Some people blame the current price collapse on this strategy of growth. Well, that's not so plain and simple. The poor farm economy has forced shifts in acreage. I don't need to tell this committee that returns for major program crops like wheat, corn, cotton and rice have been disastrously low several years running. That forced farmers to switch to planting sugarbeets or sugarcane.
Many farmers plant wheat only because it's a good rotational crop for sugarbeets.
It's only logical they would seek an alternative. This shifting of acreage, while not planned, was certainly a consequence of the flexibility provisions of the 1996 Farm Bill. Thankfully, Congress recognized the downturn in the farm economy. It's an astonishing, yet much needed and appreciated, level of assistance. But that, too, contributed to the current situation in sugar because it kept many farmers in business that, through no fault of their own, would have been forced to quit.