It’s been a busy month for the National Farmers Union (NFU)—the country’s second biggest farm group.

In between working with Congress on a myriad of issues, from the ag budget to disaster assistance and dairy policy, NFU somehow found time to put on a high-profile annual convention that was attended by the Speaker of the House and the Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee.

It was at that convention that NFU’s 250,000 members passed a policy resolution supporting the current U.S. sugar policy. The resolution reads:

“NFU supports the continuation of the no-cost U.S. sugar program and encourages Congress to work with U.S. sugar producers to adopt a strong sugar program in future farm bills. Today’s program has successfully provided consumers with stable, reliable supplies of sugar at reasonable prices; provided sugar producers with decent income and provided good employment opportunities in rural communities.”

NFU President Tom Buis said the organization has always backed the sugar program but wanted to reaffirm its support in a public way as Congress prepares to write the next Farm Bill.

“It [sugar policy] is a model we should be looking at rather than allowing critics to tear it down,” Buis said, referring to large food manufacturers’ lobbying efforts to weaken the policy so they can artificially boost profits.

“Today’s program has been success,” he continued. “It’s worked well for consumers while providing sugar farmers with a decent income.”

All of a sugar farmer’s income comes from the marketplace instead of government subsidy checks, under the current sugar program. And, it’s this distinction that food manufacturers hope to change.

Food companies are lobbying Congress to scrap the existing system and replace it with a program that’s built around unwanted subsidy checks. Such a program could cost taxpayers $1.3 billion a year but would not provide shoppers with cheaper prices at the grocery store.

Sugar farmers oppose this subsidy scheme, and they are asking lawmakers to continue the current no-cost program in the upcoming Farm Bill.

Steve Williams, an NFU member and the president of the American Sugarbeet Growers Association, said sugar farmers are thrilled to have the backing of a group with NFU’s political clout.

Of course, the support doesn’t stop there. The American Farm Bureau Federation—the biggest ag group in the nation—also has a favorable sugar policy resolution on its books.

And with allies like these, Williams believes the food manufacturers will have a very difficult time selling their subsidy plan on Capitol Hill.