Sugar beets are big business in Michigan - at least they are now. After a deep lull in the mid-1990s, an innovative partnership between Michigan State University and the sugar beet industry has managed to build the once $100 million industry up to $444 million today.
“The sugar beet industry was having a lot of problems due to a whole host of different issues,” says Steve Poindexter of
MSU Extension. “[Growing sugar beets] was basically an unprofitable thing.”
While some growers turned to other crops, others and industry professionals looked to MSU for help. The industry agreed to grant a half of a position to MSU Extension, and together they formed the
Michigan Sugar Beet Advancement program.
“It started as a three-year experiment, and it’s been going since 1997,” says Poindexter. “Through working very closely with the sugar companies, we have looked at all the problems together, solving each issue as we went through.”
The results have been dramatic. Solutions to disease and pests have been found, along with breakthroughs in the quality of the sugar beets themselves, which have gone from sugar contents of 16 percent to 18 percent.
While the sugar beet industry now boasts annual grower payments of $444 million, the estimated total economic impact of the industry on Michigan is $1 billion.
“We really want to stress that this happened because of the partnership between the sugar companies, the growers and the University,” says Poindexter, “who really moved this industry forward to a really healthy one.”
Source: Steve Poindexter, MSU Extension
Writer: Natalie Burg
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.