '11 and is expected to run at no cost through 2021.
  • 38 of America's foreign sugar suppliers are developing countries and most support U.S. sugar policy.
  • Seven out of ten of Americans prefer buying homegrown sugar, even if foreign sugar is cheaper.
  • 100% of sugarbeet companies are owned by farmers.
  • Dependence on foreign sugar in WWII forced the government to ration sugar.
  • One-sided trade deals force the U.S. to import sugar from 41 countries regardless of our needs.
  • The world sugar market is a thinly traded, heavily subsidized dump market and is the world's most volatile commodity market.
  • America is the world's second largest sugar importer.
  • NAFTA made Mexico the only sugar producer-domestic or foreign-with unlimited access to the U.S. market.
  • 55% of America's sugar production comes from beets, the rest from cane.
  • Sugar producers' labor costs are up 110% since 1985; farm equipment costs 75% more.
  • Sugar prices in Mexico have historically been higher than U.S. prices.
 

Symposium

Audio & Video

  • Sugarbeet Grower Alan Welp Tells the Tale of Two Intertwined Industries
    Western Sugar, a company now owned by farmers, closed its Goodland, Kansas sugarbeet factory in 1985. Sugar prices were low, the cost of doing business was climbing, and tough decisions were made that hurt workers and farmers. Today, thanks to no-cost sugar policy, things have turned around, and business is now booming for confectionery manufacturers.  Sugarbeet grower and Western Sugar Cooperative member Alan Welp discusses.