BAY CITY, MICH. — The Michigan Sugar Co. on March 14 said it had completed a share redemption program through which cooperative grower-owners in Ontario, Can., sold back 3,582 shares (or acres), reducing the cooperative’s sugar beet area in Canada to 7,316 acres, or about 33% of the total 10,898 acres.     

After the redemption, Michigan Sugar now has 57 shareholders in Ontario’s Dover growing region that is made up of Kent and Lambton counties. The redemption reduces Michigan Sugar’s total planted acres by about 2.3%, the company said. The reduction amounts to about 15,000 tons of sugar annually.

Michigan Sugar will soon conclude its 2024-25 sugar beet slicing campaign and shortly thereafter, its grower-owners will begin planting the 2025 crop.

“As always, we are excited to finish our annual sugar beet slicing campaign at our factories and are looking forward to getting our next crop of sugar beets in the ground,” said Neil Juhnke, president and CEO of Michigan Sugar Co. “We wish our factory employees a safe and strong finish to the campaign and our growers a safe and successful planting season.”

Michigan Sugar Co. is the third largest of eight sugar beet processing companies in the United States, with Michigan being one of 11 states where sugar beets are grown. The company is headquartered in Bay City, with factories in Bay City, Caro, Croswell and Sebewaing, Mich. About 865 grower-owners plant and harvest up to 140,000 acres of sugar beets annually in Michigan and Canada, producing about 1,300 million lbs, or 650,000 tons, of sugar that is sold to industrial, commercial and retail customers under the Pioneer brand. The company has about 1,000 year-round employees and hires about 1,100 seasonal workers.