[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 143 (Wednesday, September 21, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Page S5952]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





         AMALGAMATED SUGAR'S CENTURY OF IDAHO SUGAR PRODUCTION

 Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, my colleague Senator Jim Risch joins 
me today in recognizing Amalgamated Sugar's 100 years of sugar 
production in the Magic Valley of Idaho.
  With roots that stretch back to 1897, Amalgamated Sugar, a grower-
owned cooperative, has been a member of the Magic Valley community for 
100 years. Amalgamated Sugar opened its Twin Falls factory on October 
22, 1916, followed a year later by the Paul factory on October 28, 
1917. Throughout the years, Amalgamated Sugar's growers and employees 
have navigated the twists and turns of a more than challenging market 
with sensibility, determination, and innovation. Through its 
partnership with Amalgamated Research, Inc., ARi, a research and 
development company owned by Amalgamated Sugar, Amalgamated Sugar has 
pioneered the use of innovative fractal separation technology and is a 
leader in processing efficiency. Amalgamated Sugar has also expanded 
its marketing to reach throughout the United States through its 
partnership with National Sugar Marketing. The past 100 years of 
innovation have helped Amalgamated Sugar grow from processing 3,078,000 
tons of sugarbeets into 925,000 100-pound bags of sugar in 1917, to the 
estimated 6,636,000 tons of sugarbeets into 21,058,000 100-pound bags 
in 2016.
  The cooperative's focus on precision production and agronomic 
advancements has grown it into the second largest beet sugar producer 
in the U.S., producing 12 percent of the Nation's sugar on 182,000 
acres, according to statistics from Amalgamated Sugar. The 
cooperative's accomplishments result from the teamwork of its 
approximately 750 growers and more than 1,600 Idaho employees who 
produce quality sugarbeets, transport them from the fields to the 
factories, and refine high-quality sugar products, nutritional 
supplements, and animal-feed products. Amalgamated Sugar is a 
substantial part of our Nation's economy.
  Amalgamated Sugar's contributions include approximately $800 million 
in revenues to Idaho's economy, which is evident in the lives of the 
generations of its growers and employees, in its relationships with 
local suppliers and vendors, and in the more than $283 million in 
Idaho's sugarbeet production estimated by the Idaho State Department of 
Agriculture.
  Congratulations, Amalgamated Sugar growers and employees, on a 
century of accomplishments. You and your predecessors have much to be 
proud of for prevailing over more than a 100 years of challenges and 
contributing significantly to job opportunities and U.S. production. We 
wish you all the best for continued success.

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