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30 SUGAR PRODUCER | OCTOBER 2022 Most of America's sugarbeet and sugarcane farmers are in the full swing of harvest. It's an exciting time for growers and we are hoping that everyone has a safe and productive harvest. Montana sugarbeet farmer Shane Strecker put this season perfectly into words saying, "The biggest thing for me is the first day of harvest when my family goes and opens that first field of sugarbeets – the sights, the sounds, the smells. There's nothing like it. We look forward to that every year." Celebrating National Farmer's Day Hats off to our hard-working farmers FROM THE ASA By Rob Johansson, Director of Economics and Policy Analysis To America's sugarbeet and sugarcane growers, we wish you a happy National Farmer's Day. Harvest comes with a lot of hard work in a concentrated period of time for most crops, so it is appropriate that this month we also celebrate the farmers who put in all those long hours on National Farmer's Day. Oct. 12 is a day to recognize the commitment of the all the farmers across the country who feed us, including the more than 10,000 family farmers who grow sugarcane and sugarbeets from Florida to Washington and from California to Michigan. Our farmers are the foundational reason that we work to maintain strong farm and trade policies. Whether our farmers come from multi-generational farm families or if they are new to farming, we want to preserve the legacy of farming for the future generations to come! The American Sugar Alliance (ASA) has had the privilege of speaking to many sugarbeet and sugarcane farmers over the years, and I would like to dedicate this month's column to share once again some of the reasons that they are passionate about farming and dedicated to producing sugar in America: • "America's farmers are proud to grow the sugar crops that help feed our nation." – Dan Younggren, sugarbeet grower in Minnesota • "It's in your blood. It's in your heart. It's a privilege to be able to say, 'I'm a United States sugarcane farmer.'" – Makelle Pinsonat, sugarcane grower in Louisiana • "It's important to me that this community continues with sugarbeet growing. We need all of the sugar we can get to feed America. It's where our food comes from. It's farmers." – Jillian Schlagel, sugarbeet grower in Colorado • "As hard as it is, as risky as it is, I enjoy that challenge. And one way or another, we find a way to pull it off every single year. Through the hardest of circumstances, we find a way to get it done." – Michael Harper, sugarcane grower in Louisiana • "I love being able to go to the grocery store and look on the shelf and say 'Hey, that could have come straight from my farm.' It's just awesome to know I had a part in that." – Rita Herford, sugarbeet grower in Michigan • "Sugar is the lifeblood. It's the backbone of the community." – Derek Orsenigo, sugarcane grower in Florida • "It's one of those things that has to be in your blood to do it. Because to lay under a beet digger at 2 in the morning and scrape mud; not a lot of people would want to do it unless you were born with it." – Nate Hultgren, sugarbeet grower in Minnesota Visit SugarAlliance.org to watch or read these stories and many more from across the industry. To America's sugarbeet and sugarcane growers, we wish you a happy National Farmer's Day. Thank you for everything that you do. n Rob Johansson on a sugarbeet harvester on the Bauer family farm during last season's beet harvest.