FARGO, N.D. — August 8, 2025 — A new report from the Agricultural Risk Policy Center (ARPC) at North Dakota State University assesses the U.S. sugar safety net and the potential introduction of a Revenue Protection (RP) crop insurance program for sugar beet producers.

The report, Analysis of the U.S. Sugar Safety Net and Potential Sugar Beet Revenue Protection Program, examines U.S. and world sugar market volatility, historical adoption patterns from other commodities, and projected costs under multiple adoption scenarios.

The study finds that domestic raw sugar prices are 28–95% less volatile than prices for major U.S. crops, while world raw sugar prices are more volatile than both. Based on trends from other commodities, RP adoption could start at about 26% in the first year and reach 50% by year ten, largely replacing Yield Protection (YP) policies.

Projected costs for the Federal Crop Insurance Program range from $67 million to $87 million annually, depending on adoption rates. The report also notes unique challenges in pricing RP for beet sugar, which is marketed as refined sugar and lacks a direct domestic futures market.

“This analysis offers a roadmap for understanding how revenue protection could reshape risk management for sugar beet producers,” said Dr. Dylan Turner, lead author and research economist at ARPC. “It also highlights some of the challenges associated with launching new risk management tools that also maximize producer benefits.”

The full report is available at: https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.364764

Media Contacts:

Dr. Dylan Turner – dylan.turner@ndsu.edu
Dr. Francis Tsiboe – francis.tsiboe@ndsu.edu
Dr. Shawn Arita – shawn.arita@ndsu.edu
Dr. Sandro Steinbach sandro.steinbach@ndsu.edu

Agricultural Risk Policy Center (ARPC)
North Dakota State University
www.ndsu.edu/agriculture/arpc