| Bozeman - State Executive Director Bruce Nelson of the USDA
Farm Service Agency announced Tuesday that nonrecourse loans will soon be
available for eligible crop-year 2000 sugar.
According to the Commodity Credit Corporation, the crop-year 2000 loan
rate for refined beet sugar in Montana is 22.68 cents per pound.
The Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 requires CCC
to offer nonrecourse loans to sugar beet and sugarcane processors if the
sugar tariff-rate quota is established at a level above 1.5 million short
tons.
Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman established the sugar tariff-rate
quota at 1,500,227 short tons, raw value, Sept. 15.
Processors who obtain CCC crop-year 2000 loans are required to make
minimum payments to producers for delivered sugar beets. Processors will
be advised of the minimum payment levels during the loan application
process. |