‘Exciting time’ in the sugar industry

Though this year’s sugarbeet crop got started during one of the most severe springs in recent memory, a number of factors have combined which should make it a successful year for producers and industry alike.

“This is an exciting time to be in the sugar industry,” said Jerry Darnell, Nebraska ag manager for the Western Sugar Cooperative. “Roundup ready beets have made a big difference, and there’s been a 50 percent increase in sugar price since January. I’d say that sugar beets will compete with any crop next year.”

Darnell said about 40 percent of 36,500 contracted acres had to be replanted this spring due to late cold snaps, washing from heavy rains, and hail. About 19 percent of acres planted to sugarbeets were lost entirely.

“Some producers had as many as four crops in the same ground this spring,” he said.

Despite the rough start, Western Sugar recently upgraded its crop yield estimate to 23 tons per acre (T/acre), up from a 16 T/acre estimate earlier in the season. Sugar percentage jumped from 16.4 to 17 as measured by root sampling last week.

Darnell attributes those increases in large part to the introduction this year of Roundup ready beets.

“It’s been amazing, and really shows the difference the new technology makes,” he said.

Roundup ready beet varieties are GMO’s, or genetically modified organisms, designed to tolerate glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup herbicide. This allows producers to apply up to 96 ounces of the herbicide per acre directly to their fields without harming the growing beets. Non-roundup ready varieties can only tolerate the application of less effective weed killers, which typically leave 15 percent of weeds alive to compete with the crop for sunlight, water and nutrients.

Grower meetings were held last week in Alliance, Bayard and Scottsbluff, Neb., Darnell said, to update harvest information. Limited early harvest begins Sept. 29 and regular harvest is set to start Oct. 6.

Though a pair of receiving stations have been closed, there are 12 in the Panhandle and eastern Wyoming, Darnell said. East Alliance growers will deliver to the Ginn station and Roach growers to the Torrington factory yard. A second piler has been added to the Kimball receiving station, reflecting an increase in southwest Panhandle sugarbeet production.

Producers have the choice of delivering their beets to receiving stations or hauling them directly to the factory. Those who haul their crop to the factory receive the same transportation rates as the cooperative’s contracted haulers.

Darnell said the annual Sugar Tour will be at 3 p.m. on Dec. 10.

source:torringtontelegram