California’s last factory that turns sugarbeets into sugar is shutting down after 78 years in business. The LA Times said the closure means the loss of hundreds of local jobs and the likely end of sugarbeet farming inside the state’s borders. The Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative, which owns the plant based in Brawley, California, started decommissioning the plant in July. The cooperative will focus its resources on the more profitable plant it runs in Renville, Minnesota. Sugarbeets are root vegetables that contain high levels of sucrose and are used to produce more than half of the U.S. sugar supply alongside sugar cane. The beets grow in the Imperial Valley in southern California with the help of nutrient-rich soil and the Colorado River. This is a huge loss for the region because unemployment rates are high, and agriculture is the second-largest job creator. The closure eliminates 700 jobs and a $243-million industry.
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