By Connor Gunn

VIDEO: Lethbridge Sugar beet harvest 2021 providing sugar for Southern Alberta

Oct 12, 2021 | 10:36 AM

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. — Around Lethbridge, there are many sugar beet farmers that make up a huge portion of the sugar-growing population.

The 2020 Alberta Sugar Beet Growers (ASBG) Harvest showcases how sugar is planted, harvested, and sent all around Canada to be put into your coffee.

Farmers say over 400 acres of sugar beets are harvested each year directly located just outside of Lethbridge.

With Southern Alberta being a hub for sugar beets, growers around Lethbridge actually make up a major part of the growing population of the world.

ASBG president Gary Tokariuk explained what they do in the harvest each year and said even through the dry summer, sugar beet farmers can be optimistic.

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He also explains what it means to be a sugar beet farmer and how important he takes his role.

See the video below for Tokariuk’s explanation.

For a 185 acre field that’s planted, Tokariuk said that equates to 7.67 million beets in one field alone. Those beets equate to $53 a tonne.

Farmers tell the public, “The next time you’re in a grocery store and buy a bag of Rogers Sugar, if you see a black tag on the side, that sugar is grown right around Lethbridge.”