Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar CooperativeAbout Us
SMBSC Facts
The Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative factory is built on one square mile of land 1-1/2 miles east of Renville in south-central Minnesota. The facility was originally designed to process 6,500 tons of sugar beets per day and 11,250 cwt sugar per day, although recent modifications have allowed for greater production. One day records set in 2004 were 16,033 tons sliced and 30,570 cwt sugar produced. We currently slice about 2.6 million tons of sugar beets yearly. Sugar beets are produced on 119,259 acres by 587 shareholders in 17 counties covering an area 110 miles long (north to south) and 100 miles wide (east to west).
Surrounding the factory complex are settling ponds, water-holding lagoons, seven receiving strips, eleven off site receiving stations and approximately 1,100 acres of tillable land, part of which is planted with alfalfa/grass and irrigated with waste water from the ponds and the waste water treatment plant.
The main process building is 480 feet long and 175 feet wide, with heights of 85 feet on the beet end and 130 feet on the sugar end. Four concrete silos, 50 feet in diameter and 130 feet on the sugar end, plus a steel Weibull silo, 116 feet in diameter and 96 feet high, hold the bulk granulated sugar, with total capacity of 950,000 cwt. A 150-foot square warehouse completes the dry storage with capacity of an additional 70,000 cwt comprised of 50-lb bags, 100-lb bags, and 20 cwt super sacks of sugar. At present, eight thick-juice storage tanks, each 100 feet in diameter, and six thick-juice storage tanks, each 150 feet in diameter, hold approximately 60 million gallons of thickened sugar juice. This juice is converted into granulated sugar at the end of the slicing campaign.
The summer of 1989 began construction of the molasses desugarization facility. This $18 million addition further processes the sugar normally lost in molasses. In addition to the recovery of sugar, the plant produces a concentrated molasses fraction as well as a betaine fraction. This ion exclusion process (chromatographic separation) is presently the largest of its kind in the world.
With completion of construction in September 1990, the plant provided for desugarization of molasses from the 1990 crop. The expansion provided a positive effect of approximately $15 million annually to the economies of south central Minnesota. Total economic benefit currently exceeds $180 million annually.
In 1991, further expansion began to increase slicing capacity and grower base. The first expansion phase to the factory began in the summer of 1992 and was complete for the harvest of that crop. The second expansion phase was completed during the summer of 1993. The sale of stock to 106 new shareholders along with a stock dividend to current shareholders increased the grower base to 465 shareholders and 100,000 shares.
In 1997 a capital plan that included improved sugar cooling/drying, improved crystallization, a step to automation, and an improved management information system was implemented. Vision 2002 a five-year capital plan for Engineering the Future was completed and approved in 1998. To meet the Vision 2002 objective of updating equipment and expanding capacity, 1999 proved to be challenging for the operations and engineering teams to complete the most extensive factory improvement since the factory was built.
