Sugar beet producers won ground in 2008

TWIN FALLS, Idaho - It was not only an interesting year for sugar beet growers, it was also a successful year, said Mark Duffin, executive director of the Idaho Sugarbeet Growers Association.

Speaking at the 2009 Snake River Sugarbeet Conference in Twin Falls, Duffin said on of the biggest highlights was the national elections - particularly the presidential election.



While the industry was very familiar with candidate Senator John McCain, growers didn’t know much about President-elect Barak Obama, he said.

“Senator McCain we knew very well (as) opposing the farm bill and sugar program,” Duffin said. “With Obama, we didn’t know what we had there. (He) sided with the big Chicago candy companies but did support the farm bill.”

McCain wanted to balance the budget with the “sugar subsidy,” which doesn’t exist, he said. On the other side, Obama made a campaign commitment to the farm bill, rural communities and keeping farmers on the land during the rough spots.

And Obama has made a “commitment to listening to sugar producers,” he added.


Obama’s pick for ag secretary, former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack, is from a farm state - although not one that produces sugar - and has supported farm programs, Duffin said.

As for Congress, there’s a lot of turnover and a lot of work ahead to educate new congressmen on the sugar program and trade agreements.

“Many lost their seats for supporting free-trade agreements” that weren’t up to snuff, Duffin said, adding sugar producers will continue to lobby for “fair-trade” agreements.

The 2008 Farm Bill was also a success story, Duffin said, one that took years of work on the sugar industry’s part to bring to fruition.

“The strong support in this farm bill did not happen by accident; it took a lot of work,” including PAC contributions and sugar growers’ Washington, D.C., staff, grower teams and Amalgamated union workers lobbying Congress, he said.

“There were three anti-sugar amendments that were soundly defeated,” he added.

A sugar caucus was also established on the House side last year, and new Idaho Congressmen Jim Risch and Walt Minnick have already reached out to the industry.

Another success was getting the support price in the form of the loan rate raised from 22.9 cents a pound in 2008 to 23.45 cents in 2009, 23.77 cents in 2010, and 24.09 in 2011. The three previous farm bills provided no increase, he said.

On the international front, the Doha Round of the World Trade Organization brought some real concern to growers in 2008.

“We were very nervous in late fall and this winter (that) the lame duck administration (would) sign something that wouldn’t be acceptable to us,” he said.

Over 1.5 million tons of duty-free sugar is already allowed to come into the United States, and WTO negotiations could have increased that dramatically. Plenty of concerns were raised over several bilateral trade agreements, but concerns with Mexico’s unlimited sugar exports to the United States under NAFTA topped the list.

The new farm bill, however, establishes a sugar ethanol program, wherein surplus sugar caused by imports will be removed, and guarantees 85 percent of domestic need will be filled by U.S. growers. It also changes when the U.S. Department of Agriculture sets sales allotments for U.S. companies. Allotments used to be set in late summer but will now be set later in the marketing year, April 1.

Another issue the industry is feeling more confident about is the use of Roundup Ready sugar beets. Last year was the first full year of growing the beets, Duffin said. With it came big price increases for the herbicide and a lawsuit challenging the government’s decision to allow the use of GMO sugar.

The industry brought the chemical concerns to Monsanto to get the companies assurance that enough herbicide would be produced in the coming years.

As for the lawsuit, brought in January 2008, plaintiffs claim sufficient environmental impact studies were not conducted. Arguments are set to be heard April 3.

Duffin said he is confident the ruling will be in favor of growers and the industry.

He is also looking for improvements in federal crop insurance and hoping for funding for transportation infrastructure as 2009 unfolds.

SOURCE:ag weekly online