The 2015 sugarbeet harvest has arrived in the Nebraska Panhandle and eastern Wyoming.
According to Jerry Darnell, Western Sugar Cooperative area agriculture manager, early harvest will begin Sept. 15 with deliveries to the Scottsbluff, Neb., Factory Yard and at Kimball, Neb. Limited deliveries will be managed in order to operate the factory, but not create a large backlog.
Regular harvest will open on Tuesday, Oct. 6, for most receiving stations and the Torrington, Wyo., and Scottsbluff factories.
This year’s crop is expected to yield 25.5 tons per acre, with a 17.5 percent sugar content.
Darnell said the Colorado harvest began Sept. 10, and the Montana/Lovell, Wyo., harvest has been underway since Sept. 3.
The Scottsbluff factory will be an extra busy place during the 2015 campaign. Western announced earlier this year its intention to cease operations at the Torrington factory at the end of this campaign. However, plans call for continued utilization of the sugar storage facility at Torrington. The closure will impact about 270 employees at that facility.
In the future, all beets that would have been delivered to Torrington will be processed at the Scottsbluff or Fort Morgan, Colo., plants. A major overhaul of the two locations began earlier this year, and is expected to be completed in time for the 2016 harvest. Expanding the capacity of the two factories will be on-going during campaign, where and when possible.
The current project in Scottsbluff is removing the old storage tanks, dryers and other equipment that several years ago were used to make pellets from beet pulp. The space will be incorporated into the new operation.
This segment is expected to be completed later this week.
Source: www.starherald.com