Since so many people keep asking about it. Sugar factory worker myself so here is the word on what happened. The factory closed because 1) The farmers were not beholden to bring in a set amount of beets, so cash crops took over their fields on beet time rotation in the fields. In 2022 they only had around a 4 month slice season, meanwhile regular beet slice season is nearly 9 months, workers from Sidney were being shipped to other crystal sugar facilities due to this. 2) The farmers were offered to buy it as a coop, they refused to do so. Crystal sugar in the red river valley is a coop, which allows it to distribute beets around all the factories, hard to ship beets to Sydney to meet slice demand. 3) since some people keep mentioning monocrop farming... not really related but I've not really met a farmer dumb enough to do that, there is this thing called crop rotation that every farmer worth their ground uses, beet to corn to soybeans/wheat to corn/soybeans/wheat to beet with fertilizers to make up missing nutrients... this has been common practice for years and I'm not sure why people aren't aware of this... 4) The factory reopening under new/old management will be likely impossible. This is due to most equipment being removed and repurposed to other Crystal facilities. So really tldr farmers didn't want to do a coop and they just abandoned beet farming so the factory became unsustainable
Good news organization or a good news reporter would have done a tiny bit of research to get to the real story. And then told the real story. Unless they were going for a narrative more than they were going for honest reporting
Happens in every sector of agriculture. The year I graduated high school there were 91 dairies in my county. Now there are 5. I still milk twice a week on a 400 cow dairy. That operation expanded from 60 cows 30 years ago. Now run a broading stable, and farm for myself direct marketing beef, lamb, turkeys, broilers, hay, and eggs. Dairying is what I wanted to do. But it was way more important to do something you can still enjoy and make a living at the same time. Besides, i never knew i would enjoy working with horses so much and that offered new opportunities to ride and learn from a top notch horseman and get paid for it.
My daddy's mom's family had a huge dairy farm and ice cream operation in sodak, its gone too His dad's family had a big cattle operation that I think now is a roping school or something now, I sold my part back to the tribe so I didn't have to join the family fight into a third generation. Somehow, everyone stopped working towards a common goal and life 💔
sugar beet farming is not just propped up by subsidies, it is a completely artificial ag market created by subsidies. when the subsidies stop coming, for whatever reason, it dies
The new administration needs to get high fructose corn syrup out of all our food. And, go back to natural sugar. If you ever get the chance to have a Coke in Europe you will be shocked at how good it tastes. And, it’s because it has real sugar and not high fructose corn syrup in it. Which, by the way is making everyone fat and a diabetic. 😮
True and I do when I can find it. The point is the top three conglomerate soft drink companies are Coke a Cola, Pepsi and Kuerig Dr Pepper and they all use high fructose corn syrup. Which, is cheap and our bodies do not process it well. And, it has trace amounts of the Chinese supplied herbicides and pesticides. It’s garbage…😞
I can and a bunch of Soldiers I’ve served with in Germany could too. We here are just programmed for the junk they serve us. Go to Europe and see for yourself. You will be surprised. They also have higher T in their men and less cancers. Why is that?
I retired from the sugar industry, white satin, 35 years. I feel for the worker of this plant, generational employees who lose everything. The farmers still have a farm, the employees have nothing.
It's very sad for the community, but if what they grow can't be sold at a profit, then they're like any other business. The question is, how much warning did they have to be able to switch from beets to something more profitable? Would it have made any difference if there had been sufficient warning?
I wish we'd bring back hemp in a big way, it can be used for EVERYTHING! IN PLACE OF WOOD, can be used to make fabrics, can be used as feed, just a million things.
I live in California's Central Valley, and remember when sugar beets were a major crop here, but not for a long time now. For almost 20 years I had a long commute across agricultural lands in the area, and it was interesting seeing the various crops the farmers experimented with or changed to. Hawaii and Cuba used to be dependent on (cane) sugar but for various reasons grow little any more. My stepfather grew up in North Dakota, along the Red River Of The North, and told of going hunting (in the early 20th Century) along the side of the river that had been settled by Irish farmers, who grew only wheat and used the income from the good years in hopes of seeing them through the other years; on that side there was one abandoned farmhouse after another to provide overnight shelter. Not so on the other side of the river, which had been settled by Swedes, who didn't buy anything they could raise; even their primary crops were diversified. Not one empty farmhouse to be found there.
What is the reason for the sugar beet processing plant closing? Is there less demand for sugar and this area is taking the hit rather than the other sugar beet processing regions? Or are they being pushed aside by another domestic or foreign sugar source? I have a solution. Change back to putting sugar in Coke rather than using corn syrup which makes it not worth drinking.
The problem was the farmers themselves, because there was no contract for how many beets they were required to grow, other crops took over beet ground, thus output in the factory became unprofitable...
