U.S. Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-Hawaii) issued the following statement on the announcement that the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation will buy approximately 150,000 tons of U.S. sugar to help sugar growers, stabilize low market prices, and reduce the cost of sugar program loan forfeitures:

USDA's sugar purchase will help Hawaii's growers at a time when they need it most. This spring, sugar prices hit a 20-year low. The purchase of 150,000 tons of sugar will boost sugar prices and provide relief to growers in Hawaii and on the mainland. Over the past decade, Hawaii lost 120,000 acres of sugar. That's 45% of our cropland. Our rural areas continue to suffer because of these losses.

I met with Secretary Glickman twice to discuss this issue and also spoke to him by phone. My message to Secretary Glickman was to act quickly so that Hawaii growers can benefit from higher prices. Our 12-month growing season means that Hawaii is the first to market its sugar and will be among the first to benefit from USDA's action.

Under the sugar program, growers can forfeit their sugar to the government if prices remain low. In the long run, it's cheaper for the USDA to boost sugar prices by buying sugar than to suffer large scale forfeitures later in the growing season.

USDA also pledged to consider additional purchases in the future if prices remain low. I will continue to watch this situation very closely and ask for additional sugar purchases if prices do not improve significantly.