Sugar Producer

February 2022

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WWW.SUGARPRODUCER.COM 27 www.ropanorthamerica.com info@ropanorthamerica.com Michigan Mike 1-810-705-0297 Idaho Kent 1-208-280-0079 Nebraska 21 st Century Equipment Minnesota Midwest Machinery Co. John Noorloos 1-519-339-6015 SERVICE North America Quality used machines available: 2010 - 2015 Tiger V8-4 and Tiger 5 20 - 22 - 24 - 28 - 30 inch heads Save time and maximize profi t 35 & 40 ton capacity 35 & 40 ton capacity BIG BEAR Award-winning 2374-2RopaNorthAmerica13s.indd 1 8/5/19 10:48 AM 4666-3SafeTPull13s.indd 1 4666-3SafeTPull13s.indd 1 12/23/21 2:39 PM 12/23/21 2:39 PM in 2022, but we have talented farmer leaders and Washington staff who are up to the task. Looking to the rest of 2022, we have a lot of items to watch. We continue to wonder about supply chain disruptions for inputs and associated cost increases. Are price spikes and input shortages short- or long-term in nature? Early projections from the Federal Reserve indicate multiple interest rate increases in 2022 to tamp down inflation. This will increase growers' cost of production. Ag labor and truck driver shortages are a perennial problem, but it has gotten worse, and there is no quick fix. House and Senate agriculture committees will begin the 2023 farm bill process soon. Grower leaders have been reviewing the various elements of sugar policy and looking at both what is needed and is politically achievable. On Dec. 14, 2021, the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled against India's sugar scheme. India provides massive subsidies and export incentives for sugar. Their efforts to dump it on the world market violate WTO trade obligations and harm sugar producers around the world. We don't expect them to come into compliance anytime soon. But the case demonstrates why we need a strong domestic sugar policy. All types of government interventions across the globe prop up growers who are less efficient and less sustainable than the U.S. sugar industry. We must protect our own growers, who can compete against any other growers in the world but can't compete with foreign treasuries. Our ASGA annual meeting was held Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. We said goodbye and thank you to President Dan Younggren. Over his two-year tenure, he was a tremendous leader. He has been a voice of support and encouragement to our board and our staff throughout a difficult pandemic. Dan is beloved by those who know and work with him. He remains a respected voice in a variety of national forums. We applaud his dedicated service to every grower in this great county. We would also like to note that our ASGA internship program in Washington, D.C., will be reinstituted for 2022. Interested students may obtain an application at www.americansugarbeet.org. n

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