Good question. I am sure there is many reasons for it but it looks like the price of sugar actually gone up by a healthy margins in the last year or two🤔
Processed sugar is a bulk commodity with a long shelf life. Sugar cane farming is much more economically efficient and mostly exists in lower cost tropical countries.
@@ganondorfal How so? Explain please. Isaiah 43:24 You have not bought me sweet cane with money, or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins; you have wearied me with your iniquities.
They feed sugar beet waste from the refinery to Cattle here in europe, feed beet is another variety specifically for Cattle and to cultivate so much over the area that once was sugar beet would need to keep millions of Cattle to eat it all.
The world has gotten way too good at growing corn, that's the real problem. Corn's down huge in the last 2 years yet all corn based products under Harris Biden are still more than 2 to 4X what they were under Trump 5. Go figure
The big corporation that owned it wasn't making enough money. I'm surprised that the local farmers didn't bid on it to turn it into a co-op. Once you get rid of the 20% corporate "tax" on revenues you can often make money.
Any thoughts about the health complications caused by sugar? How about federal subsidies for growing sugar? What other crops could be grown in those areas?
@@headfirst6227 removing sugar is a ridiculous idea. As I already said there’s nothing inherently bad about it. The problem is not sugar, it’s peoples lack of accountability in their diet.
@@headfirst6227 no I’m not. It’s just that the research doesn’t support what you’re saying. Is excessive sugar consumption bad? Yes. So is excessive consumption of anything. But there is not inherently bad thing about normal amounts of sugar.
I love how these farmers are experts at growing beets but once the factory moves they seem confused. Hey farmers pool together and open up your own factory.
Being an outsider, a couple questions come to mind: Did the number of farmers drop out before the closing, thus not able to supply enough crop to keep the plant running at a high level? Or does it have something to do with the Army Corps. work on flood control along the Red River now allowing for a larger share of beets there, making this area's crop unneeded?
not sure but i know there was a change in the irrigation intake dam on the Yellowstone River. the free flow of the river was hindered by the dam. paddle fish and others i'm sure were stopped from traveling farther up river to spawn.acres for beets were allocated . the whole lower Yellowstone valley was not beet production but beets were the most profitable crop. if the farmer had allocated beet acres$$$$$$ .i could be wrong as red river valley in eastern north dakota still raised beets without irrigation.
The story I heard is that Sydney couldn't get enough farmers to grow beets. There wasn't enough stockpile for the factory to use through the year. When the factory sits idle, lots of things things like employees, utilities, taxes, etc. are still being paid, but without any revenue to pay for it. ACS met with the Sydney growers to try to come up with solutions. Apparently, none surfaced. It is unfortunate that the news story neglected to explain any of this, which turned it into a hit piece.
This is correct, coop ownership is incredibly important for this reason... also there isn't really a way for the factory to open back up either, at least not without a large amount of capital investment... not only for just updates but also a ton of equipment was moved to the other crystal factories along with the work force
@@sleepermaxima beet storage is a problem as higher temps will spoil the beets. so can't start the harvest too early, then have to finish up before it gets too warm in the spring
Sometimes that's not an option for farms in certain regions. Look what Hoy Fung did with Sriracha. They went from all Cali peppers to all Mexican thereby crushing the huge farming operations out in that region. The big boy has his own brand of Sriracha now and to me, it's much tastier than Hoy Fung
I am a trucker. I picked up a load from a industrial plant that had been closed until former employees bought it and reopened it. The farmers and plant employees may do something similar.
You're proud that Democrat policies and disastrous economic regulation under Biden and Co. is crushing farmers? Really? Well, I guess no one should be surprised by that kind of hate coming from liberals. Don't worry though, President Trump will help to fix this and get the American economy back on track. You're welcome.
If only the government taxed people and corporations so they could afford low-cost loans, or had a government corporation that could do it on behalf of the people.
Just like the pure cane sugar growers in the Hawaiian Islands had to change. It's sad we went to an alternative sugar to produce sugar. Ask yourself why do we need to use arsenic to take the poison out of those beats to be consumable.
The town I live in has a sugar plant but no one grows beets around here. All the beets are railed in from somewhere else. I don't understand why they can't rail their beets to the nearest factory unless there is already a glut of beets.
There seems to be a trend in the agriculture area. There’s videos on John Deere’s problems, closing a factory that makes tires for farm equipment, closing a French fry factory and of course all the farmers facing losses. Add the end of cheap labor with the immigration issue and could see a food crisis.
The problem isn't deporting illegal aliens in this country. The problem is destructive democrat economic policies that hurt American workers, unionized labor and American's desire for cheap goods from countries where they use slave or forced labor. Read a book maybe?
