Alberta Sugar Beet Growers: Good season so far

Times Photo submitted

By Nerissa McNaughton
Southern Alberta Newspapers

Established in 1925, Alberta Sugar Beet Growers (ASBG) is a marketing board committed to supporting its farm families through advocacy, education, quota administration, research, and pricing negotiations. 

Originally based in Lethbridge and now located in Taber, ASBG represents 200 Southern Alberta farm families who supply sugar beets to Canada’s last operating sugar beet factory, ensuring the production of 100 per cent Canadian sugar. The organization’s efforts are crucial in maintaining a sustainable and ethical sugar source for Canadian families.

ASBG President Gary Tokariuk has been farming in the Coaldale area for more than 30 years.

“This year things started off slowly,” he says of the current sugar beet crop. “It looked like things were going to be average, or below average. However, the weather improved in the last month or so, and things have been very good. We are looking at an average to above average crop for this season now.”

What are the effects of weather on the beets? Tokariuk is happy to provide an example.

“A few years ago, we had hot days and hot nights. That resulted in poor sugar. Now, we have heat during the day and it cools down at night. That starts to push the sugar down into the roots from the leaves, and why now it’s looking like good weather for our crops.”

Tokariuk is also pleased with the volume of rain so far. 

“We will never complain about getting rain,” he laughs. “I’ve had seven inches of rainfall on my farm, and some other farms have had even more. That was huge this year! Previously, we were rationed in our irrigation district. We were worried about the amount of irrigation we were going to have. People were making choices about how much water they could put on their grain. I grew more dry peas so I could allocate more water to my sugar beets. Now, with 11 inches applied and 7 inches of rainfall, that’s 18 inches so far; and with the upcoming heat, I’ll probably give them another shot this month.”

The rain, weather, and soil conditions all affect the sugar content in the beets.

“We are looking for that sugar content; our contract is based on sugar,” Tokariuk says. “Poor soil means less sugar extraction. We want to have a good extraction at harvest time because that means a higher dollar per tonne of beets.  The quality of beets is important.”

Speaking of the contract, it is with Lantic Sugar, better known to households in Alberta as Rogers Sugar. Do you want to know if you are getting locally grown sugar from sugar beets in your bag of Rogers Sugar? Look for the black “22” on the bag!

Tokariuk concludes, “The ASBG keeps looking for new ways to use sugar beets. We want to grow the industry and things are looking very positive so far.”

Learn more about the ASBG online at albertasugarbeets.ca.