USA: Examining sugarcane and sugarbeet production costs

Sugarcane and sugarbeet production are highly specialized processes with a unique set of production costs. These crops are grown in limited geographical regions of the country with sugarcane being grown in Florida, Louisiana, and Texas and with sugarbeets being mainly cultivated in the Red River Valley, upper Midwest, Great Plains, Northwest, and in California. Sugarcane is a perennial crop often grown in cycles of between four to six years. Conversely, sugarbeets are often grown in rotation with grain, oilseed, and pulse crops, which typically limits the planting of sugarbeets to once every four years for a particular piece of land. Given that the commodity program safety net for sugarcane and sugarbeet growers is mainly provided through the marketing loan program, this article evaluates sugarcane and sugarbeet production costs relative to loan rates established in the 2018 Farm Bill. Specifically, production costs of Louisiana sugarcane and that of sugarbeets grown in Minnesota ...