FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                 CONTACT:   Phillip Hayes

Monday, May 17, 2010                                                                                                              202-507-8303

Cane Farmer Echoes Beet Growers’ Praise of Farm Bill at Hearing

LUBBOCK, Texas—Sugar policy is a linchpin to the economic vitality of the state’s Rio Grande Valley, a local sugarcane farmer today told members of the House Agriculture Committee.

“The sugar provisions in the 2008 Farm Bill have given our producers confidence in the stability of a domestic sugar industry,” testified Dale Murden, the chairman of Rio Grande Valley Sugar Growers, Inc.

Committee members, who have been on a three-week tour across the country listening to farmers’ opinions of the upcoming Farm Bill, heard similar praise from sugarbeet farmers during stops in Idaho and Wyoming.  Those growers said sugar policy helps support local jobs at no cost to taxpayers, and Murden explained that things are no different in Texas.

More than 8,000 Texas jobs are tied to sugar, and the local sugar mill accounts for 11 percent of the Valley’s agricultural output, he said.  But that could change quickly if sugar policy is weakened in the next Farm Bill.

“The U.S. sugar industry has endured a wrenching restructuring over the past two decades and numerous natural disasters like the freeze that occurred this January in Texas,” Murden noted.  “American sugar farmers are grateful to Congress for crafting a sugar policy that balances supply and demand; ensures dependable, high-quality supplies for consumers; and improves market prospects for sugar producers.”

Sugar producers believe that their no-cost policy is particularly attractive right now as Congress deals with a large budget deficit.

Collin Peterson (D-MN), Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, has given sugar growers some reason to be optimistic.  During a previous field hearing, he said, sugar policy is “working exactly as it is supposed to,” adding, “I don't foresee big changes in sugar.”

The Rio Grande Valley Sugar Growers, Inc. is a grower-owned cooperative that averages more than 1.5 million tons of sugarcane production each year, yielding nearly 160,000 tons of raw sugar and 60,000 tons of molasses.  The company has a $12 million payroll and an operating budget of more than $32 million.

The American Sugar Alliance is the national coalition of growers, processors, and refiners of sugarbeets and sugarcane, accounting for 146,000 American jobs and $10 billion in economic activity in 18 states.

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