The North Dakota Sugarbeet Industry Supports Families and the Economy

In partnership with: North Dakota Department of Agriculture

A perishable vegetable weighing around 4 pounds and measuring a foot long, the sugarbeet is grown in climates that are too cold for sugarcane. With a five-month growing season, sugarbeets originate from the same species as Swiss chard and red beets, the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (Beta vulgaris).

Sugarbeets are big business to the American economy. More than 150,000 people across 22 states are employed by the sugar industry of sugarcane and sugarbeets, with an annual economic impact of nearly $23 billion on the U.S. economy.

Eastern North Dakota and western Minnesota’s Red River Valley are the largest regions for sugarbeet production, with more than 3,700 sugarbeet growers who are part of three area cooperatives making a $6 billion impact in the area.

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Cooperative Cultivation

Three North Dakota cooperatives – American Crystal Sugar Company, Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative and Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative – support more than 16,000 jobs.

Combined, they provide more than $1.6 billion in labor income and nearly $200 million in local and state government taxes for North Dakota, helping the economy to flourish.

“Sugarbeets keep tire shops, cafes, schools, banks and all other businesses thriving,” explains Brent Baldwin, sugarbeet grower and Red River Valley Sugarbeet Growers Association (RRVSGA) president.

Baldwin comes from a long line of North Dakota sugarbeet growers.

“My family traces its sugarbeet roots back to 1926 when my great-grandfather started raising a few acres to diversify and generate more income,” he says. “My entire lineage has continued to raise sugarbeets since then.”

Since 1926, the RRVSGA has represented sugarbeet growers who grew sugarbeets for the old American Beet Sugar Company, later becoming the American Crystal Sugar Company.

Concerned about the future of the sugar industry, RRVSGA members purchased American Crystal and formed a grower-owned cooperative in 1973. So, unlike an investor-owned business, sugarbeet growers own American Crystal, with each member having one vote at meetings, and it operates for the benefit of the members.

Supporting the industry and growers, the RRVSGA focuses on federal politics, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Bill and the U.S. sugar program.

By having a strong sugar program, the industry can continue to provide a safe, reliable and affordable product to American consumers at no cost to U.S. taxpayers.

North Dakota sugarbeet growers like Allen Tucker appreciate RRVSGA’s commitment, which allows his family to focus on growing sugarbeets and maintaining strong family ties.

“My grandparents raised their first crop of sugarbeets in 1928, and our family has grown them annually,” Tucker says. “We hope to do it for another 95 years and beyond.”

With strong family and association commitments, North Dakota sugarbeets will be a staple in the landscape and economy for years to come.

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