The other thing that is lost in situations like this is the accumulated hands-on expertise of those farmers and workers. Family farms continue to be pushed out as we increasingly trust corporations to produce our food.
The real issue is that you can grow sugar much more cheaply by growing it somewhere else. Without subsidies, it just isn't worth it. I sincerely hope the best for those farmers. It's a hard way to make a living.
Travel Round, once drove past a sugar beet plant, tall mo7nds of sugar granules all over the place with birds pooping on them. Sugar from sugar beets is not even a healthy choice
I appreciate the situation the farmers are in. Being that sugar is poisoning the people of the US, perhaps they can find something more beneficial to grow.
Great story, fine reporting, beautful scenery and still hated to hear this. Parents first jobs in east Montana was topping in the fields. They were raised and farmed outside of Miles City and Glendive.
Great little farming town and community. Wonderful people. Very kind and generous. Sadly the American farming industry is about to collapse across America thanks to Trump tariffs in 2025. A recession is coming. Tariffs are a national tax on ALL AMERICAN consumers. So sad. So tragic…. So preventable!!!
farmers the world over have been diversifying for years, those who dont get left behind. Farming is a competative business, you cant rest on your laurels or another nation will undercut you, thats capitalism 101 and you know you hate socialism
By putting all of that "energy" into growing a crop, planting fertilizing, harvesting, and the product you end up with is only used to end up "burning" to create fuel so that somebody can have an income is really counter productive. Plus, it drives up the price of food because you are essentially "growing food". Crops should not be used for fuel, it is just a bad thing to do. Ethanol is a prime example. You water down gasoline with it, resulting in poorer gas mileage than plain gasoline. Plus it creates more pollution than straight gasoline. There is plenty of oil and gas, just drill for it.
@@tonyfulford3175 ethanol increases your octane rating giving you better gas mileage. It also Burns hotter which prevents engine knocking and makes your motor last longer. That's why I almost all race cars use pure ethanol. An aircraft which need a higher octane rating use a higher ethanol blend. Add shipping fuel into the United States versus growing it here is way worse in terms of energy consumption. And makes the United States dependent on foreign oil sensors only so much that can be drilled
Those two only look like farmers to people that haven't farmed. I've watched some of Joel's videos. The farm economic models he describes are fantasy. His advocacy for alternative farming methods are not supported by actual scientific research. He is just a fantasy con man feeding you a line of bull.
@cdjhyoung Yes and no. It does work for them, but probably won’t work for anyone else.Some good knowledge for beginners and homesteaders, feedlot owners will beg to differ.
And nobody would band together to buy it themselves? Workers bought Appleton papers when the company was gonna sell and leave and that's 20-25 yrs ago. The farmers using that sugar beet to sugar plant know it's profitable enough and they'd use it.... I know, no money but damn!
2024 and farmers still havent learned to diversify their crops, and not rely on one or two crops?? Havent they learned you should be raising cows, chickens, and honey bees too?? Milk, Eggs, and Honey are all local stables people. Also you should NEVER have a business dependent upon a couple of third parties to generate the bulk of your income. I guess these farmers like to hurt
Only a few companies control all the food in the world- all decisions regarding food are corporate-shareholder value based. The only hope for beet farmers are to find a niche market, sell to a large company that needs sugar or just close. The food monopolies are not policed like other monopolies--they have huge lobbying power so are ignored. Game makers can't monopolized anywhere near what food corporations have done and are still doing-yet they get busted all the time. Priorities are who has the best politicians in their pocket-and that would be corporate food.
Well, if I was a Billionaire I would convert the factory into a Fermented Beet Juice plant. Last time I bought a bottle of fermented beet juice it cost me $7 for less than a pint. There's a lot more you can do with Beets than making sugar. I bet George Washington Carver could turn them into anything from Mock Beef to Licorice. Cheers, from Jack, who used to work a Benny's Bistro in Helena.
@@CooperJones777 It's guys like you that don't think. At the very least they could make vodka, and there are many more things you could do with beets if you took the time to do a little research.
They are looking to survive and make a living. They're no different from some barista in California, except that they actually do real work for a living.
Well they did educate their children. So it should be no problem to transfer into another industry. Maybe they can become the new hot bed for bio chemistry . Or physics
No. Its exactly the opposite. Borrowing money to just give it to somebody to keep prices manipulated. Without realizing that money needs to be paid back, with intrest. Miss that part? Or would you like the total price of $45-60 a loaf of what your actually paying.
I didn't even know sugar beets were grown in Montana. How come I've never seen beet sugar for sale around here? What Dezi protectionist legislation killed a perfectly good industry in my state??
Since so many people keep asking about it. Sugar factory worker myself so here is the word on what happened. The factory closed because
1) The farmers were not beholden to bring in a set amount of beets, so cash crops took over their fields on beet time rotation in the fields. In 2022 they only had around a 4 month slice season, meanwhile regular beet slice season is nearly 9 months, workers from Sidney were being shipped to other crystal sugar facilities due to this.
2) The farmers were offered to buy it as a coop, they refused to do so. Crystal sugar in the red river valley is a coop, which allows it to distribute beets around all the factories, hard to ship beets to Sydney to meet slice demand.
3) since some people keep mentioning monocrop farming... not really related but I've not really met a farmer dumb enough to do that, there is this thing called crop rotation that every farmer worth their ground uses, beet to corn to soybeans/wheat to corn/soybeans/wheat to beet with fertilizers to make up missing nutrients... this has been common practice for years and I'm not sure why people aren't aware of this...
4) The factory reopening under new/old management will be likely impossible. This is due to most equipment being removed and repurposed to other Crystal facilities.
So really tldr farmers didn't want to do a coop and they just abandoned beet farming so the factory became unsustainable
Good news organization or a good news reporter would have done a tiny bit of research to get to the real story. And then told the real story. Unless they were going for a narrative more than they were going for honest reporting
I worked for Schwan's in Montana and the Dakota's and saw first hand how resilient and strong these folks are. God Bless.
Happens in every sector of agriculture. The year I graduated high school there were 91 dairies in my county. Now there are 5. I still milk twice a week on a 400 cow dairy. That operation expanded from 60 cows 30 years ago. Now run a broading stable, and farm for myself direct marketing beef, lamb, turkeys, broilers, hay, and eggs. Dairying is what I wanted to do. But it was way more important to do something you can still enjoy and make a living at the same time. Besides, i never knew i would enjoy working with horses so much and that offered new opportunities to ride and learn from a top notch horseman and get paid for it.
My daddy's mom's family had a huge dairy farm and ice cream operation in sodak, its gone too
His dad's family had a big cattle operation that I think now is a roping school or something now, I sold my part back to the tribe so I didn't have to join the family fight into a third generation. Somehow, everyone stopped working towards a common goal and life 💔
Same in manufacturing. Fishing. Etc. Either adapt (often by expanding) or.............
There are simply too many people in the world. Too much of a good thing.
@@andyroubik5760 You're welcome to leave at any time.
@andyroubik5760 how do you know? They are lying about the population too.its deception.
sugar beet farming is not just propped up by subsidies, it is a completely artificial ag market created by subsidies. when the subsidies stop coming, for whatever reason, it dies
When your paying 5 dollars for one donought it will be too late to realize that wall street was laughing all the way to the bank.
just don't buy the donut then, esp if you cant spell it
yeah .. but $4.95 of that is for $25 hour unskilled labor.
We there already. County fair about a month ago had doughnuts for 5.50.
@@richardcraniumXLVII always punching down I see
Absolutely correct! Corn syrup makers are now on top!
The new administration needs to get high fructose corn syrup out of all our food. And, go back to natural sugar. If you ever get the chance to have a Coke in Europe you will be shocked at how good it tastes. And, it’s because it has real sugar and not high fructose corn syrup in it. Which, by the way is making everyone fat and a diabetic. 😮
You can buy that here. Same as sold in Mexico. I think natural sugar Coke products have a yellow cap instead of a white one.
True and I do when I can find it. The point is the top three conglomerate soft drink companies are Coke a Cola, Pepsi and Kuerig Dr Pepper and they all use high fructose corn syrup. Which, is cheap and our bodies do not process it well. And, it has trace amounts of the Chinese supplied herbicides and pesticides. It’s garbage…😞
Let's be honest. If you had a blind taste test, you couldn't tell the difference.
I can and a bunch of Soldiers I’ve served with in Germany could too. We here are just programmed for the junk they serve us. Go to Europe and see for yourself. You will be surprised. They also have higher T in their men and less cancers. Why is that?
@@reubensandwich9249lol apparently your too young to remember what real food was like before big ag/pharma took over the FDA.
I retired from the sugar industry, white satin, 35 years. I feel for the worker of this plant, generational employees who lose everything. The farmers still have a farm, the employees have nothing.
That’s why we vote for workers rights. But Republicans just killed that. No more overtime pay thanks yo Trump judge
No Farmers No Food.😢😮.
Factory farms are replacing farmers. Those are ran by corporations.
It’s sugar crack not Food. Got type two diabetes, thank a sugar beet farmer and pepsi!
People should be growing food & feeding themselves & their families.. not relying on huge farms to feed the masses.
People nowadays don't understand that.
@@leanordials8008 Yes they are more efficient and pass the savings on to you. You should be grateful for private equity.
No one answered the question of why they went out of business .
What changed?
The plant was 100 years old. I think Crystal just didn't want to upgrade out there. Their base is in the Red River Valley.
@
Thank you .
