The 2016-17 sugarbeet campaign was the longest in Amalgamated Sugar’s history, with a record-breaking number of sugarbeets harvested, stored and processed, according to a release from the company.
The last sugarbeets of the 2016 crop entered the Twin Falls factory on April 17. The Mini-Cassia factory finished on April 16, and the Nampa factory finished on March 10.
Amalgamated Sugar Company comprises 750 sugarbeet growers-owners and 1,500 employees.
Amalgamated Sugar processed 7.2 million tons of sugarbeets and expects to produce 2.34 billion pounds of sugar, according to the company.
Employees will now finish making sugar from the juice stored at the factories, conduct maintenance and install new equipment to prepare for processing the 2017 crop.
“The ability to raise a quality sugarbeet crop and the capacity to process that crop requires highly skilled, dedicated people and cutting-edge technology on the farm and in the factories,” John McCreedy, Amalgamated Sugar’s president and CEO, said in the release. “Without these competitive advantages, we would not have the sustainable agricultural practices or efficient factory operations we have today.”
Genetically engineered sugarbeet seed has allowed Amalgamated Sugar’s growers to nearly double on-farm productivity while reducing pesticide and herbicide usage, on-farm greenhouse gas emissions and water usage, according to the company. The genetic modification is then removed during sugarbeet processing, producing refined sugar identical to cane sugar and conventional beet sugar.
In the past 20 years, Amalgamated Sugar has decreased factory emissions 75 percent by increasing sugar extraction and reducing energy usage, according to the company.
Source: www.idahopress.com