Stable sugar market ends 2024 FFP actions

Dec 18, 2024
By Farms.com

USDA predicts no sugar purchases needed

The USDA has declared no plans to activate the Feedstock Flexibility Program (FFP) for the 2024 crop year, citing balanced sugar stocks and consumption levels. This decision aligns with the agency’s December 2024 World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report.

The FFP, created under the 2008 Farm Bill and reauthorized in 2018, is designed to address surplus sugar by purchasing and selling it to bioenergy producers.

This prevents loan forfeitures by sugar processors who secure loans with sugar as collateral. However, current projections indicate stable stocks, eliminating the need for intervention.

“USDA’s transparent administration ensures fair and stable sugar markets,” a USDA spokesperson emphasized. Monitoring continues, with the next update on April 1, 2025.

The absence of FFP actions highlights broader USDA efforts to promote resilient markets and support producers. By leveraging crop and consumption data, the agency ensures stability while avoiding unnecessary market disruptions.

To learn more, visit usda.gov.

Video: Learning to Wrench From Dad the Hard Way

Harvest is a week out and the farm picked this week to fall apart. The truck needs a battery, the barn curtain's got a problem, and the corn and beans are telling us we're out of time to get it all fixed.

So it's a full day of wrenching. Tork supervises while I get the truck back running, then we're out at the hog barn where one rusted up part has the whole curtain system hung up. Ladder work, cable work, and a little dad-and-son disagreement about the right way to do it. We close it out walking the fields, shelling beans and checking corn, because whether everything's fixed or not, harvest starts when harvest starts.

Chapters: 00:00 Everything breaks the week before harvest 01:00 Tork supervises while I fix the truck 12:30 Out to the barn to find the curtain problem 14:30 One rusty part hung up the whole curtain 20:00 Running the curtain cable from the ladder 24:00 Walking the beans and corn before harvest 26:30 Wrapping up

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