07/02/08 Excess sugar to ethanol

When there is an excess supply of sugar in the US it will be converted into ethanol. Jack Roney of the American Sugar Alliance says moving sugar off the food market to the ethanol market in times of oversupply will keep farmers from become victims of collapsing prices. RONEY "So this is a way to stabilize the market when imports oversupply the market at minimal taxpayer cost and in the process help to contribute to the effort to reduce our dependence on foreign oil." Roney sees no need to talk about sugar to ethanol this year given the 52 thousand acre planting reduction nationwide. About a quarter of that is in Idaho where growers plan to harvest about 120 thousand acres this year, the lowest acreage figure in more than three decades. He does not expect to see Mexican sugar come into the US which it can in large amounts because of NAFTA. RONEY "But now the government has a tool, a way to offset the amount of Mexican sugar coming in, maintain balance in our market and avoid taxpayer cost from producers having to forfeit their loans to the government." There will be a small increase for sugar phased in over the next four years which Roney says will allow the USDA to defend the pries at the loan rate Congress has decreed by giving it this market balancing mechanism. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott