TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) —Sugar beet processing continues a tradition more than a century old in the Magic Valley, with Amalgamated Sugar employing 3,000 people across Idaho and processing close to 6,000 tons of beets daily at its Twin Falls facility alone.

“Sugar beets in this valley have been around for over 100 years. It’s raised farmers’ families, raised every employee,” said Chris Koch, operations supervisor at Amalgamated Sugar.

The sugar extraction process starts when transport systems deliver beets to the factory, where they drop into a flume to begin washing.

“So it’s a pretty long process. So we start out with the beets, or the trans systems delivers the beets into the factory. They drop into a flume where they start their wash process,” Koch said.

After washing, the sug

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