ABERDEEN, Idaho—Magic Valley and Eastern Idaho sugarbeet growers say harvest is shaping to be a bit sweeter this season, even though yields appear to be down a hair from last season’s state-record tonnage.
Aberdeen grower Dwight Horsch said sugar levels in early harvest beets he dug on Sept. 13 tested at 17.07 percent—a whopping content for such an early dig—and he yielded in the mid-30s for tons per acre.
During early harvest, which started Sept. 9 in Magic Valley and Eastern Idaho, Amalgamated Sugar pays growers an incentive, which gradually diminishes as general harvest draws nearer, to offset forfeited yields and sugar content. In general harvest, which begins Oct. 4 statewide, Amalgamated docks growers for sugar levels below 17 percent and gives them a bonus if they exceed the threshold.
“It’s the best early dig sugars I’ve ever had,” Horsch said. “Our station average is way up.”
Horsch said beets didn’t grow much during a cool and wet August but are catching up thanks to ideal September weather. He expects yields to be just below last year, when Amalgamated reported a record average of 36.3 tons per acre. Last season’s sugar content, however, averaged a dismal 15.87 percent.
Aberdeen grower Andy Povey hadn’t tested his sugars as of Sept. 23 but had heard widespread reports of sugars in the 16.5-17 percent range in nearby Pingree and Blackfoot. Yields have been about average for his farm in the high 30s for tons per acre.
Alan Mohlman, a sugarbeet agronomist with Grant 4D Farms in Rupert, said his early harvest sugars have tested as high as 16 percent, compared with 13-14 percent for early harvest last season. His yields have averaged 32-34 tons per acre, comparable to last season.
“There was very minimal replant, probably the least amount of replant I’ve seen on Grant 4D Farms in the last seven years I’ve worked here,” Mohlman said.
The crop has also been relatively free of diseases. Mohlman said there’s been a bit of rhizoctonia, but damage to powdery mildew, sugarbeet root maggot and sugarbeet leaf miner has been minimal this season.
The company’s crop size this season is down 4,000 acre at 178,000 acres.
Jack Roney, director of economics and policy analysis with American Sugar Alliance, said it’s also good news for growers this season that sugar prices have been on the rise.
He said the current price for a pound of refined sugar is 36 cents, up a dime from this time last season, when prices dipped to a 30-year low. Roney said USDA anticipates a smaller national crop this season, and growers in the Red River Valley have had harvests delayed by excessive rain.
Roney credits sugar purchases by the U.S. government with helping depressed prices recover. He also believes the imposition of temporary tariffs on Mexican sugar producers this August while the U.S. continues to investigate allegations of dumping of subsidized Mexican sugar has had a psychological benefit on the market.
“Another factor that’s important is U.S. sugar consumption remains fairly strong,” Roney said. “It should be a profitable crop.”
Source: www.capitalpress.com