The Front Burner:

Does U.S. sugar policy need reform?

As Congress considers a farm bill, which is up for reauthorization at the end of the month, the sugar industry — with strong Florida connections — is certain to draw extra scrutiny.

Congress focuses on agricultural and food issues in legislation about every five years. Its work on a new farm bill comes amid a renewed wave of pressure to reduce the federal budget; President Trump’s long-term proposal would cut $230 billion in farm bill funding over the next 10 years.

Sugar is a commodity, which means its price is determined by international markets forces. But U.S. import quotas — through American laws and regulations — limit the amount of foreigngrown sugar brought into the United States. The price of sugar has been greater here than in other parts of the world, and the U.S. sugar program is often a target of reform from free-market conservatives and sugar users.

But the sugar program enjoys bipartisan support in Congress. Mike Conaway of Arkansas, chairman of Agriculture Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, was quoted by Politico last month as saying he did not see a need to change it.

“I don’t anticipate having many conversations about the sugar program,” Conaway said.

To stoke a conversation about that very program, we enlisted two polar opposite viewpoints:

Judy Clayton Sanchez, the senior director for corporate communications and public affairs at U.S. Sugar.

John Downs, the president and CEO of the National Confectioners Association.