U.S. Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) on Nov. 26 met with home-state sugar beet growers to outline federal efforts toward supporting struggling producers who haven’t been able to harvest their crops due to severe fall weather conditions.
“Producers across North Dakota have faced real challenges this harvest and we’re doing all we can to provide much-needed relief,” said Sen. Hoeven, chairman of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies. “Many of our sugar beet growers were forced to leave their crop in the ground due to the late season rainfall and early snow.”
Joining Sen. Hoeven at a Red River Valley sugar beet farm in North Dakota to discuss the situation were U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN), chairman of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee; Tom Astrup, CEO of American Crystal Sugar Co.; Dan Younggren, president of the Red River Valley Sugarbeet Growers Association; and Harrison Weber, executive director of the Red River Valley Sugarbeet Growers Association.
Sen. Hoeven outlined federal efforts to help the producers, including working with Bill Northey, under secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), to secure disaster assistance funding for sugar beet growers, and urging the USDA to avoid any premature actions, including increasing sugar imports, according to his office.
“We had Under Secretary Northey here earlier this month to see firsthand what our producers are up against and we continue working with him to secure disaster assistance for our sugar growers, and to get aid out to all the impacted producers,” Sen. Hoeven said.
Rep. Peterson added that the “tough harvest season has created a lot of uncertainty for sugar beet growers, and we’ll continue having conversations to see what can be done to address the concerns.”