Here's how much California's sugar beet business has imploded

"The last sugar beat factory in California is closing and the poorest county in the state is taking a huge hit. On Sept. 9, Imperial County leaders declared a state of economic emergency in response to the closure of the Spreckels Sugar Co. plant in Brawley. In April, the plant's owner (Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative) announced the plant closure would come at the end of the processing year and move operations to Minnesota after March."

"Supervisor Peggy Price, whose district includes the Spreckels plant, cited some of the losses as 249 full-time jobs, $16.7 million in payroll and $28 million in annual economic activity. A news release by the Spreckels Sugar Co. in April said, "This decision comes after a thorough evaluation of the long-term financial and operational challenges facing the facility as well as an assessment of the economic challenges and uncertainty facing the sugar industry that have been building for several years.""

"The use of beets to refine for sugar started in Germany in the 1790s. The first attempts grown beets in the U.S. in the 1830s but the experiments did not have success. The California Beet Sugar Co. in Alvarado was the first successful sugar beet factory in the U.S. in 1870. But it had ups and downs. Successful commercial production did not take off until the 1890s in California."

The Spreckels Sugar Co. plant in Brawley, California, will close after the processing year and operations will move to Minnesota under owner Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative. Imperial County declared a state of economic emergency on Sept. 9 due to the closure. Projected losses include 249 full-time jobs, $16.7 million in payroll and $28 million in annual economic activity. The company cited long-term financial and operational challenges and industry uncertainty as reasons for the decision. Sugar beet cultivation in the U.S. began with early experiments in the 1830s, with commercial production rising in California by the 1890s.

Read at The Mercury News