I didn’t know if more sugar was coming in from outside the USA or what happened that lowered prices to make them go under .
@@josephpadula2283 Congress repealed the Sugar Tariff years ago. Can't compete with foreign sugar.
@@dfirth224 There are still several sugar tariffs active, both in price (tariff) and tonnage.
Biden supports all non-American commerce
It's very sad for the community, but if what they grow can't be sold at a profit, then they're like any other business. The question is, how much warning did they have to be able to switch from beets to something more profitable? Would it have made any difference if there had been sufficient warning?
I wish we'd bring back hemp in a big way, it can be used for EVERYTHING! IN PLACE OF WOOD, can be used to make fabrics, can be used as feed, just a million things.
The beet guys have some of the best farmland in the region, with ridiculous water allowances. They are going to be just fine.
I guess you're going to give them the money they're going to lose on this? liberals. smh
I live in California's Central Valley, and remember when sugar beets were a major crop here, but not for a long time now. For almost 20 years I had a long commute across agricultural lands in the area, and it was interesting seeing the various crops the farmers experimented with or changed to. Hawaii and Cuba used to be dependent on (cane) sugar but for various reasons grow little any more. My stepfather grew up in North Dakota, along the Red River Of The North, and told of going hunting (in the early 20th Century) along the side of the river that had been settled by Irish farmers, who grew only wheat and used the income from the good years in hopes of seeing them through the other years; on that side there was one abandoned farmhouse after another to provide overnight shelter. Not so on the other side of the river, which had been settled by Swedes, who didn't buy anything they could raise; even their primary crops were diversified. Not one empty farmhouse to be found there.
The worst part about this is what happened to their beet stock the farmers had to buy or lease to grow one acre of beets. Those stocks are expensive.
What is the reason for the sugar beet processing plant closing? Is there less demand for sugar and this area is taking the hit rather than the other sugar beet processing regions? Or are they being pushed aside by another domestic or foreign sugar source? I have a solution. Change back to putting sugar in Coke rather than using corn syrup which makes it not worth drinking.
Regulations pure and simple, same reason the last cane sugar plant in Texas closed earlier this year.
The problem was the farmers themselves, because there was no contract for how many beets they were required to grow, other crops took over beet ground, thus output in the factory became unprofitable...
Biggest reason is corn syrup.
Good question. I am sure there is many reasons for it but it looks like the price of sugar actually gone up by a healthy margins in the last year or two🤔
@@whitehorse1961 We buy 25 pound bags and have noticed. But sugar is sort of like gas in that the price goes up and down a lot over time.
Processed sugar is a bulk commodity with a long shelf life. Sugar cane farming is much more economically efficient and mostly exists in lower cost tropical countries.
Sugar cane sugar as well as brown sugar are both also non Kosher 🙃
Sugar Cane farming is totally subsidized by the taxpayers...Love that socialism now don't you!
@@ganondorfal How so? Explain please.
Isaiah 43:24 You have not bought me sweet cane with money, or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins; you have wearied me with your iniquities.
Could it be used in feed or fertilizer?
Some goes to ethanol production if prices fall far enough.
They feed sugar beet waste from the refinery to Cattle here in europe, feed beet is another variety specifically for Cattle and to cultivate so much over the area that once was sugar beet would need to keep millions of Cattle to eat it all.
It’s better for the land to grow diverse crops. People are so stuck in their ways. Farmers can farm other things. I’m glad they like the new crops
Now we are growing corn and selling it for the same price it was in the 1970s
😮😢😢😢
Chinese retaliation for trumps tariffs will end that too. China is buying more and more from Brazil and Argentina all the time.
And that price is subsidized by the Taxpayers....Don't You love that socialism now?
The world has gotten way too good at growing corn, that's the real problem. Corn's down huge in the last 2 years yet all corn based products under Harris Biden are still more than 2 to 4X what they were under Trump 5. Go figure
And now everyone's cropland is polluted with glyphosate. We are what we eat.
Excellent reporting.
Did they ever say “why” the sugar beet factory closed?
Why did it close?
The big corporation that owned it wasn't making enough money. I'm surprised that the local farmers didn't bid on it to turn it into a co-op. Once you get rid of the 20% corporate "tax" on revenues you can often make money.
@jimmiller5600 Thanks.
@@jimmiller5600 They tried.
Any thoughts about the health complications caused by sugar? How about federal subsidies for growing sugar? What other crops could be grown in those areas?
Sugar, like any other nutrient doesn’t cause health issues as long as you consume it in appropriate quantities.
@ tell that to all the sugar pushers and get it off the shelves.
@@headfirst6227 removing sugar is a ridiculous idea. As I already said there’s nothing inherently bad about it. The problem is not sugar, it’s peoples lack of accountability in their diet.
