Valley sugar beet farmers study production of ethanol

(Fresno Bee (CA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge)--Sugar beet farmer John Diener is not a man who gives up easily.

Nor are the 30 other farmers who have loosely formed a cooperative to look into the possibility of turning the once-thriving Spreckels Sugar plant in Mendota into an energy factory.

Fueled with a $73,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the farmers want to know if it makes financial sense to use beets to make ethanol, or other energy alternatives.

"We really want to see if we can make this work," said Diener, part of the Mendota Beet Growers Association. "But we also know these are dicey times, and we want to be cautious."

It could take at least a year of research before farmers make any hard decisions about their plans. And the existing ethanol industry is struggling. Sacramento-based Pacific Ethanol, which has a plant in Madera County, posted a $54.9 million third-quarter loss last month, and rival Brookings, S.D.-based VeraSun Energy recently filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

In addition, the sugar beet industry in Fresno County is gone.

The 45-year-old Spreckels plant shut down in September, laying off 200 people and leaving dozens of farmers with nowhere to send their beets. The owners of the plant, the Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative, closed the plant, in large part because of a dwindling beet supply.

The cooperative continues to operate a plant in Brawley that is fed by an ample supply of beets from the Imperial Valley.

Without a home for their crop, central San Joaquin Valley farmers like Mark McKean are using their land to farm more crops such as wheat, processing tomatoes or safflower.

McKean has farmed sugar beets for as long as he can remember. And he is like many west Fresno County farmers who depended on sugar beets as part of their rotation of crops.

"It's been a difficult deal," McKean said. "Some sugar beet growers go back two generations. And what really hurts is that it is one less crop that we can grow."

One less crop means one less source of revenue for farmers already struggling with higher production costs and an iffy water supply.

About 10,000 acres were used to produce sugar beets in Fresno County last year, down from nearly 20,000 some 10 years ago.

Stephen Kaffka, an agronomist with the University of California at Davis, said sugar beets have a long history in California -- having been farmed as far back as the 1870s.

The crop adapted well to the west side's soil and its areas of high salinity. It became a staple for decades.

"For a while it looked like we had a bright future with this crop," McKean said. "But that's over."

McKean said he is willing to listen to any plans to reopen the Spreckels plant. But he admitted it may be tough to convince some farmers to grow sugar beets to make ethanol, an industry that has proven to be volatile.

"I don't think it has been determined that it's the way to go," McKean said. "Right now, it seems like a moving target."

USDA economist James Jacobs wrote in 2006 that while the process for producing ethanol from sugar is simpler than converting corn to ethanol, many other factors exist, including the cost of production, government policies and the demand for ethanol.

Ben Goodwin, a longtime advocate of the state's sugar beet industry, said that while he thinks the idea of using beets to make energy is a long shot, he hopes to be proven wrong.

"If they can put this together and make it work then that would be something," Goodwin said.

Diener also isn't sure of how the cooperative's due diligence will play out. He wants to make sure he tries everything possible before giving up on another west-side crop.

"There are lots of things we have to get our arms around," Diener said. "But if this looks like this might make some money, then we want in."
source:tmcnet