Harvest of southern Alberta’s 22,000 acres of sugarbeets began Oct. 1 under good digging conditions and good yields.?
“The beets look incredibly good,” said Gerald Third, executive director of Alberta Sugarbeet Growers.
He said better than average yields of 28 to 30 tonnes per acre were reported in the initial days of harvest. ?
One-third of the crop had been dug and delivered to piling stations or the Lantic Sugar plant in Taber, Alta., late last week, and the plant was scheduled to begin processing Oct. 9. ?
Lantic Sugar agricultural superintendent Andrew Llewellyn-Jones said yields will be “right in the ball park” of last year’s average, and sugar content will likely top last year’s average of 18.6 percent.?
“The sugar content is already higher than end of year last year,” he said.?
“It’s at 18.7 now and it ended at 18.6 last year, so (the average) should be close to 19 by the time we’re done. Any time you’re above 18.5 to 19, it’s always a good quality crop.”?
Llewelyn-Jones said 80 percent of the beets would be harvested by Oct. 17 if the weather holds.?
Growers are mostly finished harvesting their other crops so they can concentrate on beet delivery.?
Third said he is pleased with the look of the crop.?
“The only disappointing thing was the reduction in acres,” he said.?
In April, Lantic reduced the number of beet acres it contracted to 22,000 from 24,000 last year and 30,000 in 2012.?
It came as an unwelcome surprise to growers, who will enter negotiations with Lantic in November. Contracted acres will be the prime topic, said Third.
Source: www.producer.com