@ are you going to disagree with decades of research provided by thousands upon thousands of professionals in the field and scientists?
@@headfirst6227 no I’m not. It’s just that the research doesn’t support what you’re saying. Is excessive sugar consumption bad? Yes. So is excessive consumption of anything. But there is not inherently bad thing about normal amounts of sugar.
I worked in Sydney and remember harvest season and mountains of sugar beats waiting for processing. Sorry for this community, they are great people.
I love how these farmers are experts at growing beets but once the factory moves they seem confused. Hey farmers pool together and open up your own factory.
If it had been profitable 📈 🤷 the company would never have shutdown.
There are many farmer owned co-ops throughout the US and the world
@@ManMountainMetals Big money looks at anything less than 18% return as a waste of time...
@kq2799 small money does, too. I want the chance to triple or at least double my money before I buy stuff to resale.
These are poser farmers I grow 5 different crops it's not rocket science
Being an outsider, a couple questions come to mind: Did the number of farmers drop out before the closing, thus not able to supply enough crop to keep the plant running at a high level? Or does it have something to do with the Army Corps. work on flood control along the Red River now allowing for a larger share of beets there, making this area's crop unneeded?
not sure but i know there was a change in the irrigation intake dam on the Yellowstone River. the free flow of the river was hindered by the dam. paddle fish and others i'm sure were stopped from traveling farther up river to spawn.acres for beets were allocated . the whole lower Yellowstone valley was not beet production but beets were the most profitable crop. if the farmer had allocated beet acres$$$$$$ .i could be wrong as red river valley in eastern north dakota still raised beets without irrigation.
The story I heard is that Sydney couldn't get enough farmers to grow beets. There wasn't enough stockpile for the factory to use through the year. When the factory sits idle, lots of things things like employees, utilities, taxes, etc. are still being paid, but without any revenue to pay for it. ACS met with the Sydney growers to try to come up with solutions. Apparently, none surfaced.
It is unfortunate that the news story neglected to explain any of this, which turned it into a hit piece.
This is correct, coop ownership is incredibly important for this reason... also there isn't really a way for the factory to open back up either, at least not without a large amount of capital investment... not only for just updates but also a ton of equipment was moved to the other crystal factories along with the work force
@@sleepermaxima beet storage is a problem as higher temps will spoil the beets. so can't start the harvest too early, then have to finish up before it gets too warm in the spring
@@sleepermaximaThank you.
Why did they close??? I was up there and sugar beat were huge business in Sydney.
Any chance of bringing bison into that area? Or "no glyphosate" oats?
Everybody wants food but in my area u cant pock all the rocks so we no- til 32 years how will u do that without chemicals,not possible
Farmers were always well advised to diversify and not put 'all eggs in one basket'.
Sometimes that's not an option for farms in certain regions. Look what Hoy Fung did with Sriracha. They went from all Cali peppers to all Mexican thereby crushing the huge farming operations out in that region. The big boy has his own brand of Sriracha now and to me, it's much tastier than Hoy Fung
Also think that the GW beet sugar processing plant in Western Nebr. is closed too.
Sidney Sugars sounds like the name of an adult film actress.
Could be considering how many people got fucked 😂
👄💦💦💦🍆
nailed it lol
that IS where the name came from ...
Thats funny right there.
No saying why did yhe factory close ?
I am a trucker. I picked up a load from a industrial plant that had been closed until former employees bought it and reopened it. The farmers and plant employees may do something similar.
Hopefully they explore regenerative ag and rebuild their souls🤞
They wont
Too uneducated
Organic farms are resilient.
Fantasy land is fun, isn't it?
WHY? WHY? WHAT CAUSE THE CLOSURE?
Merry Christmas maga!
This happened under Biden's watch sporty boy. Don't let facts get in the way of that though, that would be so un leftist
You're proud that Democrat policies and disastrous economic regulation under Biden and Co. is crushing farmers?
Really? Well, I guess no one should be surprised by that kind of hate coming from liberals. Don't worry though, President Trump will help to fix this and get the American economy back on track. You're welcome.
Thanks to joe
the huge problem of relying on ONE crop ...
Couldn't the farmers buy the sugar plant and turn it into a co-op?
If only the government taxed people and corporations so they could afford low-cost loans, or had a government corporation that could do it on behalf of the people.
Thank you Jesus for the farmers..⚘️
Jesus ??? Sorry, but he's being DEPORTED thanks to dicktotor-tiny-hands-no-cajones and the PutinPubliKKKLans
Regenerative Farming, bring back Soil purity. Loads of Farmers are doing it.
Just like the pure cane sugar growers in the Hawaiian Islands had to change. It's sad we went to an alternative sugar to produce sugar. Ask yourself why do we need to use arsenic to take the poison out of those beats to be consumable.
Why don't you explain why the plant closed??
