The Corn Refiners Association, a trade group whose members make sweeteners, ethanol and starch, “just hired 10 outside lobbyists for an aggressive, unorthodox attack on the federal sugar program just a year after a new farm bill was signed into law,” says the Washington Post. “Their first target is the agriculture appropriations bill,” awaiting a vote by the House Appropriations Committee.
“The anti-sugar effort includes a team of left and right interests, lobbyists and organizations – from environmentalists and consumer groups to trade associations for bakers and confectioners.”
The Post did not describe the vehicle for the attack but noted that farm groups usually refrain from attacking each other’s federal supports. Competition between high-fructose corn syrup and sugar has become more strident over the past few years.
The sugar program assures a minimum price for domestic sugar by regulating imports and offering price support loans that put a floor on the U.S. price. A world sugar glut caused the cost of the sugar program to soar early in this decade.
A spokesman for the corn refiners group said the 2014 farm law reduced supports for corn and other crops but the sugar program was not reformed. The House refused in 2013 to lower the support price for sugar