Sugarbeet Feature Stories

Nearly 400 growers, spouses and affiliated industry personnel gathered in Scottsdale, Ariz., on February 7-9 for the American Sugarbeet Growers Association’s 2016 annual meeting.

On these pages, we provide photos and message highlights from several invited speaker presentations, as well as a summary of comments (page 10) by Galen Lee, Idaho grower and incoming ASGA president. We also carry a tribute (page 11) to outgoing president John Snyder of Wyoming.

The next ASGA annual meeting will be held on January 29-31, 2017, in Miami, Fla. 

Other 2016 ASGA officers are Vice President Richard Gerstenberger of Michigan and Treasurer Patrick Freese of Minnesota. Chairmen and vice chairmen, respectively, of this year’s ASGA committees are:

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While already known by many in the audience, the new president of the American Sugarbeet Growers Association, Galen Lee of New Plymouth, Idaho, formally introduced himself to the group as he took over the reins from Wyoming’s John Snyder at the conclusion of the 2016 annual meeting.
After paying tribute to Snyder for his service and accomplishments (see article on page 11), Lee turned to his own story. First, though, he extended his appreciation to four groups of people: the ASGA Board of Directors for their confidence in electing him president; the Nyssa/Nampa Sugarbeet Growers Association of southwestern Idaho/eastern Oregon, of which he has been president since December 2008; the Amalgamated Sugar Company, of which he is a shareholder and director, for its support; “and most of all, my family and my employees, who have — and will continue — to carry the load at home while I attend to the business of this industry.”

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Upon taking over as the new president of the American Sugarbeet Growers Association, the first item of business for Galen Lee was to recognize and thank his predecessor, John Snyder of Worland, Wyo. “John represents the growers of the smallest beet sugar company in the country (Wyoming Sugar),” Lee noted. “He is living proof that big things in fact do come in small packages.” While affirming that Snyder’s list of accomplishments and contributions to the sugar industry are vast, Lee zeroed in on six key areas:
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• Snyder helped lead the transition of the Worland factory from Holly Sugar to the farmer-owned Wyoming Sugar Company.
• Wyoming Sugar was the first growing area to commercially plant Roundup Ready® sugarbeets. That was in 2007.
• “During our five and a half years of litigation over Roundup Ready sugarbeets, John was selected by legal counsel as the one grower in the country to take the stand in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco to defend our new technology.”

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Several very significant changes in sugarbeet operations have been instituted at D & B Karg Farms of Harbor Beach, Mich., within the past several years. Father Dennis and son Brian transitioned to 22-inch rows (from 28s) in 2010 across their sugarbeet, corn and edible bean acreage.
They’ve also gone to 100% stale seedbed (no spring tillage) on their sugarbeet fields. And, like several dozen other Michigan and Ontario producers, they now harvest their beets with a self-propelled harvester (a ROPA Tiger) that they purchased in 2011.

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After gaining a place in Europe, numerous attempts were made to introduce sugarbeet production into the United States. The first effort to grow sugarbeets was in 1830 in Philadelphia; but no factory was ever built, and the idea was abandoned. The first factory built in the U. S. was at Northampton, Mass., in 1838, but it ceased operating after 1840. Additional attempts were made to establish factories in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan and later in Utah by the Mormon pioneers, but all were closed within a short period of time due to lack of profitability.

These failures were typical of the problems experienced with beginning the cultivation and processing of sugarbeets in America. Throughout the history of the sugarbeet industry, this trend continued. These start-up efforts at establishing sugar processing factories often were done on a trial-and-error basis, moving around frequently from place to place, trying to find that right combination of factors that would result in greater long-term success.

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