Sugar Producer

26 SUGAR PRODUCER | OCTOBER 2022 As the temperatures drop and daylight diminishes, fall brings the excitement and challenges of the harvest. With a late spring in many areas this year, the window for harvest for multiple crops is even more compressed, adding additional demands on your busy fall. We are hoping for a safe harvest for you and your families. While on the topic, each year the August WASDE contains the first NASS yield and production forecasts for the coming harvest. This past August, NASS projected planted sugarbeet acreage Providing Congress A Quality  Education  FROM THE ASGA Luther Markwart | EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT This demands our constant attention and response as opponents get louder and more active in the months ahead. at 1.178 million, up 1.6 percent from last year. Due to late plantings, average projected yields were at 29.2 tons/acre, down 12 percent from last year. Total beet production is estimated at 33.486 million tons which is down 8.9 percent from last year. As we well know, the last 6-8 weeks of weather can significantly change production estimates. Given the impact that climate is having on beet and cane crops around the world, it will be very interesting to watch actual crop performance. December reports will give us a good reading on what came out of Hundreds need to be educated about the sugarbeet industry the field. Reduced projections on top of higher sugar spot market prices generated user-based activity back in August. Vocal opponents of sugar policy from both the House and Senate were urging the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Commerce to announce more sugar imports. Their goal continued to be reducing sugar prices, with a pledge to push for reforms of the policy to achieve their goals when it comes up for reauthorization. This demands our constant attention and response as opponents get louder and more active in the months ahead. Fall also brings the mid-term elections. We are now at a point where federal legislating is finished until after the elections. At the national level, the House has long been expected to flip from Democrat to Republican control and the control of the Senate remains uncertain. In these turbulent times we can expect some surprises on election night in November. Once the ballots are counted, the victors will be jockeying for committee assignments and office space. Party leadership elections will be conducted in January. As soon as the elections are over, the focus will shift to the huge drama around presidential candidates for 2024 for both parties. With everyone in place in January it will require a massive congressional educational effort. When it comes to sugar policy specifically and farm programs generally, there is a huge experience deficit. In fact, more than 200 members of the House have never voted on a Farm Bill and 46 percent of the senators have never voted on a sugar amendment. We've been persistent in our educational efforts since the passage of the last farm bill, but we continue to

• Cover