Investigation of long-term storage of sugar beet mash

Sugar beets are a vital crop for Southern Alberta farmers and are the source for sugar products from the refinery in Taber, Alberta. This is only one sugar beet processing plant in Alberta, and though it accounts for 10 per cent of the total Canadian sugar production (100,000 tons of sugar per year), it has a limited amount of daily processing capacity (Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, 2017). This presents a challenge because as a seasonal crop, beets are harvested during late fall, stored in open ground piles where they freeze during the winter months and can begin to spoil upon thawing once the weather warms. Finding alternative long-term storage options and end uses for sugar beet will benefit growers and allow for the potential for production expansion in the region.