U.S. Sugar Policy Print

Because of America's sugar policy, consumers enjoy a safe and affordable supply of homegrown sugar at no cost to taxpayers. No wonder most members of Congress, bankers, national farm leaders, and even foreign sugar suppliers from developing countries back U.S. sugar policy.

  • The 2008 Farm Bill continues the tradition of not providing subsidy checks to sugar farmers while maintaining market balance to sustain stable prices.
  • The bill also includes new tools to help U.S. sugar producers cope with today's challenges, such as skyrocketing input costs and uncontrollable subsidized sugar imports from Mexico.
  • Food manufacturers have launched a lobbying campaign to pressure Congress and the USDA to ignore the new Farm Bill and flood the sugar market with subsidized imports so they can increase corporate profits.

More Sugar Facts

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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.