SUGAR BEETS

Brought About the Town of Oxnard

Up until 1896, most farmers in the county were growing lima beans, barley, and alfalfa. These were examples of dry farming, meaning they didn’t need a dedicated water source to irrigate their crops.

In 1896, Ed Borchard was encouraged by his son Henry and family friend Albert F Maulhardt to send some samples of his German strain of sugar beets to Chino, California, where they had a beet processing plant. While Borchard’s beets were sugar deficient for a commercial crop, the three men were given seeds to plant to see if they’d thrive in the soils of Ventura County.

Albert F. Maulhardt began a two-year experiment with planting small acreages throughout the county, and the results were promising. By October 1898, the owners of the Chino factory, led by Henry Oxnard, agreed to build a two-million-dollar sugar processing plant ($50 million in today’s money).

To service the incoming population of workers and merchants, James A. Driffill laid out the town of Oxnard in January 1898. A history of sugar beets and their influence on the development of the city of Oxnard is detailed in the book Oxnard Sugar Beets, Ventura County’s Lost Cash Crop by our own Jeffrey Wayne Maulhardt. This is for sale in our office/library area or online.

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