Sugar factory projects completed as campaign approaches

Western Sugar plans to start campaign September 11. It’s always an exciting time for community members to see the factory making steam and slicing beets as it is vital to the local economy. The cooperative is taking applications for the upcoming campaign at the office.

Rob Johnson has been with Western Sugar for almost 40 years. He has decided to hang up his hard hat beginning at the end of August. While his retirement from the factory means having to fill his shoes with a new maintenance manager, Johnson’s dedication and hard work will always be remembered by those that worked with him.

While there may be somewhat fewer beets planted in the Big Horn Basin due to water concerns, the Lovell factory still anticipates getting some Montana beets. Shannon Ellis, factory manager, expects this campaign to be shorter than last year but long enough to again exceed sugar industry expectations.

The factory goes into tear-down and re-build immediately after campaign ends each year. This year there have been many capital projects that were tackled during this inter-campaign. 

The largest by size is the new/used press that was brought in from Turkey. The gear box has already been removed and installed on the existing No. 2 press. The presses ensure that all of the liquid and sugar are pressed from the pulp before it gets dried for pellets or to be sold as pressed pulp for cattle feed.

The other large capital project has been replacing the arms and flights to the entire upper end of the diffuser. These are part of the double helix that moves sliced beets up while adding water for the sugar to diffuse into and eventually takes the pulp out to the presses. There were some concerns during the last, long campaign (shy by one day of beating the record), which made the decision to replace those components with anticipation of great diffusion and slice rate.

“These capital projects will help us in a lot of ways,” Ellis said.