| (Washington, D.C.) U.S. senators Max Baucus and Conrad
Burns recently sent a letter to the Secretary of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture requesting implementation of an
improved and expanded Payment-In-Kind program for sugar.
The refined sugar market is in a crisis, which is taking a
serious toll on sugarbeet farmers, processors, and local
businesses. The senators commend the USDAs recent decision
to sell Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) inventory sugar to
ethanol producers and bring the sugar market into balance, but
the sugar for ethanol sale by itself will not alleviate the
crisis in the refined sugar market, the letter to USDA
Secretary Ann Veneman stated.
Montanas sugarbeet producers are working hard to make
a living against significant odds created by trade agreements,
Burns said. Anything we can do to increase opportunities
for our producers is a move in the right direction.
The Payment-In-Kind program offers sugar beet producers the
choice of diverting from production a portion of their crop in
exchange for sugar held by CCC. Last year, farmers were
limited to $20,000 in PIK payments. Burns and Baucus have
requested an increase for this years crops.
We believe an improved and expanded Payment-In-Kind
program, similar to last years program is the best way to
dispose of the remaining large quantities of government-owned
sugar, reduce surplus production for the current year, and
strengthen returns for producers from the marketplace,
Baucus and Burns continued in the letter to Veneman. Our
sugar producers are facing a tough market and I believe its
our responsibility to do everything we can to assist them,
Baucus said. The USDAs decision to sell excess sugar to
ethanol plants was a great first step, especially given the
added benefit of the sugars ability to increase the
efficiency of ethanol plants. Now we should take the
additional step of increasing the PIK payments and provide
sugar producers with another option.
A number of additional senators signed the letter to
Secretary Veneman including: Robert F. Bennett, Ben Nighthorse-Campbell,
Maria Cantwell, Kent Conrad, Larry E.Craig, Mike Crapo, Tom
Daschle, Mark Dayton, Byron L. Dorgan, Mike Enzi, Chuck Hagel,
Orrin Hatch, Tim Johnson, Carl Levin, E. Benjamin Nelson,
Debbie Stabenow, Craig Thomas and Paul Wellstone. |