The 32nd International Sweetener Symposium is scheduled for July 31- August 5 at the beautiful Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort & Spa, located between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Speakers at this year’s Symposium will explore the complex and critical issues facing today’s sugar industry, such as: What is the latest on North American sugar trade? Will regional and global supplies continue to outpace demand, or will the market tighten? What should we expect from the government’s renewed trade agenda? What impact will global sugar subsidies have on the market and domestic producers? How has sugar policy performed and what’s next with farm bill administration? What new developments are taking shape in the food manufacturing industry?

Registration and optional tours are scheduled for Friday and Saturday, July 31 and August 1, with a “meet and greet” reception on Saturday evening. Sunday brings the ASA golf tournament, with a welcome reception taking place that evening. The Symposium’s general meeting sessions are scheduled for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday morning, August 3-5.

For more details on the 2015 International Sweetener Symposium in New Mexico, visit: www.sugaralliance.org/symposium.


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Bayer CropScience’s Fluency Agent, a new seed lubricant for sugarbeets, is now available from participating independent sales agents of ACH Seeds, marketer of Crystal® Brand beet seed.

Fluency Agent is an alternative for talc, graphite and talc/graphite-blended seed lubricants. The use of seed lubricants in pneumatic planters is a standard recommendation from planter manufacturers. Seed lubricants help reduce friction and improve uniformity of planting. Fluency Agent, as a seed lubricant, helps reduce the amount of total dust and further minimizes the amount of active ingredient potentially released in treated seed dust during planting. By reducing seed dust, Fluency Agent reduces the potential risk of exposure to foraging honey bees and other pollinators if they come in direct contact with the dust.

Seed treatments are a very important tool for sugarbeet farmers, notes Dave Braaten, national product manager for ACH Seeds. One of the key components featured with Crystal Sugarbeet Seed’s Diamond Plated™ seed treatment options, he says, is the use of seed-applied insecticide. To be good stewards of this technology, the management of dust is important, especially with today’s planters. According to Braaten, 100% of Crystal Brand customers use various Diamond Plated seed treatment options on their farms.

“The Fluency Agent is a great product that adds convenience when handling the seed. We see this as a real opportunity for sugarbeet growers across the U.S. to reduce the dust currently associated with talc/graphite seed lubricants, while improving plantability and promoting environmental stewardship,” Braaten says.


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Dustin Schmer has joined Betaseed, Inc., as sales manager in the Western Sugar South area, reporting directly to John Dillman, Betaseed regional sales manager. Along with working in the Western Sugar South beet seed market, Schmer also is working with feed beet sales in the High Plains and Florida.

Prior to joining Betaseed, Schmer was employed by WESTCO in Gering, Neb., as an agronomist and later branch manager. He earned a B.S. in agroecology with a minor in soil science from the University of Wyoming. While attending UW, he worked in the weed science lab and at the SAREC Research Center at Lingle. Schmer and his family live in Minatare, Neb. He is based out of the Betaseed office in Scottsbluff.

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Knudsen has been a longtime member and officer of several sugarbeet organizations, including the Sugarbeet Research and Education Board of Minnesota and North Dakota (starting in 1986) and the International Sugarbeet Institute Committee (1986), the Beet Sugar Development Foundation (1987) and the American Society of Sugar Beet Technologists (1987).


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Syngenta announced in January the appointment of Bruce Peters as its new sugarbeet supply operations manager in North America. Peters will be responsible for coordinating the end-toend supply chain activities for sugarbeets from breeder seed to finished goods.

“Bruce brings a wealth of experience, and we are pleased to have him on our North American sugarbeet team,” said Tyler Ring, head of North America sugarbeet seed business, Syngenta. “Peters’ appointment enhances our effectiveness and increases focus on our sugarbeet customers.”

During the past four years, Peters has worked as a seed production manager with Pacific Seed in Toowoomba, Australia. Before that, he held the position of director of operations at Betaseed, Inc., in Tangent, Ore. He has worked in production and sales of sorghum, corn, canola and sugarbeet seed throughout his career.

A graduate of the University of Idaho in agriculture education, Peters is a member of the American Society of Sugar Beet Technologists.


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If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the 130-plus photographs in a newly published book speak volumes about south Louisiana’s thriving sugarcane industry.

Titled Louisiana Sugarcane Pictorial: From the Field to the Table, the book provides an illustrated account of every phase of the industry, from planting and harvesting through milling and refining. The book was written and photographed by sugar industry safety engineer and award-winning photographer Ronnie Olivier of Lafayette, La., who took photos over a 25-year period.

Using a minimal amount of text and an abundance of photographs, Olivier zeroes in on scenes commonly observed by the public during harvest season, as well as some that are seldom seen by anyone except those who work in the cane fields or in the sugar mills. These include planting and harvesting of the crop, transporting it to the mills, the multi-faceted milling process, and the refining of sugar as the last step before it goes to the consumer’s table.

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The 53rd International Sugarbeet Institute takes place on March 25 and 26, 2015, at the Fargodome in Fargo, N.D. The ISBI is North America’s largest sugarbeet trade show, with around 125-130 commercial exhibitors reserving booth and floor space to feature their products and services — all of which are geared toward the sugarbeet producer.

Featured ISBI speakers this year include Mark Seeley, University of Minnesota climatologist, on the afternoon of the 25th; and Luther Markwart, executive vice president of the American Sugarbeet Growers Association, on the morning of the 26th.

Questions regarding the 2015 International Sugarbeet Institute can be directed to Dr. Mohamed Khan, organizing committee chairman, at (701) 231-8596 or mohamed.khan@ndsu.edu.


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