Thanks to the no-cost sugar policy passed by Congress in 2008, the widespread closures of sugar facilities that once plagued sugar farmers and sugar workers have largely subsided, the American Sugar Alliance (ASA) reported to the Senate Agriculture Committee on March 15 in written testimony (see here).
“U.S. sugar policy has been a resounding success during the 2008 farm bill and deserves to be extended,” ASA wrote. “It has achieved its goals of providing reliable supplies of high-quality sugar at reasonable prices, and a critical safety net for producers. It has done so without government expenditure. Furthermore, if extended, USDA predicts zero expenditures through 2022.”
All told, the sugar industry “has shed 139,000 jobs in the past 19 years” because of two decades of low, stagnant prices and rising input costs. But there have been fewer facility closures under the current farm bill than any of its predecessors.
For more, see here.