What Happened?

If you grow or process sugar, federal loan rates for sugarcane and beet sugar processors are higher for crop years 2025 through 2031 as a result of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which President Donald Trump signed on July 4, 2025. ​

The American Sugarbeet Growers Association has been lobbying on the law, according to a Legis1 review of its amended third-quarter lobbying report, signed Nov. 5. The Congressional Research Service (CRS), Congress's in-house research arm, reports that the act also gives beet sugar processors priority when marketing allotments are adjusted upward.

The group's amended report shows:

  • Third quarter: The report lists $200,000 in lobbying expenditures.
  • Prior quarter: The group also reported $200,000 in the second quarter.
  • Year earlier: The group reported $130,000 in the third quarter of 2025, so expenditures increased by $70,000.
  • Lobbyists: Luther Markwart, senior adviser, and Zachary Clark, CEO and executive vice president, are named. The group lobbies in-house, with no outside firm listed.

Why Does it Matter to Me?

If you farm sugar beets, crop insurance is part of the same law. CRS reported that the act increases premium subsidies and expands coverage options. The group's filing also identifies the U.S. sugar program, including the tariff-rate quota, which allows a specified volume of imports to enter at a lower tariff rate.

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) said on July 14, 2025, it would allow no additional specialty-sugar imports under the relevant quota. USDA argued that imports had more than doubled over 20 years. It said domestic producers had lost 15% of the U.S. market.

Both Sides, Now

Supporters say the act's sugar and agricultural provisions help producers. The American Sugar Alliance urged Congress to pass the act, citing "necessary updates" to sugar policy. The American Farm Bureau Federation backed its agricultural provisions, saying they strengthen the farm safety net.

Opponents of the import restriction say it raises costs. The Organic Trade Association said July 15, 2025, using import data and its own calculations, that USDA's decision would add more than $85 million in tariffs on organic sugar imports. It also said 36,000 metric tons of organic sugar demand went unmet in fiscal 2025, beyond the 210,000 metric tons USDA permitted. Trump signed the act, and USDA made the import decision.

What Happens Next?

On May 21, Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) co-led a letter urging the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to act on foreign sugar imports. Rep. Michelle Fischbach (R-MN) signed a letter supporting a USTR investigation into foreign sugar trade practices. Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID), Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID) signed the same letter. The American Sugarbeet Growers Association is among its endorsers.

Fischbach also led a July 24 letter urging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to restore access to the insecticide chlorpyrifos, a position the group supports. No date has been announced for USTR action on the requested investigation or for an EPA response to the chlorpyrifos letter.

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