Rep. Collin Peterson’s office in the U.S. Capitol’s Rayburn Building is more homey rural western Minnesota than D.C. neoclassical grandeur.
The greenish-brown walls bear photos of Peterson, the Democrat who has represented Minnesota’s 7th District since 1991, clad in hunting camo and grinning with colleagues and family.
There is a framed newspaper clipping of a 15-year old Peterson accepting a 4-H award, joined by more recent photos of the congressman with 4-H kids from across his vast, agricultural district.
There is more than one—way more than one—taxidermied animal. A wooden sign on the wall reads, “If farming were easy, congressmen would do it.” T-shirts for Peterson’s workouts at the House gym rest on hangers on the doorknobs.
But on a shelf behind the receptionist’s desk, tucked amid the mini-flags and tchotchkes, sits perhaps the most important memento to Peterson’s career: a bag of sugar.
To make a living growing sugarbeets, you need the conditions to be just right. Rich, fertile soil. A long, cool fall. Plenty of rainfall.
And a lot of help from the United States federal government.
Minnesota’s got those first parts covered: the area centered around the Red River has the richest land and best climate for sugarbeets in the U.S., making one of the most productive growing regions in the world.
Those things won’t change, at least not anytime soon. But what could change is the other thing you need to profit from sugarbeets: deep commitment from Uncle Sam to support this industry.
The federal government effectively subsidizes the business of sugarbeets through a set of policies—collectively referred to as the sugar program—that Congress has approved largely without incident since the early 1980s in its twice-a-decade farm bills.
Without the sugar program, beet farmers and their allies say that their industry would wither and maybe even die, outperformed by competitors like Mexico and Brazil, who strongly subsidize their sugar industries and employ aggressive trade policies.
But the sugar program is under threat. Recently, a well-funded coalition of interests has emerged, and they’re arguing the sugar program is outdated and harmful to the broader U.S. economy. These food industry interests, business groups, and conservative activist organizations have grown more organized and more determined in recent years, and are committed to getting rid of the program.
They will soon have their next chance: when the new Congress meets this upcoming January, talks and negotiations will begin on the next farm bill.
Can the sugar program—and the Minnesota sugarbeet industry—survive?
Source: www.minnpost.com