| Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative
|
Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative
Renville, Minnesota
Al Ritacco, CEO
|
A closer look... |
|
Following an announcement in March 1971 that there would no longer be a
market for their sugar beets, members of the Southern Minnesota Beet
Growers Association formed the Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar
Cooperative, with the goal of building their own factory. Construction
of the processing facility got underway in March 1973, and sugar
production began at the new plant in the fall of 1975.
|
SMBSC |
|
The 1994 crop was the largest in the history of the cooperative, with
the 465 grower/owners harvesting 2.4 million tons of sugar beets from
nearly 110,800 acres. Pre-harvest began August 30 and full harvest ran
for more than two months, from October 3 through November 5. Processing
started on September 3, running for 223 days and averaging 9,408 tons
of sugar beets sliced per day.
|
|
There are 250 full-time employees, with about 100 more added during the
peak season. The annual payroll (excluding producer payments) exceeds
$10 million.
In addition to processing pure beet sugar, SMBSC also produces beet
pulp pellets and beet molasses. The pellets are used as a feed for
dairy cattle, beef cattle, and sheep; much of the yield is exported.
The molasses is used in the production of yeast, chemicals, and
pharmaceuticals, as well as a livestock feed. Beet molasses is further
refined to produce additional sugar and the by-products betaine and
separator molasses solubles.
|
The Sugarbeet Research and Education Board of Minnesota and North Dakota |
