Do Corn Farmers Have Too Much Faith in the Sugar Program?

Abstract

Corn producers frequently have been told that the sugar program provides an important stimulus to corn demand through its positive influence on the high fructose corn syrup sector. In this article we qualify the extent of this support and find it to be very small- not more than 3 cents per bushel, and probably less. Previous studies have overstated this effect due a lack of attention to the interindustry linkages in the sweetener complex.

Keywords

• corn
• high fructose corn syrup
• program interaction
• sugar program