The first sugar beet factory in Canada was built in Raymond
in 1903 by Jesse Knight and was called the Knight Sugar Co.
Under the terms of their federal government charter they were
to operate for 12 years.

To encourage farmers to grow beets, the federal government
paid $1 per 100 pounds of sugar produced. Because of a
shortage of irrigation water and always uncertain weather
conditions, farmers could not raise sufficient beets to be
profitable for them or the factory. As a result, Knight Sugar Co.
closed down in 1914.

After World War I, irrigation possibilities increased and grain
prices declined. Farmers then petitioned for a second factory.
The Raymond and Magrath Boards of Trade got the Utah &
Idaho Sugar Company (U & I) interested. Boards of Trade in
other towns in the south also got involved.

U&I demanded the following:

1.That trial plots be grown in 1923 and 1924 to determine yields
and sugar content.
2.That during 1924, 6000 acres of summer fallow be prepared for
the 1925 sugar beet crop.
3. That at least 6000 acres be contracted in 1925.

These conditions having been met, construction on a new
factory was begun in March 1925 and completed in time to
process the 1925 crop. The factory was called Canadian
Sugar Factories Ltd. More than 7000 acres were contracted
throughout southern Alberta that year. Beet dumps were built
in various locations and were often named after a local grower
who had signed a large contract. Thus our beet dump at the
junction of highway #4 and what is now McNally Road was
named Stewart after Bill Stewart who farmed 1 mile north of
the dump.

Of this 7000 plus acres, 5394 acres were harvested which
produced an average yield of 6.9 tons per acre. Total sugar
production was 3422 tons of sugar.

1927 was a tough year. Many acres of beets had to be dug
out of the snow. Beets were raised with the usual troubles
in 1930. Beet harvest was in full swing. Beets were being
piled at the Raymond factory in a pile about 7 feet high.
On October 14th a bitterly cold steady wind came up from
the north and blew day and night for 3 days. When the wind
finally quit, there was 3 inches of solid frozen ground with no
snow cover. When the ground thawed out the harvest was
rushed and beets were stored in this big pile. In about 2 weeks
the pile started to heat and rot and settled down to about 2
feet of rotten beets, not fit for anything. This proved to be
the undoing of Canadian Sugar Factories Ltd.

In the spring of 1931 the factory was sold to Rogers Brothers
British Columbia Sugar Refining Co. They continued to operate
under the name of Canadian Sugar Factories Ltd.

Under the terms of the early contracts with Canadian Sugar
Factories Ltd. all growers were docked from their cheques a
freight charge of 50 cents per ton regardless of whether the
beets were hauled to a dump or directly to the factory. The
Sugar Beet Growers Association had been trying to have this
charge removed and threatened to truck all beets directly to
the factory. In 1934 they closed the Stewart beet dump and
all the beets were trucked to the factory. It was quite a job
but proved it was possible. The next year this deduction
was deleted from the contracts.

Expansion and modernization took place at the Raymond plant
and in 1936 a second plant was constructed in Picture Butte.
World War II then intervened and no more expansion was
undertaken.

Since the start of the industry all seed had come from Germany
and Holland. When World War II broke out this supply was cut
off. The Lethbridge Experimental Farm and Canadian Sugar
Factories approached me to raise beet seed. The Experimental
Farm had saved small beets which had to be planted by hand.
They grew to about 6" tall and bushy. When the seed was ripe
the seed stalks had to be cut by hand and tied into bundles
and stooked. They were then threshed and yielded about 1800 lbs.
of seed. This was the first sugar beet seed ever grown in north
America. (I understand sugar beet seed was also grown at
Stirling the following year. I. Dogterom) Seed was later grown
in B.C. where small beets could be left in the ground over
winter.

A lot of work had to be done with beet seed. The old style seed
would produce up to 30 plants from one seed which then had to
be thinned by hand down to one plant then left in the row about
12' apart. Today seed has been developed which yields only
one plant per seed. They are planted about 6" apart so no
thinning is required and weeds are controlled with chemicals
instead of relying on a crew of laborers to hand hoe the beets
several times during the growing season.

In 1947 the Taber factory was built to slice 1800 tons per day.
Today it has a capacity of 4500 tons per day. Raymond and
the Picture Butte plants were closed and all beets are now
processed in Taber.

Growers have always had a strong association with such early
leaders as Phil Baker, Lolivee Jensen and Burns Wood. Strong
representatives from our district were Bill Andrews and Charlie
Parry.

Raising beets is much easier at the present time that it was
when I started in 1925. Beets had to be dug, topped and
loaded into wagons by hand. Eventually loaders were
developed by the factory to load beets into trucks.
Today manual labor has been replaced by machines.
Beets are defoliated and dug up to 6 rows at a time and
elevated directly into trucks. Large numbers of acres can
now be raised and yield has increased to over 30 tons per
acre. In the old days we were paid $5 to $7 per ton. Now
beets are about $40 per ton. It is an important crop for
irrigated land. Sandy soil which is in great abundance in
southern Alberta is best for this crop. As I write this it looks
like the 1994 crop will be the biggest in history. There are
rumors the factory will run until March.

Lethbridge Herald, July 7, 1908
Mr. Naykayama Leases Beet Lands
Fifty men from the flowery kingdom will
raise beets at Raymond.

Miscellaneous Histories