A deal has been reached between Alberta Sugar Beet Growers and Lantic Inc., owners of the Rogers Sugar plant in Taber, Alta., which will ensure a crop is grown and processed this year in southern Alberta.
Lantic said today that a four-year agreement has been established after the nearly complete breakdown of negotiations as recently as Monday.
The agreement will see 22,000 acres of sugar beets planted in the next few days. Ordinarily, the sugar beet crop would have been planted by now but prolonged negotiations resulted in a delay and threat of potential sugar factory closure.
Under normal conditions, Lantic said 22,000 acres of beets would produce about 80,000 tonnes of refined sugar.
The Taber plant is the only processor of domestically produced sugar in Canada. It employs about 150 people full time and roughly double that during sugar beet harvest and processing in fall and winter.
The plant is a major employer in the town of Taber.
