Sugarbeet farmer leaders, representing thousands of family farms from across the country, visited Capitol Hill this week to encourage lawmakers to renew no-cost sugar policy.

Joining the farmers on some of their visits were union workers from sugar refineries who pointed out that sugar policy affects more than just farmers—it also supports 146,000 sugar jobs and rural economies in 19 states.

So far, the farmers and workers have been very pleased with the reception they’ve received in Washington.

“This is a critical year for sugar producers and that’s why so many of us left our farms to meet with the men and women who will vote on farm legislation this year,” said Steve Williams, a sugar farmer from Minnesota and the president of the American Sugarbeet Growers Association.

“The members we’ve met with have been very supportive of no-cost sugar policy, and they seem quite skeptical of the costly and reckless subsidy proposal being championed by our opponents,” he continued.

Large food manufacturers are lobbying legislators to replace the current no-cost sugar policy with subsidy checks that could cost taxpayers $1.3 billion a year and could violate international trade agreements.

Under the subsidy plan, food manufacturers would boost profits by pocketing artificially cheap sugar prices. Grocery shoppers would not see any of the savings through cheaper food products.

Williams rhetorically asked legislators: “Do you honestly think the food companies would spend so much time and money lobbying Congress on their pricey subsidy plan if they were just going to give the savings to grocery shoppers?”

The sugar farmers and workers don’t see this proposal gaining much traction and believe that past votes in Congress clearly shows strong bipartisan support for the current sugar program.

In May 2006, 281 members of the House of Representatives voted down a measure that would have weakened the current sugar policy—the widest margin of victory of any sugar vote taken in the House in the last quarter century. And 70 Senators voted for sugar policy the last time it was before that chamber.

“The program has been a big success for taxpayers, grocery shoppers, and this country’s food security, so it's no wonder support for the policy is so strong,” Williams said. “For the sake of sugar communities from California to Michigan, let’s hope Congress renews it.”