Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts toured the Western Sugar Cooperative facility in Scottsbluff on March 9 where he received a first-hand lesson on the beet sugar industry from local producers and processors.
Luke Rust, Western’s plant manager, and Kendall Busch, president of the Nebraska Beet Growers Association, along with Nick Lapaseotes, chairman of Western’s board of directors, participated in the tour, and answered questions.
Ricketts said he was impressed with the industry and its representatives.
“It’s more complicated than I thought,” he said of the process, following the meeting and tour. He also noted that Nebraska is one of the few states that produces its own sugar.
The connection between the sugar industry and livestock production also made an impression on Ricketts. He noted the benefit to the cattle feeders of the beet pulp produced during the sugar making process, as an example.
During a discussion prior to the tour, Lapaseotes and Busch, along with Western employees, explained some of the issues facing the sugar beet industry. Among them is the GMO label restriction, which has resulted in financial losses to the beet growers.
According to Busch, cane sugar is now worth about $5 more than beet sugar, because cane sugar is not a genetically modified crop.
Agriculturist Michael Ann Relka told of the difficulty of convincing people that beet sugar is just as safe as cane sugar.
Source: www.starherald.com