Fewer Farms Produce More Sugar

U.S. sugar production rises 16% despite 50% fewer farms. The U.S. domestic production of sugar has increased from 8.02 million short tons raw value (STRV) in 1997 to 9.31 million STRV in 2024. 

At a Glance

Sugar beet production has increased 18%.

Production of sugar cane for sugar has increased by approximately 11%

Like many other agricultural sectors, there has been consolidation in U.S. farm-level sugar production. Sugar is a unique commodity because about 56% of the domestic production of sugar originates from sugar beets and 44% originates from sugar cane.  

However, there are now 50% fewer sugar beet and sugar cane farms in the country.   In 1997, the USDA Census of Agriculture recorded a total of 8,136 sugar beet and sugar cane producing farms.  However, by 2022 that number had declined to 4,002, a decrease of over 50%.

Sugar beets 

From 1997 through 2022, while there was a decrease in sugar beet farms and sugar beet harvested acres, there was an increase in the amount of sugar produced from sugar beets. The number of sugar beet farms fell by 54%, from 7,057 farms in 1997 to only 3,257 in 2022.  

Sugar beet acres also fell by 20% from 1.43 million acres in 1997 to 1.14 million acres in 2022. However, there was an 18% increase in sugar produced from sugar beets during this time, with 4.39 million STRV of sugar produced from sugar beets in 1997 and 5.19 million STRV of sugar produced from sugar beets in 2022.

These trends indicate that in 1997, the average sugar beet farm size was 203 acres contributing to final sugar production of 622 STRV (3.06 STRV of sugar per acre). Meanwhile in 2022, the average sugar beet farm size was 350 acres contributing to final sugar production of 1,593 STRV (4.55 STRV of sugar per acre). Thus, sugar beet farms have become not only larger (350 acres per farm versus 203 acres per farm), but they have also become 49% more efficient!  

One reason for this increased efficiency is that all sugar beets grown in the U.S. have been genetically modified since 2009. 

Sugar beets are currently grown in four regions and 11 states: the Great Lakes (Michigan), the Upper Midwest (Minnesota, South Dakota, and North Dakota), the Great Plains (Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, Wyoming), and the Far West (Idaho, Oregon, Washington). Sugar beets are grown in rotation with other crops. Historically, sugar beet yields in the Far West have been highest.  

Western sugar beet production typically utilizes irrigation, which is in contrast to the eastern regions of sugar beet production that do not use irrigation. The largest region for sugar beet production is the Upper Midwest (Minnesota and North Dakota). The Upper Midwest represented 42% of sugar beet total production in 1997 and represented 53% of sugar beet total production in 2022. 

Each sugar beet producing region has experienced both consolidation and increased efficiency over the years. For example, the number of sugar beet farms in Michigan was 1,164 in 1997. That number decreased 43% by 2022 to only 663. However, the number of tons of sugar beets harvested in 1997 was only 3.0 million, and by 2022 the state harvested 4.1 million tons of sugar beets.  

Sugar cane 

Sugar cane has also experienced consolidation over the period of 1997 through 2022, where the number of sugar cane farms fell by approximately 31% from 1,079 in 1997 to 745 in 2022 without experiencing declines in sugar production or acres engaged in sugar cane production.  

Sugar cane acres actually increased by 3% in 2022 (913,738 acres) relative to 1997 (890,193 acres). Production of sugar cane (for sugar) also increased by approximately 11% to 4.06 million STRV in 2022 relative to 1997 (3.63 million STRV).  

These trends indicate that in 1997, the average size of a sugar cane farm was 825 acres and contributed to final sugar production of 3,365 STRV (4.08 STRV of sugar per acre).  

By 2022, the average sugar cane farm size was 1,226 acres and contributed to final sugar production of 5,454 STRV (4.45 STRV of sugar per acre). Thus, the sugar cane sector has seen improvements in production efficiency of approximately 9% over the observed period from 1997 to 2022.  

As recently as 2016, sugar cane was produced in four states (Florida, Louisiana, Hawaii, and Texas). Sugar cane production in Hawaii and Texas ceased in 2016 and 2023, respectively.  

In Hawaii, rising labor and land costs were contributing factors in the closure of Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company in Maui. Production in Texas ceased due to water shortages exacerbated by Mexico’s consistent failure to fulfill its treaty obligations to share irrigation water from the Rio Grande. The lack of sugar cane production due to uncertain water availability resulted in the closure of the only sugar mill in the state, Rio Grande Valley Sugar Growers, Inc.  

Since 2017, overall sugar cane production has increased in the remaining sugar cane producing states of Louisiana and Florida. In Florida, the number of farms have actually increased from 152 to 240, with the average farm size contracting from 2,772 to 1,656 acres. However, in Louisiana, farms have decreased from 705 to 420 farms. The average size of a Louisiana farm has increased from 561 to 1,158 acres.  

In Florida, sugar cane cultivation on sandy soil is expanding as the expense of citrus cultivation has increased due to citrus greening disease. 

Sugar cane acreage across Louisiana has been expanding for the past decade, primarily because of the reduced volatility in sugar prices relative to other crops such as corn, rice, and soybeans.  

Louisiana sugar cane production has also expanded with the development and adoption of high-yielding sugar cane varieties and with the evolution of custom harvesting groups that induce non-traditional producers into sugar cane cultivation by alleviating concerns for those producers regarding increased capitalization costs of purchasing and maintaining specialized sugar cane harvest equipment. 

EDITOR’S TAKE:

This article points out just how much advancement there has been in yields as a result of better plant breeding and research. Despite the overall reduction in the number of sugar producers, overall production has increased. A testament to how fortunate we are that so few can produce for so many both here at home and overseas.

The article is also very timely with respect to policy decisions within our nation’s capitol related to health, as well as decisions of private sector companies, like Coca Cola, to possibly switch to sugar versus corn syrup. If Coke actually changes their formula, as recently reported in the news, this would certainly add to the continued expansion of sugar in the U.S.

Knowing that the sugar industry is doing well, be sure to put sugar producers on that preferred customer list. Also, remember to post your inventory on AgTruckTrader.com®, the only farm/ranch focused truck site in the U.S.!