So why did the Sugar Factory close down?
Money. Profits. Government over-regulation. Liberalism. A build-back-better economy.
Never put all your eggs in one basket.
Can't "beet" that idea.
‘Eggs… frickin eggs
Yeah bro just learn to code instead then have your job shipped to India
Yup, at $5.00 a dozen worth considering
Maybe the farmers could buy the factory
Sold already
@ManMountainMetals will the new owners reopen it? Thanks for the update
Try listening to the video
not as a sugar mill.
It's worth looking into.
Monoculture farming must pay well until it doesn't I guess. Who woulda thunk.
The town I live in has a sugar plant but no one grows beets around here. All the beets are railed in from somewhere else. I don't understand why they can't rail their beets to the nearest factory unless there is already a glut of beets.
Terrible news
This is just the beginning
No explanation of why the plant closed. That is a complete miss as part of the story
Did I miss something? Why did Sidney Sugars close?
There seems to be a trend in the agriculture area. There’s videos on John Deere’s problems, closing a factory that makes tires for farm equipment, closing a French fry factory and of course all the farmers facing losses. Add the end of cheap labor with the immigration issue and could see a food crisis.
Ya think!
Which is why they all voted for Trump. Cause he cares about them and will make agriculture great again (sacrasm)
They voted for this
The problem isn't deporting illegal aliens in this country. The problem is destructive democrat economic policies that hurt American workers, unionized labor and American's desire for cheap goods from countries where they use slave or forced labor. Read a book maybe?
The other thing that is lost in situations like this is the accumulated hands-on expertise of those farmers and workers. Family farms continue to be pushed out as we increasingly trust corporations to produce our food.
I think it's called progress, but it's actually wall street greed!
Sugar killing America . Grow something that helps america
Switching to raising cattle and other abimals is the way to go. If done right it is much better for the environment, the pocketbook, and our health.
Things they are a changin.
The Farmers should get together, form a co-op and take over the factory.
The real issue is that you can grow sugar much more cheaply by growing it somewhere else. Without subsidies, it just isn't worth it. I sincerely hope the best for those farmers. It's a hard way to make a living.
How about a few sentences on WHY they went out of business?
Why don't they all get together to reopen the factory?
Why wouldn't the farmers invest into the sugar beet plant and set it up for themselves?
Travel Round, once drove past a sugar beet plant, tall mo7nds of sugar granules all over the place with birds pooping on them.
Sugar from sugar beets is not even a healthy choice
I appreciate the situation the farmers are in. Being that sugar is poisoning the people of the US, perhaps they can find something more beneficial to grow.
They dont have a co-op?
Crops come and go, and markets change. Change with the markets.
Are you a farmer?
They didn’t think to get together, get loans and buy the sugar plant?
And why could this not be transformed into a COOP?
How are you losing your “family history”?
Not going to be able to farm ,,,,no money in it
@ my grandpa was a milk man have I lost my family history???
Great story, fine reporting, beautful scenery and still hated to hear this. Parents first jobs in east Montana was topping in the fields. They were raised and farmed outside of Miles City and Glendive.
Glendive is dying also.
Hopefully RFK Jr can get corn syrup out of our foods and this will open back up!!!
Nice fantasy.
Keep dreaming
@@Bigmojojo Don't be doubters, Bobby don't play.
This place closed cause the company didn't want to upgrade it. It has nothing to do with HFCS.
@@Jumalten001 Yeah, I made a mental note, never buy their brand of sugar again. Vote wit yo walllet
Can they grow potatoes or onions, both underground crops?
Great little farming town and community. Wonderful people. Very kind and generous. Sadly the American farming industry is about to collapse across America thanks to Trump tariffs in 2025. A recession is coming. Tariffs are a national tax on ALL AMERICAN consumers. So sad. So tragic…. So preventable!!!
Nonsense
why dont they crowdfund and buy the factory and get it back up and running?
Why don't you listen to the video before you comment
@daveklein2826 i am deaf. I read the captions If google got them wrong not much i can do about it. But you listen for me
why can't they for a farmer's coop, build/buy a sugar processing plant and stay in business?
farmers the world over have been diversifying for years, those who dont get left behind. Farming is a competative business, you cant rest on your laurels or another nation will undercut you, thats capitalism 101 and you know you hate socialism
My great-grandfather used sugar beets to make ethanol. Surely there's a subsidy that could reopen this plant
Drill baby drill 😂
By putting all of that "energy" into growing a crop, planting fertilizing, harvesting, and the product you end up with is only used to end up "burning" to create fuel so that somebody can have an income is really counter productive. Plus, it drives up the price of food because you are essentially "growing food". Crops should not be used for fuel, it is just a bad thing to do. Ethanol is a prime example. You water down gasoline with it, resulting in poorer gas mileage than plain gasoline. Plus it creates more pollution than straight gasoline. There is plenty of oil and gas, just drill for it.
