USDA Sets 2005 Crop Sugar Loan Rates

WASHINGTON - Aug 29/05 - SNS -- The USDA's Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) today announced loan rates for 2005-crop sugar as required by the 2002 Farm Bill.

The 2005-crop national average loan rate is 18 cents per pound for raw cane sugar and 22.90 cents per pound for refined beet sugar, unchanged from last year. These national loan rates are adjusted by region to reflect freight differentials.

CCC will continue to offer nonrecourse marketing assistance loans to sugar beet and sugarcane processors. Marketing assistance loans are nonrecourse because the commodity is pledged as loan collateral and producers have the option of delivering the pledged collateral to the CCC as full payment for the loan at maturity.

Loan Rates for Refined Beet Sugar

       The refined beet sugar processing regions and
applicable 2005-crop (Fiscal Year [FY] 2006) loan rates
are:

Region 			Cents Per Pound of Refined Beet Sugar
Michigan and Ohio                     24.09

Minnesota and the eastern
half of North Dakota 	              22.80

Northeastern quarter of
Colorado, Nebraska and the
southeastern quarter of
Wyoming 	                     23.21

Montana, northwestern quarter
of Wyoming and the western
half of North Dakota                 22.73

Idaho, Oregon and Washington         22.16

California                           24.05


Loan Rates for Raw Cane Sugar

    The 2005-crop (FY 2006) raw cane sugar loan rates
are:

State      Cents Per Pound of Cane Sugar, Raw Value

Florida                             17. 86
Hawaii                              17.17*
Louisiana                           18.36
Texas                               17.99
18.00 cents per pound if stored on the mainland.

Sugar beet and sugarcane processors who receive CCC loans in FY 2006 are required to make minimum grower payments for all sugar beets and sugarcane received from growers. Processors failing to meet the required minimum grower payment will be ineligible for loans.

Sugar beet grower minimum payments are the amount specified in the grower/processor contract. Sugarcane processors must pay at least the following payment levels, for average quality sugarcane, to their growers. A grower’s payment level can be adjusted according to the quality adjustment method in the grower/processor contract.

State 			Minimum Payment
Florida 		$27.94 per net ton
Hawaii			$24.25 per net ton
Louisiana 		$24.64 per gross ton
Texas 			$22.94 per gross ton