Developments at the processing plant in Montana won’t affect Alberta producers directly, but overall trend is troubling
The closure of a Montana sugar beet processing facility will not directly affect Alberta growers but it is a worrying trend for the North American industry, according to the president of the Alberta Sugar Beet Growers.
“We look at it as a disappointment because they are not making any money on beets down there,” said Gary Tokariuk, ASBG president. “North America wide, expenses are going up and we’re just not getting paid for our beets as we should be.”
American Crystal announced earlier this year it is closing its 100-year-old Sidney, Mont., beet sugar processing facility following a reduction of about one-third of contracted acres in the last two decades to a little more than 18,000 acres.
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The Montana-Dakota Beet Growers Association blamed contract negotiations with the plant and a reduction in the price being offered as the reason for the sharp reduction in beet production, according to an editorial printed in the American publication AgWeek.
Roughly 300 plant workers received termination notices earlier this year.
Tokariuk said it’s disappointing to see the plant close.
“They’ve been growing beets as long as we have up here,” he said, adding his family operation has been growing beets for more than 75 years. “To me, it’s disappointing and I hope it’s not the sign of things to come.”
Alberta is the centre of domestic sugar production in an industry dominated by raw cane imports from South America, which make up 90 percent of the refined sugar market.
Tokariuk said growers in the province are negotiating contracts for this year’s beet crop with the Taber-based Lantic processing facility.
“We’re optimistic we’ll come up with a new two- or three-year contract that the company can make money and so can we,” he said.
Southern Alberta is in the midst of a massive upgrade to its irrigation networks, which holds a potential to see acres, including sugar beets, expand substantially from a nearly $1 billion investment.
“We want to grow more beets here but that has to come from Lantic in terms of expansion at our factory,” he said.
As for this season’s outlook, Tokariuk said growers are looking to rebound from last year, which saw reduced pricing due to low sugar content in the 2022 beet crop.
“It resulted in a poorer payment that I think most guys probably lost money growing sugar beets last year,” he said, putting the situation down to the warmer-than-usual fall harvesting conditions. “Our sugar content was a percent lower than average. That had a huge impact on us.”
A cooler than normal spring in southern Alberta has left growers about two weeks behind their normal seeding with high levels of moisture in fields and continuing cold temperatures, but the irrigation water availability looks good heading into the season.
“We just need to get some heat and seed in the ground to get going,” he said.
