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Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., urged Agriculture
Secretary Ann Veneman on Thursday to consider a way to reduce
the 793,000 tons of sugar the government has in storage.
Low prices and high energy costs are
already stressing the sugar industry and the stockpiled sugar
is not helping, Enzi said in a release.
To solve the situation, Enzi told Veneman
to consider a policy of selling the stored sugar to processors
on the condition that the processors negotiate with sugar beet
growers to reduce the acreage devoted to the crop this year.
Besides alleviating the surplus supply,
he said, such a policy would reduce the $1.4 million a month
it costs the government to store the sugar.
"This sales policy is like a two for
one sale," he said. "If the USDA reduces the
domestic stock of surplus sugar, that would alleviate the
cloud hanging over the depressed market."
He urged Veneman to act quickly because
the program will be more useful if implemented before planting
this year. Veneman said she will take the proposal under
advisement. |