Which state grows the most sugar beets?
🔎 Skip to the answer (ranking table)Guess
Which states grow the most sugar beets? Tap them most-to-least.
Tapping assigns 1→4 in order
I bet… Hawaii — sunny and sweet, right? 🌺
Answer
The real order is…
Minnesota grows about 1.71× as many as #2 Idaho!
📚 Background Sugar doesn't only come from tropical sugarcane. Sugar beets — a pale root — grow best in cold northern states, and Minnesota leads the pack. Beets are harvested in fall and stored, so the sugar factories keep running through winter. (USDA NASS Quick Stats) (opens in a new tab)
🔍 Explore more: 🍬『America's sugar grows two totally different ways』→ I bet… Hawaii — sunny and sweet, right? 🌺
Compare
Sugar beets grown (tons, 2024)
Most: Minnesota (11,821,000 tons harvested); least shown here: Montana (785,000 tons harvested).
Note: measured in tons harvested. Only the top states are shown. Only the top states are shown here — smaller producers (and states USDA doesn't publish) aren't listed.
Sugar from a chilly root — who knew?
Recap
🏅 Today's discovery
🏅 Minnesota is the USA's #1!
🐕 States in Numbers
Quiz a friend!
📋 See the ranking table (top 8)
| Rank | State | Value | Share of U.S. total |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Minnesota | 11,821,000 tons harvested | 33.5% |
| #2 | Idaho | 6,924,000 tons harvested | 19.6% |
| #3 | North Dakota | 6,675,000 tons harvested | 18.9% |
| #4 | Michigan | 4,120,000 tons harvested | 11.7% |
| #5 | Nebraska | 1,424,000 tons harvested | 4% |
| #6 | California | 1,348,000 tons harvested | 3.8% |
| #7 | Wyoming | 945,000 tons harvested | 2.7% |
| #8 | Montana | 785,000 tons harvested | 2.2% |
| 🇺🇸 USA (total) | 35,316,000 tons harvested | 100% |
Only the top states are shown here — smaller producers (and states USDA doesn't publish) aren't listed.
Figures are published for 11 states; this table shows the top 8.
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (2024)
Sources
Data as of: 2024
USDA NASS Quick Stats: SUGARBEETS - PRODUCTION, MEASURED IN TONS, 2024, by state (opens in a new tab) (2026-07-14) — Published estimates only. States with unpublished (suppressed) values are omitted.
↳ In Quick Stats, pick SUGARBEETS / PRODUCTION in TONS, year 2024, and compare states.