The extraction of sucrose from beets was a
well-established practice in Europe before U.S. farmers began planting,
harvesting and processing the crop.
The
first sugar beet factory, in Northampton, Massachusetts was built in 1838 and
was only in operation for two years due to the failure of the crop to
thrive.
In the 1850s, the pioneers in Utah began investigating sugar beet cultivation and
sucrose processing. They established their first sugar beet factory in 1852.
Because
they lacked the knowledge of chemical processes needed for extracting sucrose,
the endeavor wasn’t prosperous, and they abandoned the idea of sugar beet
farming.
Many sugar beet factories that sprang up at this time failed.
The factory owners only imported their beet seed from Europe, “even though the
Department of Agriculture explained that better results could be obtained when
using home produced cultivars” (Harveson)
The
first successful commercial production of sugar beets was in Alvarado and
Watsonville, both located in central California.
With the success of sucrose extraction in central CA,
developers in Orange County, CA, jumped on board, and Beet Sugar became a hot
commodity. They boasted five modern factories and claimed to produce the finest
sugar made on earth. An ad in the Santa Ana Daily Register boasts:
“Large tracts of land which were formerly alkaline,
swamps and barren wastes have been reclaimed by the introduction of the culture
of the sugar beets…”
(Santa Ana Daily Register)
Sugar
beets changed the landscape and the price of land in Orange County, for the
crop would grow where no others dared.
Eventually, the Utah pioneers were able to perfect the
extraction of sucrose and the newly erected factory made its first crystallized
sugar in 1891. In Idaho, four smaller sugar companies were also producing sugar
from beets and eventually merged with the Utah Sugar Company, and U&I (Utah
& Idaho) Sugar was born. The removal of tariffs on imported cane sugar threatened
the beet sugar industry, forcing U&I sugar to cut jobs to stay in business.
However,
the availability of imported cane sugar diminished during World War I and World
War II and the beet sugar industry thrived once again. U&I sugar expanded
outside of the Utah and Idaho borders.
But when the war ended, prices dropped, and U&I again
struggled to get by. To add insult to injury, curly top, a disease spread by
whitefly, attacked the beet crops. The industry suffered. The USDA devoted
money to research to find insect-resistant varieties of sugar beets and due to
their efforts, by 1934 crop plantings were the best they had been in
years.
But, by the 1970s, U&I Sugar could no longer compete
with the increasing imports of cane sugar and the even cheaper commodity of
corn syrup. U&I sugar once dominated the shelves of Western grocery stores.
Its extinction was felt by many who had relied on the product for their
livelihood.
(American
History)
American History. The History of U&I Sugar: A
Beet Sugar Powerhouse. 21 August 2017. 24 September 2019.
Harveson, Robert M. History of Sugar Beets.
n.d. 24 September 2019.
Santa Ana Daily Register. "Farming Sugar
Beets." 1 October 1914. https://historicsouthernsantaana. 24
September 2019.