@@tonyfulford3175 ethanol increases your octane rating giving you better gas mileage. It also Burns hotter which prevents engine knocking and makes your motor last longer. That's why I almost all race cars use pure ethanol. An aircraft which need a higher octane rating use a higher ethanol blend. Add shipping fuel into the United States versus growing it here is way worse in terms of energy consumption. And makes the United States dependent on foreign oil sensors only so much that can be drilled
@@Lee-yc1ifwrong
@@rogerembry4777 your lack of understanding of ethanol is annoying. Why do you think bootleggers started NASCAR.
Wait- this happened in 2022!! ????
And it’s somehow still Trump‘s fault
Life is about adjustments.
look at Jole Salatin and Greg Judy real farmers caring for our food and the land
Those two only look like farmers to people that haven't farmed. I've watched some of Joel's videos. The farm economic models he describes are fantasy. His advocacy for alternative farming methods are not supported by actual scientific research. He is just a fantasy con man feeding you a line of bull.
@cdjhyoung
Yes and no. It does work for them, but probably won’t work for anyone else.Some good knowledge for beginners and homesteaders, feedlot owners will beg to differ.
Maybe try growing trees???
STUPID COMMENT
And nobody would band together to buy it themselves? Workers bought Appleton papers when the company was gonna sell and leave and that's 20-25 yrs ago. The farmers using that sugar beet to sugar plant know it's profitable enough and they'd use it.... I know, no money but damn!
2024 and farmers still havent learned to diversify their crops, and not rely on one or two crops??
Havent they learned you should be raising cows, chickens, and honey bees too?? Milk, Eggs, and Honey are all local stables people.
Also you should NEVER have a business dependent upon a couple of third parties to generate the bulk of your income.
I guess these farmers like to hurt
you understand these are corporate ran farms and not E-I-E-I-O farms ran my farmer john from the 1740s right?
Sad! Transition to new crops in demand.
Sorry but they need to grow something a bit less detrimental to public health. plus move away from monocultural farming.
Why didn't the farmers buy the plant for pennies on the dollar?
Only a few companies control all the food in the world- all decisions regarding food are corporate-shareholder value based. The only hope for beet farmers are to find a niche market, sell to a large company that needs sugar or just close. The food monopolies are not policed like other monopolies--they have huge lobbying power so are ignored. Game makers can't monopolized anywhere near what food corporations have done and are still doing-yet they get busted all the time. Priorities are who has the best politicians in their pocket-and that would be corporate food.
My sister worked there.
The chick narrating this episode sounds like she's narrating for the twilight zone
It really did. I think she was trying to add some extra depression vibe to it.
As a farmer i see that as unfortunate...but you dont need to put beets in that dirt to make a buck from it.
Well, if I was a Billionaire I would convert the factory into a Fermented Beet Juice plant. Last time I bought a bottle of fermented beet juice it cost me $7 for less than a pint. There's a lot more you can do with Beets than making sugar. I bet George Washington Carver could turn them into anything from Mock Beef to Licorice. Cheers, from Jack, who used to work a Benny's Bistro in Helena.
How much "fermented beet juice" do you suppose sells in America each day though? 100 bottles? Come on man. Think.
@@CooperJones777 It's guys like you that don't think. At the very least they could make vodka, and there are many more things you could do with beets if you took the time to do a little research.
US Subsidies for the sugar beet industry are not defendable with world sugar prices as low as they are
Well it's not like Americans have stopped gobbling down sugar. I guess they're looking to grow yet more corn i.e. corn syrup and feed.
They are looking to survive and make a living. They're no different from some barista in California, except that they actually do real work for a living.
Regenerative farming is the answer
I blame everyone who doesn't live beets.
While profitable, absentee wall street corporation demanded higher profit margins or else, you got the or else
Well they did educate their children. So it should be no problem to transfer into another industry. Maybe they can become the new hot bed for bio chemistry . Or physics
How tragic 😥
I really wish our government would stop subsidizing everything.
That's exactly like saying " I wish bread was $30 a loaf."
No. Its exactly the opposite. Borrowing money to just give it to somebody to keep prices manipulated. Without realizing that money needs to be paid back, with intrest. Miss that part? Or would you like the total price of $45-60 a loaf of what your actually paying.
Maybe form a co-op to buy the plant, and take back some control over your livelihoods.
Maybe try listening to the video before you comment
Pepsi is in serious financial trouble because it appears people aren't drinking their product nearly so much
Not even the "Real Sugar" kind?
I didn't even know sugar beets were grown in Montana. How come I've never seen beet sugar for sale around here? What Dezi protectionist legislation killed a perfectly good industry in my state??